August 4, 2023 • 25 mins
The Hornets new ownership group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall met with the Charlotte media after purchasing a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets. Sam Farber and Rob Longo take you through the introductory press conference, review the thank you letter from outgoing majority stakeholder Michael Jordan, and talk about the future ahead with the new team in charge.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Hornets Highcast presented by Charlotte I Ear
Nose and Throat Associates, the official I ear nosen throat
Care provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornet Time Cast, your
Hornets podcast with all the notes Cooke, Dan daily buzz
around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it
is a pleasure and a privileged to have you with
us here once again on the Hornet Time Cast, brought
to you by Santa Charlotte I Ear Nose and Throat Associates,
the official I ear nos and throat Care provider of
the Charlotte Hornets. A very busy day for the Charlotte Hornets.
(00:39):
A significant one in this franchise is history. A group
led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall has finalized purchase
of a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan.
Both men met the Charlotte media as well as many
of the team members yesterday. We are gonna let you
hear from both Rick and Gabe talk a little bit
about the man there making over for Michael Jordan and
(01:01):
his outgoing message to the city of Charlotte and the
greater Hornets fan base and community, and we'll talk about
what's to come in the future. Helping me on all
of these topics is my producer from the Hornets Radio
Network as well as the producer of this fine podcast,
Rob Longo. Rob, thanks for joining me. A big day
to say the least here for the Charlotte Hornets.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Yeah, super busy day yesterday here at Spectrum Center. But
an exciting day, very exciting to hear from the new
owners and what they had to say. And of course
we'll play all the highlights from that press conference that
took place yesterday at the main lobby of Spectrum Center.
But excited to get this one underway because there is
a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
There, definitely is, and the mood I thought had a
lot of joy too, and a lot of optimism for
the future. It was just a really a great tone
set by both of the new majority stakeholders, Rick Schnall
and Gabe Plotkin taking over controlling steak in the Charlotte Hornets.
There's too many quotes, quite frankly, from them both to
(01:59):
do justice and I fill the entire podcast. I encourage
all of you. You can hear the entire press conference.
Go to Hornets dot com and you can see everything.
Both men had to say their answers to questions from
the Charlotte reporting community. But I thought you and I
would take turns. You know, we're almost in fantasy football
draft season, so we'll do snake draft style. Will each
pick a quote from each owner and talk about what
(02:20):
it meant to us. So I'm going to lead things
off here. We'll begin with Rick Schnall, who led off
the press conference, and I really appreciated this quote that
he had to say, looking at how this team, this franchise,
it's not a toy for any one or two or
twenty people to have as their own, but it's a
community asset, something that he spoke about during the press conference.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
We do appreciate that this is a community asset. We
are in partnership with our fans, We're in partnership with
the city. It's our job to be great stewards for
all of you and this city, and our obligation is
to do the best job as we count as stewards.
And we have a single simple goal, which is to
create the premier franchise in the NBA, and we should
(03:05):
have that expectation. All of us should have that expectation.
We will strive to create that for all of us
as we go forward.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
Rob I just love this quote.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I think he had the perfect outlook on what it
is to be in this role for a team. Obviously,
he and Gabe and the ownership group, they're going to
have as big a role as any, if not the
biggest role in determining the long term future of the franchise.
But seeing themselves, as he said, stewards of the franchise,
(03:34):
partner with the city and partners with the fan base
that support and love the team as much as they
clearly do to have this kind of investment. I think
that's what was so great about Michael Jordan and his
tenure as majority owner. And we'll get more into that later,
but how important the history and the colors and the
name and all of that was an appreciation for all
that and making sure those were linked to Charlotte. So
(03:56):
for Rick to basically open talking about the community about
Creative being the premier franchise, striving to create a champion
with and for Charlotte, I just love that. I think
it's everything that you want to hear from the people
coming in to take over your franchise, Rob, what did
you think of that quote? And what was your favorite
Rick schnaw quote from his opening press conference?
Speaker 3 (04:17):
So to go off of that quote that you just
played there from Rick, I think the biggest thing for
me is the fact that he talked so much about
that community membership and how local owners matter, and he
saw that firsthand when he was a minority owner in Atlanta,
and how that worked and how it worked in the
favor of that franchise, and how they were able to
turn it around from a financial standpoint, and the fact,
quite frankly, that they got more competitive on the court
(04:39):
as well, And obviously that's what all of us are
hoping happens here into Queens City. Also, a lot of
health would be really nice too, based off of last season.
But the other thing too there is the fact that
there's this diverse ownership group. You still have Michael Jordan
hands on of course as a minority owner, guys like
Eric Church and j Colt, and there's more local owners
in there as well. So that was a really good
(04:59):
quot vote. And I really like how Rick is able
to focus and hone in on that and how it's
going to be a very important part for this ownership
group moving forward. But for me, my favorite quote from
Rich and al yesterday was probably the one where we
talked about the upcoming arena renovations that we could see
in the future here at Spectrum Center.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
This facility is going to be dramatically different two years
from now, three years from now, it will feel different.
It'll be a great experience for fans. We'll have many
new areas and exciting places for people to go. It'll
have a North Carolina feel that is underway, that has
agreed to the city has agreed to put the capital in,
and the project is well underway. It will start in
(05:35):
earnest this summer in the back of the house, but
next summer we'll start to see very major changes. I'd
also say that it stated the art and the NBA
to have a standalone practice facility. We do not, and
so our intention is to have one, and the conversations
are ongoing with the city. The city has been an
unbelievable partner to the team. Obviously as part of the
(05:59):
agreement for the arena renovation, where you've agreed to stay
in Charlotte and in this facility until twenty forty five,
which is a significant commitment, and we would expect over
time to have a practice facility that our players say, hey,
this is one of the best practice facilities in the league.
