B2B🏀

CONT.: By the summer of ‘96, the relationship between the Hornets and Johnson had gotten complicated, to say the least. That $84 million contract wasn’t going away, and neither were the questions about LJ’s back. Charlotte had Glen Rice’s future to think about now, too. He had signed the largest contract in professional sports history less than three years earlier, and now Charlotte was trying to figure out how to build around a star whose body had already forced him to completely change the way he played. The contract kept them from re-signing Mourning on top of it all, and so the Hornets finally moved on. In July of 1996, Charlotte traded Johnson to the Knicks for Anthony Mason and Brad Lohaus. That was it. Mason was incredible that first year with the Hornets, but it was a small consolation to what fans lost in LJ. He’d helped endear an entire city to purple and teal. Five years after taking him No. 1 overall, the Hornets had traded away the guy who had quite literally changed the trajectory of the franchise. LJ went to New York and, because he’d already learned how to play without relying on the athleticism he had when he first got here, he managed to still have a few really good years before retiring. He made the All-Star team again in 1997-98, helped the Knicks get to the NBA Finals in 1999, and played until 2001. But none of that changes what he was in Charlotte. The first, and still ONLY No. 1 overall pick. The first Rookie of the Year. The first All-NBA player. The first Hornet to become a genuine national superstar. He was Grandmama, and he was the guy who made the Hornets matter on a large scale outside of Charlotte. You can tell the story of this franchise without Larry Johnson, and I started all of this by mentioning the Panthers, because I’m not sure if you can tell the story of the CITY OF CHARLOTTE without Larry Johnson.

September 2nd, 2026 Spotlight Player OTD: Larry Johnson LJ changed everything for Charlotte… and I mean in a much greater sense than just the Hornets alone. Had it not been for the Hornets and their success, the Carolina Panthers would’ve never come around. The popularity and proof of concept that Charlotte could host a real-deal pro NFL franchise all started at the Coliseum… And had Larry Johnson not happened, who knows if the NFL would’ve viewed Charlotte as worthy enough for a pro team by the time 1995 rolled around. It may have happened eventually, but I use the anecdote above as a means of just touching the surface of how much LJ means to the history of this team. “Sensation” is almost an underwhelming adjective for Larry Johnson’s rookie year. Kendall Gill has said before that Larry Johnson had LeBron James athleticism and Hakeem’s footwork in his prime, and it was on full display in 1991-92. That’s where the famous Grandmama Converse ad happened, where LJ said famously that the shoes were “so fast and so light, my grandmama could whoop you in ’em.” The ad campaign featuring Grandmama aired for Converse for over five years, and it was so popular that the nickname stuck forever. The character was so well known that LJ appeared as “Grandmama” on an episode of Family Matters in 1993. LJ’s rookie year and the Hornets' 31 wins also led to Alonzo Mourning. Alonzo is what helped LJ and the Hornets immediately grab a playoff series win, and their success only furthered the “Grandmama” persona lore. Charlotte was now a nationwide brand, built on the back of LJ’s original success. LJ’s back, this time his non-metaphorical one, was also what brought the Hornets tumbling down the mountain in the end. The Hornets had committed an absurd salary early on in Johnson’s career, in large part thanks to the national appeal I mentioned LJ had before ‘Zo ever even came in. The contract was for 12 years and a reported $84 million, which was completely absurd money in 1993. To put it into perspective, George Shinn had paid $32.5 million for the entire Hornets franchise just six years earlier. Now, Larry Johnson alone was getting $84 million. And this is where the timing of the whole thing gets interesting. Johnson had already been diagnosed with a herniated disk in his back that July. The Hornets still gave him the extension in October. At that point, LJ had already been Rookie of the Year, an All-Star, Second Team All-NBA, and had just led Charlotte to its first playoff appearance and first playoff series win. So I understand why they did it. But man… $84 million was a LOT of faith to put into a 24-year-old with a back that was already becoming a problem. And the back didn’t magically get better. Johnson missed 31 games in 1993-94 after suffering a deep lower-back sprain, and Charlotte went 9-22 during the stretch he was out. He came back in March, but the Hornets were already basically cooked by then. And this is where I think LJ gets underrated. Because he didn’t just lose the athleticism that made him so special and become a shell of himself. He changed his game. A LOT. The explosive, above-the-rim power forward who had bullied people during his first two seasons started moving further away from the basket and developing a legitimate perimeter game. In 1994-95, LJ made 81 three-pointers. He’d made 16 total in his first three seasons. He still averaged 18.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 4.6 AST, played 81 games, and made another All-Star team in ‘94-’95. He wasn’t the exact same LJ anymore — but he was still LJ. The next season’s 1995-96 Hornets team — LJ’s last in Charlotte — was still competitive, too… Despite trading Alonzo Mourning for Glen Rice right on the precipice of the ‘95-‘96 season beginning, the Hornets and an adapting Glen Rice still won 41 games. They still missed the playoffs altogether, and that’s when Bob Bass continued to change it up entirely. CONT. BELOW AFTER HIGHLIGHTS/NEWSPAPERS: