Category: Charlotte Hornets Blog

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins today announced that the team has re-signed restricted free agent forward/center Emeka Okafor to a multi-year deal.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“It was important for us to get a deal done,” Higgins said. “Securing Emeka demonstrates that Bob Johnson and the rest of our ownership group are committed to building a winning franchise in Charlotte. Any time you have a player who consistently ranks among the NBA’s best in rebounding and shot blocking, you want to keep a guy like that around.”

The second overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, Okafor earned 2004-05 NBA Rookie of the Year honors, becoming just the third player from an expansion team to win the award.  The 6-10 Okafor has played in 248 games over four seasons with the Bobcats, averaging 14.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots.

“This is a great opportunity for me to continue my NBA career with the franchise that selected me back in 2004,” Okafor said. “The Bobcats and the entire Charlotte community embraced me from day one, and it’s exciting to enter this season with a Hall of Fame coach and teammates who are committed to winning.”

Okafor is one of only four NBA players to average a double-double in each of the last four seasons, along with Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.  He is the Bobcats all-time leader in rebounds, blocked shots and double-doubles, and ranks second in scoring, field goal percentage and minutes played.  Okafor will enter the 2008-09 season with active franchise-record streaks of 93 consecutive games played and 92 consecutive games started.

Okafor averaged 13.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots during the 2007-08 season, while shooting a career-high .535 from the field and playing all 82 games for the first time in his career.  Okafor ranked sixth in the NBA in rebounding, tied for 10th in both blocked shots and double-doubles and 12th in field goal percentage.  He was one of 13 players in the NBA to average a double-double for the season.

In 2006-07, Okafor averaged 14.4 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks and was the only player in the NBA to rank in the top 10 in rebounds, blocked shots and double-doubles.  He blocked a career-high and franchise-record 10 shots on January 12, 2007, against the Knicks, setting a Madison Square Garden record and tying the NBA record of eight blocked shots in a half.  Okafor averaged 12.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in an injury-shortened 2005-06 season.  Despite playing in just 26 games due to an ankle injury, he still ranked second on the team with 16 double-doubles.

After becoming the first draft pick in Bobcats history, Okafor averaged 15.1 points and 10.9 rebounds in 2004-05, leading all rookies in both categories. One of 11 NBA players to average a double-double for the season, he ranked third in the league in offensive rebounds, fourth in rebounds and double-doubles and 14th in blocks.  Okafor was a three-time winner of the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award en route to Rookie of the Year honors.

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has re-signed restricted free agent center Ryan Hollins. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 50th overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft, Hollins appeared in 60 games with one start last season, averaging 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in 8.9 minutes.

The 7-0, 230-pound Hollins has appeared in 87 career games for the Bobcats, averaging 2.4 points and 1.6 rebounds. Hollins was assigned to the Fort Worth Flyers of the NBA Development League from November 22, 2006 to December 19, 2006, averaging 12.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in six games.

Bobcats Sports & Entertainment owns and operates the Charlotte Bobcats (NBA) and operates the widely-acclaimed Time Warner Cable Arena, which opened in the fall of 2005.

The AP reports: The superlatives kept streaming out of Larry Brown’s mouth: Terrific. Attentive. Real good. Great kid. Despite his well-earned reputation of being brutally tough on rookies and point guards, the new Charlotte Bobcats coach couldn’t stop saying nice things about D.J. Augustin — his rookie point guard. “He just does what you ask him to do, without exception,” Brown said after a minicamp practice this week. “I knew he was a good player but he’s far exceeded my expectations.” … Augustin will start in Charlotte’s summer league opener Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers, leading a team of rookies and free agents looking for training camp invitations.

The Charlotte Observer reports: The Bobcats’ decision not to exercise an option on forward Othella Harrington for next season will save the team about $2.55million in player payroll. A chronic knee injury limited Harrington to 22 game appearances last season. Harrington was signed as a free agent in the summer of 2006 to add experience and defense at power forward. R.B.

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced that the team has extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Emeka Okafor and Ryan Hollins and picked up the 2008-09 team option on the contract of Jermareo Davidson.

In accordance with the league’s collective bargaining agreement, in order for a team to retain its right of first refusal with respect to a restricted free agent, the team must tender the player a qualifying offer prior to June 30. A restricted free agent may sign an offer sheet with any team, but is subject to a right of first refusal with the team for which the player last played.

Okafor, the 2004-05 NBA Rookie of the Year, has averaged 14.3 points and 10.8 rebounds in 248 career games for the Bobcats since being selected by the team with the second overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. Last season, he averaged 13.8 points and 10.7 rebounds while shooting a career-high .535 from the field and played all 82 games for the first time in his career.

Hollins, who was selected by Charlotte with the 50th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, has averaged 2.4 points and 1.6 rebounds in 87 career games, including averages of 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in 60 games played last season.

Davidson, the 36th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft whose rights were acquired from Golden State as part of the trade that brought Jason Richardson to Charlotte, averaged 3.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 8.5 minutes in 38 games played last season.

The Bobcats declined to exercise the 2008-09 option on the contract of Othella Harrington. Harrington spent the past two seasons with Charlotte, averaging 2.4 points and 1.7 rebounds in 48 games played. Harrington missed 71 games during his time with the Bobcats due to two left knee surgeries.