It's really really good to come here. We want to
come here a lot. It's important, it's really important in
(06:20):
terms of player development.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I think that's just absolutely what you want to hear
from new ownership is the fact that they aren't coming
in to buy the team just to buy the team
to turn a profit. They want to invest in this team.
They want to invest in the community, they want to
invest in the city. Because again, at the end of
the day, as much as this is a Hornets podcast,
this is also a community building. At Spectrum Center. It
has multiple events a year. You have high school graduations here,
you have concerts. It's a community building. So the fact
(06:44):
that this ownership group wants to come in and improve
the building, they want to improve the facilities, that's exactly
what you want to hear because at the end of
the day, those investments should take care of themselves in
terms of just on court success and bringing in more
fans and getting fans excited about coming to a brand
new arena, are an arena that feels basically brand new
when all these renovations are all said and done. So again,
(07:05):
a lot of exciting stuff going on here at Spectrum Center. Heck,
maybe we will even have a brand new studio to
bring more podcast magic to Hornets fans here in future.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
You never know, you never know, it could happen. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I like that quote too, and how it's about things
that'll make the team better, things for the players, for
the front office to help them do their jobs better,
but also talking about that Carolina feel and the things
they want to implement in terms of arena upgrades and
changing the footprint and all of that. It's not just
for the players, it's for the fans. It's for the
(07:36):
community and having that being a focal point of their
opening press conference. I agree with you significant there as well.
All Right, those are two of our favorites.
Speaker 5 (07:44):
From rich Naal.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Again, you can check out the entire press conference. His
majority partner as a new controlling stakeholder in the Charlotte Hornets,
Gabe Plotkin, was up there as well. Rob your favorite
quote from Gabe Plotkin during the opening introductory press conference.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
I'm sure there's some fans out there that might not
like this, but Gabe did a really good job kind
of laying out the process of building a franchise and
having some patients and preaching that patience, which again is
a virtue that a lot of people don't have. I
personally don't have a lot of patients, but Gay Plotkin
talking about how that needs to be a pillar to
build this success and build this team moving forward.
Speaker 6 (08:18):
You know, winning takes a lot of parts. You know,
it takes a lot of structure, it takes a lot
of process. It doesn't happen overnight. You have to build
the right foundation for success. And you know, we'll be
really patient owners. You know, we'll try to position the
business for success over the long term, try to make
smart decisions. And I think, you know, we want to
be great in sort of the different components of building
(08:39):
a good basketball team, whether that's analytics or player development,
or strategy or sports and performance. And I think you know, ultimately,
you know, if we become great in all those areas,
it will manifest itself on the basketball court.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
I love that. I love the analytical approach. I love
taking things to a very scientific approach and not just
some of the old school traditional things that you might
see from other franchises or those sorts of things. But
the thing that I liked there the most about what
Gabe talked about, and the thing that kind of clicked
in my head is just having that patience. As a
new owner, it's very easy to come in and want
to completely overhaul some sort of system or overhaul the
(09:16):
roster or anything like that. I really like the approach
that Gabe has here about preaching patients and just making
sure that everything needs to be done the right way
and not to just make a splash at the get
go and kind of build it up from there. So
it's just like Gabe said, it doesn't happen overnight. So
I really love how there's that plan, that concrete plan
for the future moving forward, and how there's a step
by step process to get to the mountaintop.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Well, it truly.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Doesn't happen overnight, and you can tell Gabe plot and
really believes in having the right process to get there.
Because my pick for a quote from him was one
where he was asked a question specifically from a media
member about making Charlotte more attractive to free agents doing
the things to have those big splashes that draw a
lot of headlines, and he immediately pivoted to what needs
(10:00):
to be done internally to make the franchise stronger, not
just to attract free agents, but to win in general.
Speaker 6 (10:06):
I think you look at what we have now and
it's it takes time and patience. But I think player
development is really important. I think, irrespective of what you're
trying to do on the free agency market, you need
to develop your own players. I mean, look at the
success Miami had last year, and they lost some of
those guys in the off season in terms of Max
Strews and Gabe Vincent. But I think it's really important
to be able to develop your own players. I also
(10:27):
think you want to have an attractive organization period. You
want to have a winning organization, and to the extent
you know, you do those things, you have a great
new practic facility, you're a winning culture. You know, free
agent's going to want to come here. It's a great city,
you know, it's it's a great climate. The ease of
getting around here is wonderful, great people. So you know,
I think those things will happen, and I don't think
(10:48):
there's one route or the other. But I think ultimately,
you know, player development will be a great focus, and
if the opportunity is there for free agency, and we'll
pursue that too.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I thought this was an absolute home run. I think
it just demonstrates how much he gets what it takes
to build a winner, because you look over the recent
history of the NBA and it's all about building from within,
making yourself the place that either people want to be
to come play for, or just finding the talent on
your own and building your core yourself. And that's all
(11:18):
that he was talking about there in terms of taking
all that's great about Charlotte as a city as a community,
adding on new things in terms of practice facilities and
working on the building and making the most desirable place
for current players and new players and free agents to
want to be in the future. I think again it
demonstrates that he gets it. You look over the history
(11:41):
the super teams, they just simply don't tend to work
out in the end. Even Miami's dynasty with Lebron, it
wouldn't have happened unless they had drafted and developed Dwayne
Wade to then attract Lebron. James and Chris Bosh to
come and play. So even though it was a team assembled,
there was a significant pillar that was already there in
the assembly might have happened somewhere else all together and
(12:01):
never at all had they not done their part in Miami.
So I think outside of like the Lakers getting Lebron
for their Bubble championship, maybe as well Lebron returning to
Cleveland the second time, I view that one a little differently,
but I suppose you could put that one into the
category the Raptors with Kawhi. That was a trade though,
so they obviously had the assets to get that finishing piece.
So the point of this is that outside of maybe
(12:24):
one guy changing franchises, over the last couple of decades,
every championship one has come through internal development. And yes,
you can add significant pieces to your puzzle, of course
you can do that, but you have to do the
internal stuff first. This is not a chicken and egg situation.
