A lot has happened in the world in the past few weeks… But once you digest the truly important stuff, you might find that the most shocking development of all is that the Charlotte Hornets are the hottest team in the NBA. Yes, the same Hornets who have combined for 67 wins in the last three seasons, or, to put that into perspective, one less win than the Thunder had last year alone, are now the proud winners of six straight games.
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Charlotte is now within 1.5 games of the final play-in spot in the East. And it’s not like they’ve done it against a cupcake schedule.
Just in the last month alone, the Hornets have wins over the Spurs, Sixers, Nuggets, Lakers, and the Thunder. And most of those games haven’t even been close. Their young core — LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Kon Knueppel — has been playing like experienced veterans.
On the latest episode of No Fouls Given, Paul Pierce praised the Hornets for their stellar play. Unsurprisingly, he managed to tie it back to his beloved Boston Celtics.
“What I’ve seen from the Charlotte Hornets is now I’ve seen some leadership at the coaching position,” Pierce said. “Charles Lee, who comes from the Boston Celtics, the top assistant, they brought him over, which was a great move. So now he’s been able to bring some culture over there.”
Pierce pointed to one specific decision from Lee that kick-started this Hornets run. “I think it all started where he benched LaMelo, so that sets a standard for the rest of the team,” he said.
“I think when he did that and had him coming off the bench, there was some confusion. Everyone was like, ‘Is Melo gonna get traded?’ But what it really did, it seems like it brought them together. It humbled him,” added Pierce.
Pierce is not the only one high on the Hornets these days. Charles Barkley recently guaranteed that they would make the play-in. Bill Simmons, who has been touting them all year as one of his favorite League Pass teams, had Knueppel on as a guest for the second time to talk about what’s been going right.
Pierce summed up what we’ve all been seeing with our own eyes. “For the first time in probably 15 years, we’re seeing a Charlotte team that looks like it has a future,” he said.
This current six-game winning streak is the Hornets’ longest since 2016. And with such a young nucleus that continues to get better, this really looks like it could be the start of something.
Hornets fans haven’t had a lot to cheer about since Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, and Muggsy Bogues were roaming the court. It’s been a long time coming, but the future finally looks bright.