The Charlotte Observer (Jefferson George) reports:  The Charlotte Bobcats have hired a Los Angeles firm to help find new corporate sponsors and other revenue streams for the NBA team and its arena, the team announced this morning. Premier Partnerships focuses on revenue generation for major facilities, events and properties.

The Charlotte Bobcats today named Dave Hanners, Phil Ford and Jeff Capel as assistant coaches on the staff of new Head Coach Larry Brown.  The club also named 15-year NBA veteran LaSalle Thompson strength and conditioning coach and Steve Stricker head athletic trainer.

“It was important to me to put together a staff that I feel comfortable with but also one that mirrors my coaching philosophy,” said Bobcats Head Coach Larry Brown. “When I selected my staff I wanted to assemble a group that will care about the players, care about the team and love to teach the game of basketball.”

Hanners is reunited with Brown, having served as an assistant coach with him for six seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers (2000-03), Detroit Pistons (2003-05) and New York Knicks (2005-06).  Hanners, who spent the last three seasons on the Knicks bench, was an assistant coach for Detroit’s 2003-04 NBA Championship team, as well as the 2000-01 76ers and 2004-05 Pistons teams that won Eastern Conference titles.

Prior to his NBA career, Hanners spent 11 seasons alongside Ford as assistant coaches at their alma mater, the University of North Carolina, helping the Tar Heels to the 1993 NCAA Championship, six Final Fours and four ACC titles under Hall of Fame Coach Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge.

Hanners played guard at UNC under Smith from 1972-76, sharing a backcourt with Ford for his final two seasons.  He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Tar Heels from 1976-78, then spent three seasons as an assistant coach at UNC-Wilmington, two seasons at Furman and four seasons at East Tennessee State before returning to UNC in 1989 as an assistant coach.

Ford, who enters his second season with the Bobcats, also spent time on Brown’s bench in Detroit (2004-05) and New York (2005-06).  In his fourth season as an NBA assistant coach, Ford’s coaching experience spans over 16 years, including a 12-year period as an assistant coach at UNC under Smith and Guthridge.

The 1979 NBA Rookie of the Year, Ford averaged 11.6 points in 482 games over his seven-year career with the Kansas City Kings, New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets. The second overall pick in the 1978 draft, he also earned All-Rookie and All-NBA Second Team honors that season. During his third year in the league, he led the Kings to the 1981 Western Conference Finals.

No stranger to the North Carolina region, Ford was a standout player for the Tar Heels, where he earned All-ACC First Team honors (1976, 1977, 1978) and All-ACC Tournament First Team honors (1975, 1976, 1977).  In addition, he was also named First Team All-American in 1976, 1977 and 1978 and was the winner of the John Wooden Award and ACC Player of the Year during his senior season. Ford was also a member of the gold medal-winning United States team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where he averaged 11.3 points during competition.

Ford was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1991 and was voted one of the ACC’s Top 10 All-Time Male Athletes during the conference’s Golden Anniversary celebration in 2003.

Capel enters his fifth season with the Bobcats, having joined the team during its inaugural season in 2004-05 after serving as head coach of the D-League Fayetteville Patriots for two-plus seasons.  In Fayetteville, Capel guided the Patriots to the D-League Finals in 2002-03.  Prior to his minor league tenure, he spent 12 years as a head coach at the collegiate level at Old Dominion, North Carolina A&T and Fayetteville State with a combined record of 201-162.

In seven seasons at ODU, Capel compiled a 122-98 record, including a school-record 25-win season, two NCAA tournament appearances and one NIT postseason berth. In his one lone season at N.C. A&T, Capel led the Aggies to the MEAC Championship and an NCAA tournament berth.

A 15-year NBA veteran, Thompson played for Brown in two separate stints with the Indiana Pacers from 1993-95 and again in 1997.  Thompson, who was selected fifth overall in the 1982 NBA Draft by the Kansas City Kings, posted career averages of 7.9 points and 6.8 rebounds in 985 games for the Kings, Pacers, 76ers and Nuggets.  He finished in the top 10 in the NBA in rebounding in both 1984-85 and 1985-86 and still ranks among the Kings’ franchise leaders in rebounds (sixth – 4,214) and blocked shots (second – 697).

Thompson played three seasons at the University of Texas before leaving early for the NBA after leading NCAA Division I in rebounding as a junior and ranking fifth as a sophomore.  A consensus all-Southwest Conference selection in both his sophomore and junior years, Thompson was inducted into the UT Athletics Hall of Honor in 1998.

Thompson spent the 2000-01 season as General Manager of the San Diego Wildfire in the ABA.  Since then, he has operated his own businesses, TNT Motorsports, a car and truck customizing business, and a land development firm.

Stricker brings over 20 years of experience to the Bobcats in a career that includes stops with the Washington Wizards, University of Michigan, University of Texas-Arlington and Iowa State University.  Stricker began his career at his alma mater Iowa State, where he served as both a student trainer and assistant athletic trainer while earning both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.  He went on to serve as head athletic trainer at UT-Arlington from 1993-95 before moving on to Michigan, where he held the positions of assistant athletic trainer and associate supervisor of athletic medicine.  In 2001, Stricker joined the Wizards, serving as the team’s athletic trainer for three seasons. Most recently he served as marketing manager at Gatorade for team sports, handling all contracted college and professional teams in the Central and Northeast regions of the United States.