Gabe as one hundred percent right. You do the in
house stuff first and then the end results will end
(12:46):
up happening. Again, just a few of the quotes from
Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin. They take over a controlling
stake in the Charlotte Hornets, and you can hear their
full press conference available to you right now on Hornets
dot com.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
With those two.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Gentlemen taking over, we say thank you to Michael Jordan,
who stepped down as the majority stakeholder in the ownership group.
He still retains a minority share, but we're going to
let you hear some of the quotes in Michael Jordan's
message to the fans coming up next here on the
Hornets I've cast.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
First thing I wanted to do is thank Michael. Michael
obviously is the greatest basketball player of all time. He's
been an incredible partner to us during this negotiation, and
he obviously has set this business up for future success.
So we wanted to thank him for all that he's
done for the franchise. We also wanted to thank him
for staying in with us as a minority partner, and
(13:43):
so he's not leaving and he'll be around here hopefully
for a long time with us and as a partner.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Rich Nall's opening statement thanking Michael Jordan as Rick and
Gabe Plotkin have finalized purchase of a majority steak in
the Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan. As he indicated, Jordan
will retain a minority share and he'll remain an alternate
governor after thirteen years as the majority stakeholder in leading
this team, So it's not goodbye, it's thank you as
(14:10):
he transitions into another role. Sam Farber, Rob Longo here
with you on the Hornets. I'veecast and Rob Michael Jordan
said just that he wrote a letter to Charlotte that
was published. Should be easy to find. We encourage you
to go out and read the whole thing. But he
writes a letter to Charlotte saying again, thank you, but
not goodbye. He called owning an NBA franchise in his
home state of North Carolina and in a city that
(14:31):
he loves a dream come true. He thanked the fans
for their dedication and for the unforgettable moments that they
all shared. He did admit that on the court, the
team was not as successful as he and many of
the fans would have liked. The Ultimate Competitor, he was
certainly looking for a title, and the new group talked
about trying to fulfill that with him, with him as
a partnership, taking the team where they ultimately want to be.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
And that is winning championships.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
But when you tally up all the wins for the
franchise on and off the court, mj is unquestionably a
winner as an owner and a winner for Charlotte. He
brought the Hornets name, colors, history record book back to Charlotte.
That is such a significant thing. I can't imagine, as
someone who follows the organization closely, to look through the
record book and not see Muggsy Bogues and Del Curry
(15:17):
and Alonzo morning shots and think that those could belong
to another franchise just because the original Hornets team moved.
It boggles the mind, and that is unfortunately a reality
for a lot of other teams. So Michael Jordan doing that,
bringing that back to Charlotte, that meant a lot.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
He also renewed the focus.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
On Charlotte and the Carolinas in terms of things off
the court, helping out in times of needs such as
hurricane relief and during the COVID nineteen pandemic, as well
as every other day of the year, focusing on the
community pillars of education, hunger, military wellness. We're about to
have week of service here for Hornet Sports and Entertainment.
These things were so important and really connected the Charlotte
(15:56):
Hornets and the front office and the entire organization to
the community and vice versa. So finally, without a shadow
of a doubt, Rob Michael Jordan hands off the reins
of the franchise in the best shape on and off
the court of any enfranchise history. There is zero doubt
of that. They're not starting from scratch. They are starting
from strength. They got a great young core on the court.
(16:16):
Things are looking up. They're building not off last year's
twenty seven win team, but really off of an above
five hundred record from two years ago. Adding in the
number two overall pick in the draft, You've got LaMelo
Ball signed sealed for the long term future. I think
all around, this team in this franchise are in a great,
great position as Gabe Plockin and Ricktionnaal takeover. So thank you, Michael,
(16:38):
as he said, it's not goodbye, it's thank you as
we all move forward together.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Obviously, as an own of the first thing you want
to do is leave something better than you founded him.
Mj certainly did that. I mean the value of the team,
the success of the team has definitely taken a step
in a right direction. You talked about the heritage of
the Hornets and how that's definitely made to come back
with the original name, the original callers, the original images,
the original record books, all that stuff is great. That
renewed sense of community. I think every year it seems
(17:05):
like we hear that Michael is doing something in the community,
making these large donations to healthcare or education or any
other certain interest that MJ has. And of course, like
you said, it's not a goodbye, it's a thank you,
because he's definitely going to stay on as a minority owner.
And something that Rick nallingate Plokin talked about at the
press conference yesterday was the fact that anytime they need
any sort of guidance, anytime they have a question, Mike's
(17:27):
going to be there. He's going to be there to
answer those questions, provide that guidance, provide that advice. And
that's going to be really, really a huge advantage quite
frankly for these guys coming in, and of course they
definitely have the experience of being a minority owner. This
is their maiden voyage as a majority owner in a franchise,
but Michael has that experience that can certainly lean on
him and really use that to their advantage. So the
fact that Michael is staying on as a minority owner
(17:50):
is huge as well, I think, And again you can't
thank them enough for what he did for this community
and this organization, in this franchise.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Wrote a beautiful message to the city of Charlotte and
the Hornets community. Encourage you to find it and read
it for yourself, just as we encourage you to check
out Gay Plotkin and Rick Schnall's introductory press conference, both
available on Hornets dot com.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Coming up next.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Moving forward, what is the outlook as we look ahead
into the future here for the Hornets after the significant change.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
We'll talk about that next. Here on the Hornets, I've cast.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Sam Farmer Rob long Goo here with you on a
historic day in the history of the Charlotte Hornets. A
group led by Gay Plockin and Rick Schnall his finalized
purchase of a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets from
Michael Jordan. They were introduced to the media and the
Charlotte community in a press conference yesterday, and we again
encourage you to go check out the entire press conference.
