NBA on the Path to Renaming Bobcats the Hornets

To the glee of many an NBA fan, it looks as if the Charlotte Bobcats have begun the process of changing back into the Charlotte Hornets.

After Michael Jordan confirmed they had commissioned a study asking fans what they thought about changing the name back, CBS Sports seems to be the first to have noticed that NBA Media Ventures, the marketing arm of the NBA, has registered NBAhornets.com.

domain - Charlotte bobcats rename change name charlotte Hornets NBA basketball — Network Solutions tells the story

Though currently both charlottehornets.com and hornets.com redirect to the New Orleans Pelicans page, one imagines this newly registered domain (May 15th, 2013 is VERY recent) will likely be the home of the new site, if the name is changed, until the other two domains are redirected.

It has been confirmed that there shouldn’t be any roadblocks to changing the name, as the Pelicans don’t own the Hornets name, the NBA does.

That said, this certainly wont be in place for the 2013-2014 season, but perhaps the year after that.

The history of the name Hornets is a great Charlotte story; After Charles Cornwallis had taken the city during the Revolutionary War, the citizens drove the redcoats out, prompting the general to call the city “a hornet’s nest.” Residents still take a lot of pride in that story.

All of this gives me a rather flimsy excuse, but one I’m going to take nonetheless, to post my favorite photo from the Charlotte Hornets’ history.

mugsy's gang - Charlotte bobcats rename change name charlotte Hornets NBA basketball — Can you imagine how this photoshoot would go over today?

Are you a fan of the Charlotte franchise regaining the Hornets name? Do you think the name has spent enough time between two cities long enough that the name is sullied?