CHARLOTTE – There used to be a time, not long ago, when a trip to Time Warner Cable Arena for a game against the Charlotte Hornets was about as entertaining as a trip to the grocery store. The basketball was bland, the fans – the few who showed – weren’t very into the game and the expectations were about as low as the standard of basketball.
If you count the shortened season of 2011-12 and the next season, the Hornets combined to win just 28 of 148 games. A coaching change following the 2012-13 season, which saw the departure of Mike Dunlap and the arrival of Steve Clifford, paid major dividends.