(18:44):
Hear it from the men themselves, their excitement, their joy
to be taking over this proud franchise and in this
wonderful city, the Queen City Charlotte, North Carolina. In terms
of moving forward, rob we talked a lot about some
of the things that they really focused on. Big thing
is about the investment in the city, from the city,
a new practice facility, things that will help them compete
(19:06):
with other organizations in the NBA. And they touched on
how much the chatter is amongst NBA players about what
a great city Charlotte is. You can tell how many
players after they retire decide to live their lives in
Charlotte and build their families here. It's a great place.
But doing some of the other things to make them
just a little bit more competitive when looking at free agency,
(19:28):
when looking at all the things to do to attract players,
and that's a significant thing that they are going to
hit the ground running on. They've got a great head
start because so many plans were already in motion. But
they obviously have big plans for the city of Charlotte
and for the Hornets.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
And of course all that stuff is from the ground up.
Quite frankly, like we've talked about already, a couple times
on this podcast with gab Plockin mentioned about building those
bricks going with the sports performance, the facilities, the analytics,
and how it kind of trickles from the bottom all
the way up to the top because you got to
grow those roots somehow and that's the way to do it.
So really looking forward to these arena renovations as well,
(20:02):
Like I talked about, I thought that's going to be
a really really big piece of this team moving forward.
The commitment to be here for another twenty plus years
in this building is going to be great as well.
And I'm really excited for this practice facility because I
think the thing based off of the renderings that we've
seen so far, and again, a lot of stuff can
change and a lot of things can go in different directions,
but the idea is to kind of create this cultural district,
(20:23):
this entertainment district that you see other cities starting to do.
The one that pops out of my mind first and
foremost is Saint Louis with their baseball team. They have
a very big village, quite frankly, right outside the stadium
where there's restaurants and places to eat and some social
gatherings and there's even some housing there as well. So
I think if you're able to kind of replicate those
kind of areas and bring them to a neighborhood like
(20:45):
uptown here in Charlotte, I think it's going to really
revitalize certain areas of the city as well. And again,
Charlotte is just such a growing and flourishing city and
it just continues to grow and grow and grow. In
the fact that you're able to have more things to
do and you're able to build a sense of community
around the arena would make it quite an event for everybody, really,
whether it's a concert, whether it's a Hornets game on
(21:06):
a weeknight where you can go out and it's just
a whole event where you go out and you have
dinner and then you go to the game, and then
maybe you go out afterwards as well and stuff like that.
I just think that you are able to build up
that sense of community, and then the community itself is
really to take a lot of pride, and we know
how great Hornets fans already are, but if you're able
to really add some winning to that as well, it's
just gonna really take that. I don't want to say
(21:27):
product because it makes it sound like it's kind of
artificial because this is a team, this is a pillar
of the community. When you're able to just coincide with
one another and everybody is able to feel that success
at the same time, I mean, it just makes it
that special.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
I feel like, oh, without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
And as you indicated therein they talked about the plans
for the future, it's not just Okay, let's put something
nice in the locker room for the players, and it's
only for them.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
It's for everybody.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
And adding on to the footprint of the Hornets facilities,
updating things, upgrading things, it's for everybody. It's going to
make the Hornets more attractive for free agents, it's going
to make them more attractive to fans. It's going to
make the experience for everyone even better than it already is.
And just a lot of excitement here with this change
in stakeholders in the Charlotte Hornets and this shift, there's
(22:15):
just a lot to be excited about. Obviously, it's been
a busy and significant couple of weeks, and we've had
a lot of time to reflect on how we feel
about it, what it means.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
And I've thought a lot.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
About what does this period in time, this transition feel
like as someone who works for the organization and is
obviously a huge fan and follower of.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
The team and Rob. What I settled on is.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
That this change in ownership, it feels to me like
going to college. You're overwhelmingly excited. You're starting a new chapter.
Someone wanted you, they recruited you, they accepted you. They
want to be a part of your future and for
you to be a part of their future. That's the
first and overrunning emotion you get when this kind of
change happens. Clearly there was a huge investment made by
(23:00):
Gabe Plotkin, Rick Shnall and their partners. They want to
be a part of this here in this city. That
is huge, and you feel that that joy, that excitement
that they have.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
There's also some fear.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Of the unknown when you're going to college mixed in,
and there's a lot of looking back at mom and
dad and you're grateful for all they did for you
and the road you travel to get here, and you
take time to appreciate the journey you've been on and
how far you've come. But ultimately it all comes back
to looking forward and you have hope and optimism and enthusiasm,
and that's all that I think we're all feeling right
(23:31):
now as members of the Hornets team here as we
look to the future this franchise led by Rick Shnall
and Gabe Plotkin, so we couldn't be more excited.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
We welcome them.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
We look forward to having them in studio with us
on the Hornets Hive Cast soon and often, as we
celebrate all the winds to come in the future as
this organization continues to move in the right direction. One
last time, encourage you to go to Hornets dot com,
Hornets Social media go and check out the entire press conference.
See Michael Jordan's message to the commune unity as he
steps down from the majority leader of the ownership team
(24:04):
to now a minority share. Lots of great stuff there
and ultimately positivity looking into the future for Hornet Sports
and Entertainment. Rob Loongo, thanks as always for joining me
here on the HHC and particularly this one a very
special episode of the Hornetshope Cast.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Thanks for having me as always excited to talk about
this one. Just a very exciting time here in buzz
City with everything going on, and happy to be a
part of it.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Looking ahead, We're still kind of on this wait for
news mode here for the hornetshop Cast, So when the
schedule comes out, when more free agency news comes out,
you know we'll have you covered right here on the
HHC till next time. For Rob Longo and all of us,
I'm Sam Farber saying it's been a pleasure and a
privilege having you along. Welcome to Gabe Plock and Rick
Snall and the entire group that now have the controlling
(24:48):
interest in the Charlotte Hornets. Welcome to the family and
we look forward to talking more about them and the
team on the next edition of the Hornetshopecast.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Thank you for listening to the Hornets Hypecast, brought to
you by Senta, the official i ear nosenthroat care provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot
com m h
Speaker 6 (25:11):
M
Welcome to the Hornets Highcast presented by Charlotte I Ear
Nose and Throat Associates, the official I ear nosen throat
Care provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to another edition of the Hornet Time Cast, your
Hornets podcast with all the notes Cooke, Dan daily buzz
around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it
is a pleasure and a privileged to have you with
us here once again on the Hornet Time Cast, brought
to you by Santa Charlotte I Ear Nose and Throat Associates,
the official I ear nos and throat Care provider of
the Charlotte Hornets. A very busy day for the Charlotte Hornets.
