NBA player poll paints an ugly picture of the Charlotte Hornets

The organization was voted dead last by NBA players.

Apr 4, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) shoots during pregame warm ups against the Sacramento Kings at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The last time the Charlotte Hornets made the playoffs was in the 2015-2016 season, where they lost a tense series with the Miami Heat in seven games, thanks in no small part to a fan with a purple shirt. Since then, they've struggled to make any progress, finishing no higher than 10th and failing to win a play-in game.

There are other organizations around the NBA that have been pretty bad over the years, too. The basement dwellers in this sport often have a hard time getting out of that area, and the Hornets aren't the only ones. They are, however, the worst one. That is, they are according to NBA players.

The NBA's anonymous player survey paints a bad picture of the Hornets, one that might deter potential free agents and impact draft selections. Out of 113 votes, the Hornets got the vast majority for being the worst franchise in the NBA: 38.1%. The next-worst is the Washington Wizards at 20.4%.

Mar 31, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams (5) gets a dunk over Utah Jazz center Oscar Tshiebwe (34) during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Athletic's Sam Amick and Josh Robbins did say, "It’s worth noting that these teams’ owners have felt in recent years that something was amiss... Last year, the Hornets hired Jeff Peterson as their new president of basketball operations." They are at least committed to changing this status.

To be totally fair, some players didn't vote on this one. They didn't want to lambast Charlotte (or Washington) without all the facts. One anonymous player said, “You don’t really know. You could be a losing program but still be a great organization.” One more added, “I feel like until you’re there and you go through it, you don’t really know what’s considered a bad organization.”

On a positive note, the rest of the NBA's players did have mostly kind things to say about LaMelo Ball. The media would likely rank him as one of the NBA's most overrated players, but the players themselves didn't.

He received just 1.1% of the 90 votes cast, whereas Tyrese Haliburton won this one with 14.4% of the vote. More people (2.2%) said no one is overrated since they all made the NBA than said Ball was the most overrated player, so that's a small win.

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