The NBA's second stint in the Queen City has been anything but pretty. Since Charlotte re-entered the NBA in 2004 (as the Bobcats), the Hornets franchise has reached the postseason three times, not since 2016, and has not won a playoff series.
Despite that on-court adversity, the team at RotoWire.com – your course for the best NBA betting promos – wanted to see which members of the Hornets organization have flown in the face of adversity over the last two-plus decades. We named five players to Charlotte's All Quarter Century team.
Charlotte Hornets All Quarter Century Team Members
This list is meant to mimic a traditional basketball lineup with a center, two forwards and two guards.
Kemba Walker (2011 to 2019)
The franchise's all-time leader in win shares (48.5), minutes played (20,607), field goals (4,164) and three-pointers (1,283) did his best to keep the Hornets afloat during his 605-game run in Charlotte. Walker reached three All-Star Games and the All-NBA third team as a member of the Hornets during his run from 2011 to 2019 out of UConn. He paced an offense that lacked a lot of sting during his time with the club. For his troubles, the man lovingly known as "Cardiac Kemba" in and around the Tar Heel State gets the lead spot on the franchise's All Quarter-Century team from RotoWire, as he averaged 19.8 points, 5.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game during his run in Charlotte.
LaMelo Ball (2020 to present)
The only current Hornet to make the cut was picked third overall in 2020. He is averaging 21 points, 7.4 assists and 6 rebounds over 231 games, including the 2024-25 season. Ball has already racked up 13.6 win shares with a Player Efficiency Rating of 18.9 to date, making one All-Star Game and the 2020-21 All-Rookie Team (he was also Rookie of the Year that season).
Though the Hornets have been abysmal during Ball's run in Charlotte, there's no denying that the 23-year-old is an up-and-coming star out of the backcourt. He has improved his point production and ballhandling abilities over the last half-decade with the club, making his props an interesting thing to watch for NBA betting apps customers.
Gerald Wallace (2004 to 2011)
Wallace was chosen 25th overall by the Sacramento Kings in 2001, but spent the majority of his NBA career in Charlotte, suiting up 454 times for the woebegone Bobcats from 2004 to 2011. During that time, the forward averaged 16.4 points per game on 47.7% shooting, making one All-Star Game appearance. He made the top 10 in Defensive Player of the Year voting three times as a Bobcat. Throw in a first-team All-Defensive Team honor in 2008-09 and you have a decent snapshot of the career that Wallace put together from the small forward position, as the veteran of 14 NBA seasons racked up 45.9 win shares over seven seasons with the Bobcats.
Emeka Okafor (2004 to 2009)
The 2004-05 NBA Rookie of the Year did his best to carry the then-Bobcats forward as an expansion franchise, averaging 14 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in 330 games with the club. In total, Okafor racked up 12.1 of his 12.5 win shares with Charlotte, manning the paint with pride and helping build the club from the ground up as the Bobcats' first ever draft pick (second overall in the 2004 NBA Draft). Okafor never played in the postseason as a member of the Bobcats, but the forward did yeoman's work down low for head coaches Bernie Bickerstaff, Sam Vincent and Larry Brown, warranting a spot among the top Hornets of the past 25 years via analysis from RotoWire.
Al Jefferson (2013 to 2016)
Jefferson only spent three seasons in Charlotte, coming to the Bobcats (and Hornets) after stints with the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz. Still, the 6-foot-10 center/forward made an imprint on the Eastern Conference squad. He was named to the All-NBA third team and finishing eighth in the MVP race in 2013-14 after averaging 21.8 points per game on 50.9% shooting. Jefferson pulled down a career-high 7.8 win shares in 73 games played that season. For his work in the paint, Jefferson earns the fifth and final spot on Charlotte's team since 2000, guiding the club into its modern era with gusto as a one-man tour de force down low between 2013 and 2016.
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