(00:39):
A significant one in this franchise is history. A group
led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall has finalized purchase
of a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan.
Both men met the Charlotte media as well as many
of the team members yesterday. We are gonna let you
hear from both Rick and Gabe talk a little bit
about the man there making over for Michael Jordan and
(01:01):
his outgoing message to the city of Charlotte and the
greater Hornets fan base and community, and we'll talk about
what's to come in the future. Helping me on all
of these topics is my producer from the Hornets Radio
Network as well as the producer of this fine podcast,
Rob Longo. Rob, thanks for joining me. A big day
to say the least here for the Charlotte Hornets.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Yeah, super busy day yesterday here at Spectrum Center. But
an exciting day, very exciting to hear from the new
owners and what they had to say. And of course
we'll play all the highlights from that press conference that
took place yesterday at the main lobby of Spectrum Center.
But excited to get this one underway because there is
a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
There, definitely is, and the mood I thought had a
lot of joy too, and a lot of optimism for
the future. It was just a really a great tone
set by both of the new majority stakeholders, Rick Schnall
and Gabe Plotkin taking over controlling steak in the Charlotte Hornets.
There's too many quotes, quite frankly, from them both to
(01:59):
do justice and I fill the entire podcast. I encourage
all of you. You can hear the entire press conference.
Go to Hornets dot com and you can see everything.
Both men had to say their answers to questions from
the Charlotte reporting community. But I thought you and I
would take turns. You know, we're almost in fantasy football
draft season, so we'll do snake draft style. Will each
pick a quote from each owner and talk about what
(02:20):
it meant to us. So I'm going to lead things
off here. We'll begin with Rick Schnall, who led off
the press conference, and I really appreciated this quote that
he had to say, looking at how this team, this franchise,
it's not a toy for any one or two or
twenty people to have as their own, but it's a
community asset, something that he spoke about during the press conference.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
We do appreciate that this is a community asset. We
are in partnership with our fans, We're in partnership with
the city. It's our job to be great stewards for
all of you and this city, and our obligation is
to do the best job as we count as stewards.
And we have a single simple goal, which is to
create the premier franchise in the NBA, and we should
(03:05):
have that expectation. All of us should have that expectation.
We will strive to create that for all of us
as we go forward.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
Rob I just love this quote.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I think he had the perfect outlook on what it
is to be in this role for a team. Obviously,
he and Gabe and the ownership group, they're going to
have as big a role as any, if not the
biggest role in determining the long term future of the franchise.
But seeing themselves, as he said, stewards of the franchise,
(03:34):
partner with the city and partners with the fan base
that support and love the team as much as they
clearly do to have this kind of investment. I think
that's what was so great about Michael Jordan and his
tenure as majority owner. And we'll get more into that later,
but how important the history and the colors and the
name and all of that was an appreciation for all
that and making sure those were linked to Charlotte. So
(03:56):
for Rick to basically open talking about the community about
Creative being the premier franchise, striving to create a champion
with and for Charlotte, I just love that. I think
it's everything that you want to hear from the people
coming in to take over your franchise, Rob, what did
you think of that quote? And what was your favorite
Rick schnaw quote from his opening press conference?
Speaker 3 (04:17):
So to go off of that quote that you just
played there from Rick, I think the biggest thing for
me is the fact that he talked so much about
that community membership and how local owners matter, and he
saw that firsthand when he was a minority owner in Atlanta,
and how that worked and how it worked in the
favor of that franchise, and how they were able to
turn it around from a financial standpoint, and the fact,
quite frankly, that they got more competitive on the court
(04:39):
as well, And obviously that's what all of us are
hoping happens here into Queens City. Also, a lot of
health would be really nice too, based off of last season.
But the other thing too there is the fact that
there's this diverse ownership group. You still have Michael Jordan
hands on of course as a minority owner, guys like
Eric Church and j Colt, and there's more local owners
in there as well. So that was a really good
(04:59):
quot vote. And I really like how Rick is able
to focus and hone in on that and how it's
going to be a very important part for this ownership
group moving forward. But for me, my favorite quote from
Rich and al yesterday was probably the one where we
talked about the upcoming arena renovations that we could see
in the future here at Spectrum Center.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
This facility is going to be dramatically different two years
from now, three years from now, it will feel different.
It'll be a great experience for fans. We'll have many
new areas and exciting places for people to go. It'll
have a North Carolina feel that is underway, that has
agreed to the city has agreed to put the capital in,
and the project is well underway. It will start in
(05:35):
earnest this summer in the back of the house, but
next summer we'll start to see very major changes. I'd
also say that it stated the art and the NBA
to have a standalone practice facility. We do not, and
so our intention is to have one, and the conversations
are ongoing with the city. The city has been an
unbelievable partner to the team. Obviously as part of the
(05:59):
agreement for the arena renovation, where you've agreed to stay
in Charlotte and in this facility until twenty forty five,
which is a significant commitment, and we would expect over
time to have a practice facility that our players say, hey,
this is one of the best practice facilities in the league.
It's really really good to come here. We want to
come here a lot. It's important, it's really important in
(06:20):
terms of player development.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I think that's just absolutely what you want to hear
from new ownership is the fact that they aren't coming
in to buy the team just to buy the team
to turn a profit. They want to invest in this team.
