UPDATE 8:38 pm: NBA Commissioner David Stern made it official — the NBA owners have approved the name change of the Charlotte Bobcats back to the Hornets.
The change will take place after the 2013-14 season, so you’ve got one more year of Bobcats but the change the people of Charlotte wanted is coming home again. Great win for the city.
2:49 pm: Michael Jordan already announced the Charlotte Bobcats would change their name to the Charlotte Hornets, but the switch requires league approval.
That shouldn’t be a problem.
Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer:The NBA’s rubber stamp will hit the Charlotte Bobcats’ request for a name change to the Hornets at a Board of Governor’s meeting Thursday at the Wynn resort in Las Vegas.
The Bobcats technically need approval from a majority of the league’s other 29 teams to take on the name of Charlotte’s original NBA team. But it’s clear there won’t be resistance, after the New Orleans franchise gave up that nickname to be called the Pelicans.
Incoming NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said twice during visits to Charlotte that he is for this name change if Bobcats owner Michael Jordan wants it. And outgoing Commissioner David Stern advocated a name change, according to a source familiar with Stern’s thinking.I love this change and can’t wait until 2014, when it takes effect. Bobcats was a lame name without meaning besides sharing a syllable with the team’s former owner. Hornets has a centuries’ old history in Charlotte and is a much better fit.
