George Shinn brought professional sports to Charlotte in 1988, convincing the NBA to not only expand into Miami, Orlando, and Minnesota. After not getting what he wanted (a new uptown arena), Shinn threatened, then moved the team to New Orleans to begin the 2002-03 season. After several lackluster seasons attendance-wise, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. Without a usable arena, Shinn found Oklahoma City and moved the team (temporarily) for the season. Attendance jumped this season, with Oklahoma City loving its first professional sport team (see a pattern?)Meanwhile, Bob Johnson (creator of BET) bought a new franchise in the NBA and brought the team to Charlotte. Charlotte built a new, state-of-the-art arena for the team, and the first 2 seasons have been building ones. Players from around the league have raved about the new arena.

Despite having the newest arena in the NBA, the league announced today that the next to-be-scheduled All-Star game in 2008 will be held in New Orleans. Continue Reading »

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