They want to invest in the community, they want to
invest in the city. Because again, at the end of
the day, as much as this is a Hornets podcast,
this is also a community building. At Spectrum Center. It
has multiple events a year. You have high school graduations here,
you have concerts. It's a community building. So the fact
(06:44):
that this ownership group wants to come in and improve
the building, they want to improve the facilities, that's exactly
what you want to hear because at the end of
the day, those investments should take care of themselves in
terms of just on court success and bringing in more
fans and getting fans excited about coming to a brand
new arena, are an arena that feels basically brand new
when all these renovations are all said and done. So again,
(07:05):
a lot of exciting stuff going on here at Spectrum Center. Heck,
maybe we will even have a brand new studio to
bring more podcast magic to Hornets fans here in future.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
You never know, you never know, it could happen. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I like that quote too, and how it's about things
that'll make the team better, things for the players, for
the front office to help them do their jobs better,
but also talking about that Carolina feel and the things
they want to implement in terms of arena upgrades and
changing the footprint and all of that. It's not just
for the players, it's for the fans. It's for the
(07:36):
community and having that being a focal point of their
opening press conference. I agree with you significant there as well.
All Right, those are two of our favorites.
Speaker 5 (07:44):
From rich Naal.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Again, you can check out the entire press conference. His
majority partner as a new controlling stakeholder in the Charlotte Hornets,
Gabe Plotkin, was up there as well. Rob your favorite
quote from Gabe Plotkin during the opening introductory press conference.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
I'm sure there's some fans out there that might not
like this, but Gabe did a really good job kind
of laying out the process of building a franchise and
having some patients and preaching that patience, which again is
a virtue that a lot of people don't have. I
personally don't have a lot of patients, but Gay Plotkin
talking about how that needs to be a pillar to
build this success and build this team moving forward.
Speaker 6 (08:18):
You know, winning takes a lot of parts. You know,
it takes a lot of structure, it takes a lot
of process. It doesn't happen overnight. You have to build
the right foundation for success. And you know, we'll be
really patient owners. You know, we'll try to position the
business for success over the long term, try to make
smart decisions. And I think, you know, we want to
be great in sort of the different components of building
(08:39):
a good basketball team, whether that's analytics or player development,
or strategy or sports and performance. And I think you know, ultimately,
you know, if we become great in all those areas,
it will manifest itself on the basketball court.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
I love that. I love the analytical approach. I love
taking things to a very scientific approach and not just
some of the old school traditional things that you might
see from other franchises or those sorts of things. But
the thing that I liked there the most about what
Gabe talked about, and the thing that kind of clicked
in my head is just having that patience. As a
new owner, it's very easy to come in and want
to completely overhaul some sort of system or overhaul the
(09:16):
roster or anything like that. I really like the approach
that Gabe has here about preaching patients and just making
sure that everything needs to be done the right way
and not to just make a splash at the get
go and kind of build it up from there. So
it's just like Gabe said, it doesn't happen overnight. So
I really love how there's that plan, that concrete plan
for the future moving forward, and how there's a step
by step process to get to the mountaintop.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Well, it truly.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Doesn't happen overnight, and you can tell Gabe plot and
really believes in having the right process to get there.
Because my pick for a quote from him was one
where he was asked a question specifically from a media
member about making Charlotte more attractive to free agents doing
the things to have those big splashes that draw a
lot of headlines, and he immediately pivoted to what needs
(10:00):
to be done internally to make the franchise stronger, not
just to attract free agents, but to win in general.
Speaker 6 (10:06):
I think you look at what we have now and
it's it takes time and patience. But I think player
development is really important. I think, irrespective of what you're
trying to do on the free agency market, you need
to develop your own players. I mean, look at the
success Miami had last year, and they lost some of
those guys in the off season in terms of Max
Strews and Gabe Vincent. But I think it's really important
to be able to develop your own players. I also
(10:27):
think you want to have an attractive organization period. You
want to have a winning organization, and to the extent
you know, you do those things, you have a great
new practic facility, you're a winning culture. You know, free
agent's going to want to come here. It's a great city,
you know, it's it's a great climate. The ease of
getting around here is wonderful, great people. So you know,
I think those things will happen, and I don't think
(10:48):
there's one route or the other. But I think ultimately,
you know, player development will be a great focus, and
if the opportunity is there for free agency, and we'll
pursue that too.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I thought this was an absolute home run. I think
it just demonstrates how much he gets what it takes
to build a winner, because you look over the recent
history of the NBA and it's all about building from within,
making yourself the place that either people want to be
to come play for, or just finding the talent on
your own and building your core yourself. And that's all
(11:18):
that he was talking about there in terms of taking
all that's great about Charlotte as a city as a community,
adding on new things in terms of practice facilities and
working on the building and making the most desirable place
for current players and new players and free agents to
want to be in the future. I think again it
demonstrates that he gets it. You look over the history
(11:41):
the super teams, they just simply don't tend to work
out in the end. Even Miami's dynasty with Lebron, it
wouldn't have happened unless they had drafted and developed Dwayne
Wade to then attract Lebron. James and Chris Bosh to
come and play. So even though it was a team assembled,
there was a significant pillar that was already there in
the assembly might have happened somewhere else all together and
(12:01):
never at all had they not done their part in Miami.
So I think outside of like the Lakers getting Lebron
for their Bubble championship, maybe as well Lebron returning to
Cleveland the second time, I view that one a little differently,
but I suppose you could put that one into the
category the Raptors with Kawhi. That was a trade though,
so they obviously had the assets to get that finishing piece.
So the point of this is that outside of maybe
(12:24):
one guy changing franchises, over the last couple of decades,
every championship one has come through internal development. And yes,
you can add significant pieces to your puzzle, of course
you can do that, but you have to do the
internal stuff first. This is not a chicken and egg situation.
