Former NBA player thinks Hornets are destined for success in 'near future'

Austin Rivers revealed he can see what the Hornets are building.

Dec 23, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets center Moussa Diabate (14) and Washington Wizards forward Alex Sarr (20) tip off the game at the Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images | Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images

The Charlotte Hornets are not having a very good year. They're 10-20 and have had injury problems yet again. Even when healthy, both Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball have been painfully inefficient.

But that's what you see at a macro level. The bird's eye view is not terribly kind. When you get closer, you can see that things are trending in the right direction, not just right now, but overall.

At least, that's the experience former NBA player Austin Rivers had.

Austin Rivers can see what the Hornets are working toward

Dec 22, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Lamelo Ball (1) brings the ball up court in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

Austin Rivers had to do a lot of studying on the Charlotte Hornets, and what he learned totally changed his mindset about the team.

🎙️ @AustinRivers25: "You see everything on surface, you'll see a team's record and you're like, 'Man, Charlotte, another year they're bad.' But when you cover the game and you have to study them and prepare to call a game, you get to see what they're building..." pic.twitter.com/KTaZlsxelX

— r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) December 25, 2025

He called it "eye-opening" and said, "You see everything on surface, you'll see a team's record and you're like, 'Man, Charlotte, another year they're bad.' But when you cover the game and you have to study them and prepare to call a game, you get to see what they're building."

He said seeing the pieces, meaning Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, and LaMelo Ball, up close, Rivers could identify that the Hornets had some "talented pieces" to build with.

"The one and two and three spot, they're pretty good," Rivers said. "The bottom line, Charlotte has pieces that you start to see, maybe in the future, this team can actually... and when I say future, I mean near future. As in, next year."

He did admit that there are some questions surrounding LaMelo Ball, but he spoke with coaching and the front office, and he believes they love Ball and are not at all considering moving on from him.

Part of that is his off-court demeanor. "There's a lightness to him," Rivers revealed. "... I like LaMelo, his game, obviously, he's so talented. He had multiple plays [against the Wizards] that leave you in awe. They just have to learn how to win."

For as long as Ball has been in the NBA, he's only 24, and that makes him the elder statesman of this core, excluding Miles Bridges. They're young, but Rivers believes they're talented and will be competitive very soon.

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