Postcard from 1989. Source: http://www.amandafromseattle.com/2011/04/mondays-postcard-old-charlotte-coliseum.html
Before the NBA made its presence in Charlotte, North Carolina, the city was small and lacked any big-time sports nearby. The sports culture in North Carolina centered on Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) college basketball, NASCAR, and professional wrestling, so many people doubted the area's ability and willingness to support a professional basketball team (Posnanski, 2013; “Charlotte hornets history,”).
George Shinn
Along came George Shin, a small-town Carolinian, self-made millionaire who wanted an NBA team in the rapidly-growing city of Charlotte. He originally went to New York to pitch the idea of a Major League Baseball team in Charlotte, which obviously never panned out. (Posnanski, 2013) However, he was successful with his professional basketball goal. According to former Hornets season ticket holder and Charlotte resident, John Barjode, George Shinn "was an enthusiastic owner" who "practically could have been elected Mayor of Charlotte in the early years." (Barjode, 2013)
The Charlotte Coliseum
Construction on The Charlotte Coliseum - later referred to as "The Hive" - began in 1986, when Charlotte had hopes of staying in the ACC basketball tournament rotation. Before the $52 million building was finished in 1988, the NBA granted George Shinn an expansion franchise, and The Charlotte Coliseum was the perfect home for this new team. At the time it was built, the Coliseum was a state-of-the-art arena and the largest in the league, seating 23,900 (Associated Press, 2007).
George Shinn
Along came George Shin, a small-town Carolinian, self-made millionaire who wanted an NBA team in the rapidly-growing city of Charlotte. He originally went to New York to pitch the idea of a Major League Baseball team in Charlotte, which obviously never panned out. (Posnanski, 2013) However, he was successful with his professional basketball goal. According to former Hornets season ticket holder and Charlotte resident, John Barjode, George Shinn "was an enthusiastic owner" who "practically could have been elected Mayor of Charlotte in the early years." (Barjode, 2013)
The Charlotte Coliseum
Construction on The Charlotte Coliseum - later referred to as "The Hive" - began in 1986, when Charlotte had hopes of staying in the ACC basketball tournament rotation. Before the $52 million building was finished in 1988, the NBA granted George Shinn an expansion franchise, and The Charlotte Coliseum was the perfect home for this new team. At the time it was built, the Coliseum was a state-of-the-art arena and the largest in the league, seating 23,900 (Associated Press, 2007).
1988 Charlotte Hornets Uniform Reveal. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2gMyjNiEVM
Alexander Julian
George Shinn's banker introduced him to a fashion designer from Chapel Hill, NC, Alexander Julian, who would later be credited with the creation of the legendary teal and purple color combination. It would be almost impossible to grow up in Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels, and not love basketball, and Julian was certainly a fan. The jersey design process in which Shinn included Julian encountered some early PR problems. Before there was any discussion of Julian's involvement in the uniform design, the fashion editor of the Charlotte Observer asked Shinn if the team's colors were chosen. Shinn told her he did not know but that they wanted to try to use the colors chosen by the architect of the stadium, which included pink. The fashion editor had an artist design a pink uniform, ran it in the newspaper, and the public's reaction was horrific. At the press conference announcing Julian as the uniform designer, the first 14 questions from the press were about whether or not he would use pink. When the main color of teal was revealed, Julian felt like [he] had dropped a teal bomb on Charlotte.” Housing developments and local businesses changed their logo color to teal and their names to include the word "teal." Julian described feeling "a little like Doctor Frankenstein. I had created a monster. It took off like crazy.” He decided “teal was ideal to use because it was fresh and new and exciting and looked good on every color of skin tone, from dark to light. Same with purple. Usually the stripes on jerseys were printed, but one of my touches was knitted stripes...And then I did multi-color trims because that was another of my signature touches.” Julian loved North Carolina barbeque, and told Shinn he would design the uniforms for free if Shinn FedExed five pounds of Carolina barbecue to his home in Connecticut every month. "An extra hundred grand didn’t mean anything to me in those days, and barbecue did.” (Berman, 2013)
Game Time
After the team's first NBA draft, the stage was set for the inaugural season. The city was deeply captivated with the Hornets. (Posnanski, 2013). Barjode recalls the excitement of Charlotte "'making it' to the big time. Since it was the only game in town, [he] got together with friends (including [his] college roommate from Boston who had thoughts of moving to Charlotte) to pay a deposit on season tickets." (Barjode, 2013) There were nearly 20,000 season ticket holders, and 4,000+ on a wait list. The enthusiasm was undeniable. The Hornets lost by 40 points, yet they received a standing ovation throughout the game. Former Hornet, Dell Curry, remembers, "they were standing pretty much the entire game. From that point on, you knew that the city and fans were going to be behind you" (Associated Press, 2007).
George Shinn's banker introduced him to a fashion designer from Chapel Hill, NC, Alexander Julian, who would later be credited with the creation of the legendary teal and purple color combination. It would be almost impossible to grow up in Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels, and not love basketball, and Julian was certainly a fan. The jersey design process in which Shinn included Julian encountered some early PR problems. Before there was any discussion of Julian's involvement in the uniform design, the fashion editor of the Charlotte Observer asked Shinn if the team's colors were chosen. Shinn told her he did not know but that they wanted to try to use the colors chosen by the architect of the stadium, which included pink. The fashion editor had an artist design a pink uniform, ran it in the newspaper, and the public's reaction was horrific. At the press conference announcing Julian as the uniform designer, the first 14 questions from the press were about whether or not he would use pink. When the main color of teal was revealed, Julian felt like [he] had dropped a teal bomb on Charlotte.” Housing developments and local businesses changed their logo color to teal and their names to include the word "teal." Julian described feeling "a little like Doctor Frankenstein. I had created a monster. It took off like crazy.” He decided “teal was ideal to use because it was fresh and new and exciting and looked good on every color of skin tone, from dark to light. Same with purple. Usually the stripes on jerseys were printed, but one of my touches was knitted stripes...And then I did multi-color trims because that was another of my signature touches.” Julian loved North Carolina barbeque, and told Shinn he would design the uniforms for free if Shinn FedExed five pounds of Carolina barbecue to his home in Connecticut every month. "An extra hundred grand didn’t mean anything to me in those days, and barbecue did.” (Berman, 2013)
Game Time
After the team's first NBA draft, the stage was set for the inaugural season. The city was deeply captivated with the Hornets. (Posnanski, 2013). Barjode recalls the excitement of Charlotte "'making it' to the big time. Since it was the only game in town, [he] got together with friends (including [his] college roommate from Boston who had thoughts of moving to Charlotte) to pay a deposit on season tickets." (Barjode, 2013) There were nearly 20,000 season ticket holders, and 4,000+ on a wait list. The enthusiasm was undeniable. The Hornets lost by 40 points, yet they received a standing ovation throughout the game. Former Hornet, Dell Curry, remembers, "they were standing pretty much the entire game. From that point on, you knew that the city and fans were going to be behind you" (Associated Press, 2007).