Gabe as one hundred percent right. You do the in
house stuff first and then the end results will end
(12:46):
up happening. Again, just a few of the quotes from
Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin. They take over a controlling
stake in the Charlotte Hornets, and you can hear their
full press conference available to you right now on Hornets
dot com.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
With those two.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Gentlemen taking over, we say thank you to Michael Jordan,
who stepped down as the majority stakeholder in the ownership group.
He still retains a minority share, but we're going to
let you hear some of the quotes in Michael Jordan's
message to the fans coming up next here on the
Hornets I've cast.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
First thing I wanted to do is thank Michael. Michael
obviously is the greatest basketball player of all time. He's
been an incredible partner to us during this negotiation, and
he obviously has set this business up for future success.
So we wanted to thank him for all that he's
done for the franchise. We also wanted to thank him
for staying in with us as a minority partner, and
(13:43):
so he's not leaving and he'll be around here hopefully
for a long time with us and as a partner.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Rich Nall's opening statement thanking Michael Jordan as Rick and
Gabe Plotkin have finalized purchase of a majority steak in
the Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan. As he indicated, Jordan
will retain a minority share and he'll remain an alternate
governor after thirteen years as the majority stakeholder in leading
this team, So it's not goodbye, it's thank you as
(14:10):
he transitions into another role. Sam Farber, Rob Longo here
with you on the Hornets. I'veecast and Rob Michael Jordan
said just that he wrote a letter to Charlotte that
was published. Should be easy to find. We encourage you
to go out and read the whole thing. But he
writes a letter to Charlotte saying again, thank you, but
not goodbye. He called owning an NBA franchise in his
home state of North Carolina and in a city that
(14:31):
he loves a dream come true. He thanked the fans
for their dedication and for the unforgettable moments that they
all shared. He did admit that on the court, the
team was not as successful as he and many of
the fans would have liked. The Ultimate Competitor, he was
certainly looking for a title, and the new group talked
about trying to fulfill that with him, with him as
a partnership, taking the team where they ultimately want to be.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
And that is winning championships.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
But when you tally up all the wins for the
franchise on and off the court, mj is unquestionably a
winner as an owner and a winner for Charlotte. He
brought the Hornets name, colors, history record book back to Charlotte.
That is such a significant thing. I can't imagine, as
someone who follows the organization closely, to look through the
record book and not see Muggsy Bogues and Del Curry
(15:17):
and Alonzo morning shots and think that those could belong
to another franchise just because the original Hornets team moved.
It boggles the mind, and that is unfortunately a reality
for a lot of other teams. So Michael Jordan doing that,
bringing that back to Charlotte, that meant a lot.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
He also renewed the focus.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
On Charlotte and the Carolinas in terms of things off
the court, helping out in times of needs such as
hurricane relief and during the COVID nineteen pandemic, as well
as every other day of the year, focusing on the
community pillars of education, hunger, military wellness. We're about to
have week of service here for Hornet Sports and Entertainment.
These things were so important and really connected the Charlotte
(15:56):
Hornets and the front office and the entire organization to
the community and vice versa. So finally, without a shadow
of a doubt, Rob Michael Jordan hands off the reins
of the franchise in the best shape on and off
the court of any enfranchise history. There is zero doubt
of that. They're not starting from scratch. They are starting
from strength. They got a great young core on the court.
(16:16):
Things are looking up. They're building not off last year's
twenty seven win team, but really off of an above
five hundred record from two years ago. Adding in the
number two overall pick in the draft, You've got LaMelo
Ball signed sealed for the long term future. I think
all around, this team in this franchise are in a great,
great position as Gabe Plockin and Ricktionnaal takeover. So thank you, Michael,
(16:38):
as he said, it's not goodbye, it's thank you as
we all move forward together.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Obviously, as an own of the first thing you want
to do is leave something better than you founded him.
Mj certainly did that. I mean the value of the team,
the success of the team has definitely taken a step
in a right direction. You talked about the heritage of
the Hornets and how that's definitely made to come back
with the original name, the original callers, the original images,
the original record books, all that stuff is great. That
renewed sense of community. I think every year it seems
(17:05):
like we hear that Michael is doing something in the community,
making these large donations to healthcare or education or any
other certain interest that MJ has. And of course, like
you said, it's not a goodbye, it's a thank you,
because he's definitely going to stay on as a minority owner.
And something that Rick nallingate Plokin talked about at the
press conference yesterday was the fact that anytime they need
any sort of guidance, anytime they have a question, Mike's
(17:27):
going to be there. He's going to be there to
answer those questions, provide that guidance, provide that advice. And
that's going to be really, really a huge advantage quite
frankly for these guys coming in, and of course they
definitely have the experience of being a minority owner. This
is their maiden voyage as a majority owner in a franchise,
but Michael has that experience that can certainly lean on
him and really use that to their advantage. So the
fact that Michael is staying on as a minority owner
(17:50):
is huge as well, I think, And again you can't
thank them enough for what he did for this community
and this organization, in this franchise.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Wrote a beautiful message to the city of Charlotte and
the Hornets community. Encourage you to find it and read
it for yourself, just as we encourage you to check
out Gay Plotkin and Rick Schnall's introductory press conference, both
available on Hornets dot com.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Coming up next.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Moving forward, what is the outlook as we look ahead
into the future here for the Hornets after the significant change.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
We'll talk about that next. Here on the Hornets, I've cast.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Sam Farmer Rob long Goo here with you on a
historic day in the history of the Charlotte Hornets. A
group led by Gay Plockin and Rick Schnall his finalized
purchase of a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets from
Michael Jordan. They were introduced to the media and the
Charlotte community in a press conference yesterday, and we again
encourage you to go check out the entire press conference.
(18:44):
Hear it from the men themselves, their excitement, their joy
to be taking over this proud franchise and in this
wonderful city, the Queen City Charlotte, North Carolina. In terms
of moving forward, rob we talked a lot about some
of the things that they really focused on. Big thing
is about the investment in the city, from the city,
a new practice facility, things that will help them compete
(19:06):
with other organizations in the NBA. And they touched on
how much the chatter is amongst NBA players about what
a great city Charlotte is. You can tell how many
players after they retire decide to live their lives in
Charlotte and build their families here. It's a great place.
