It’s been a long time since the Charlotte Hornets were more than a nostalgic footnote in NBA conversations. But here we are in 2026, and the teal is trending for more than just throwback aesthetics. This version of the Hornets isn’t just showing signs of life-they’re demanding attention.
Charlotte didn’t just beat Philadelphia on Monday night-they steamrolled them, 130-93, in a game that saw the Hornets up by 50 at one point. That’s not a typo.
And it’s not an isolated incident either. The Hornets now have a franchise-record six wins by 25 points or more this season.
For a team that’s spent years on the wrong end of those kinds of beatdowns, that’s a seismic shift.
Let’s rewind for a second. This team started the season 4-13.
Another year, another rebuild, right? That’s how it looked.
But second-year head coach Charles Lee didn’t let the early struggles define the season. Since then, Charlotte has clawed its way to 19-28-not a playoff record, but already matching last season’s win total.
That’s real progress.
And it’s not just about scraping together wins. The Hornets have been blowing teams out.
They handed the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder a lopsided loss on their home floor. They went into L.A. and routed the Lakers.
This isn’t just a team catching fire for a week-they’re building something.
Since November 28, Charlotte has been one of the league’s most balanced teams. They entered Monday fifth in net rating (+4.8), third in offensive efficiency (118.2 points per 100 possessions), and ranked 10th in defense over that stretch.
That’s nearly two months of sustained, two-way basketball. Not the kind of fluke run you brush off.
The talent is starting to gel, and it starts with the young core. Rookie forward Brandon Miller has stepped up as a go-to scorer, averaging 20.9 points over that same two-month stretch.
LaMelo Ball, the 2022 All-Star, has been steady at 18.6 points per game, leading the team in assists and three-pointers made, shooting an impressive 39.2% from deep. And rookie Kon Knueppel?
He’s been a revelation-18.8 points per game, shooting 42.5% from three. That’s elite spacing from a first-year player.
Throw in veteran guard Collin Sexton, who’s quietly adding 13.7 points per game and knocking down nearly 40% of his threes, and you’ve got a perimeter attack that’s suddenly looking dangerous.
But what’s really turning heads is the starting unit. Since November 28, the most-used lineup-Ball, Knueppel, Miller, Moussa Diabaté, and Miles Bridges-has posted a net rating of +25.7 in 125 minutes.
That’s not just good; that’s league-leading good. Their offensive rating (135.2) and defensive rating (109.4) in that stretch would top the NBA if sustained over a full season.
And they’re sharing the ball, too, with an assist rate over 70%. For a young team, that kind of unselfishness is rare-and it’s translating to wins.
Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Charlotte is still 12th in the Eastern Conference and 3.5 games out of the final Play-In spot.
There’s work to do. But for a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016-or won a series since 2002-this is the most relevant they’ve been in a long, long time.
The Hornets’ history is complicated. The original team moved to New Orleans in 2002.
The expansion Bobcats came along two years later, rebranded as the Hornets in 2014, and have struggled to recapture the energy of those early ’90s teams with Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning. But for the first time in years, Charlotte feels like a team with a future-and a present worth watching.
They might not be a lock for the postseason just yet, but one thing’s clear: the Hornets are no longer a gimme win on the schedule. They’ve got young talent, a coach with a vision, and a roster that’s starting to believe. And that might just be enough to make some noise in the East.