But doing some of the other things to make them
just a little bit more competitive when looking at free agency,
(19:28):
when looking at all the things to do to attract players,
and that's a significant thing that they are going to
hit the ground running on. They've got a great head
start because so many plans were already in motion. But
they obviously have big plans for the city of Charlotte
and for the Hornets.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
And of course all that stuff is from the ground up.
Quite frankly, like we've talked about already, a couple times
on this podcast with gab Plockin mentioned about building those
bricks going with the sports performance, the facilities, the analytics,
and how it kind of trickles from the bottom all
the way up to the top because you got to
grow those roots somehow and that's the way to do it.
So really looking forward to these arena renovations as well,
(20:02):
Like I talked about, I thought that's going to be
a really really big piece of this team moving forward.
The commitment to be here for another twenty plus years
in this building is going to be great as well.
And I'm really excited for this practice facility because I
think the thing based off of the renderings that we've
seen so far, and again, a lot of stuff can
change and a lot of things can go in different directions,
but the idea is to kind of create this cultural district,
(20:23):
this entertainment district that you see other cities starting to do.
The one that pops out of my mind first and
foremost is Saint Louis with their baseball team. They have
a very big village, quite frankly, right outside the stadium
where there's restaurants and places to eat and some social
gatherings and there's even some housing there as well. So
I think if you're able to kind of replicate those
kind of areas and bring them to a neighborhood like
(20:45):
uptown here in Charlotte, I think it's going to really
revitalize certain areas of the city as well. And again,
Charlotte is just such a growing and flourishing city and
it just continues to grow and grow and grow. In
the fact that you're able to have more things to
do and you're able to build a sense of community
around the arena would make it quite an event for everybody, really,
whether it's a concert, whether it's a Hornets game on
(21:06):
a weeknight where you can go out and it's just
a whole event where you go out and you have
dinner and then you go to the game, and then
maybe you go out afterwards as well and stuff like that.
I just think that you are able to build up
that sense of community, and then the community itself is
really to take a lot of pride, and we know
how great Hornets fans already are, but if you're able
to really add some winning to that as well, it's
just gonna really take that. I don't want to say
(21:27):
product because it makes it sound like it's kind of
artificial because this is a team, this is a pillar
of the community. When you're able to just coincide with
one another and everybody is able to feel that success
at the same time, I mean, it just makes it
that special.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
I feel like, oh, without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
And as you indicated therein they talked about the plans
for the future, it's not just Okay, let's put something
nice in the locker room for the players, and it's
only for them.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
It's for everybody.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
And adding on to the footprint of the Hornets facilities,
updating things, upgrading things, it's for everybody. It's going to
make the Hornets more attractive for free agents, it's going
to make them more attractive to fans. It's going to
make the experience for everyone even better than it already is.
And just a lot of excitement here with this change
in stakeholders in the Charlotte Hornets and this shift, there's
(22:15):
just a lot to be excited about. Obviously, it's been
a busy and significant couple of weeks, and we've had
a lot of time to reflect on how we feel
about it, what it means.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
And I've thought a lot.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
About what does this period in time, this transition feel
like as someone who works for the organization and is
obviously a huge fan and follower of.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
The team and Rob. What I settled on is.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
That this change in ownership, it feels to me like
going to college. You're overwhelmingly excited. You're starting a new chapter.
Someone wanted you, they recruited you, they accepted you. They
want to be a part of your future and for
you to be a part of their future. That's the
first and overrunning emotion you get when this kind of
change happens. Clearly there was a huge investment made by
(23:00):
Gabe Plotkin, Rick Shnall and their partners. They want to
be a part of this here in this city. That
is huge, and you feel that that joy, that excitement
that they have.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
There's also some fear.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Of the unknown when you're going to college mixed in,
and there's a lot of looking back at mom and
dad and you're grateful for all they did for you
and the road you travel to get here, and you
take time to appreciate the journey you've been on and
how far you've come. But ultimately it all comes back
to looking forward and you have hope and optimism and enthusiasm,
and that's all that I think we're all feeling right
(23:31):
now as members of the Hornets team here as we
look to the future this franchise led by Rick Shnall
and Gabe Plotkin, so we couldn't be more excited.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
We welcome them.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
We look forward to having them in studio with us
on the Hornets Hive Cast soon and often, as we
celebrate all the winds to come in the future as
this organization continues to move in the right direction. One
last time, encourage you to go to Hornets dot com,
Hornets Social media go and check out the entire press conference.
See Michael Jordan's message to the commune unity as he
steps down from the majority leader of the ownership team
(24:04):
to now a minority share. Lots of great stuff there
and ultimately positivity looking into the future for Hornet Sports
and Entertainment. Rob Loongo, thanks as always for joining me
here on the HHC and particularly this one a very
special episode of the Hornetshope Cast.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Thanks for having me as always excited to talk about
this one. Just a very exciting time here in buzz
City with everything going on, and happy to be a
part of it.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Looking ahead, We're still kind of on this wait for
news mode here for the hornetshop Cast, So when the
schedule comes out, when more free agency news comes out,
you know we'll have you covered right here on the
HHC till next time. For Rob Longo and all of us,
I'm Sam Farber saying it's been a pleasure and a
privilege having you along. Welcome to Gabe Plock and Rick
Snall and the entire group that now have the controlling
(24:48):
interest in the Charlotte Hornets. Welcome to the family and
we look forward to talking more about them and the
team on the next edition of the Hornetshopecast.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Thank you for listening to the Hornets Hypecast, brought to
you by Senta, the official i ear nosenthroat care provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets dot
com m h
Speaker 6 (25:11):
M
Hosts And Creators
Sam Farber
Rob Longo
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