The Charlotte Hornets went 44-38 this season.
Charlotte Hornets owners Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall are very proud of how well the team played during the 2025-26 season.
In Year 2 of the Charles Lee era, the Hornets went 44-38 and won a play-in game.
Even though Charlotte missed the playoffs again, Plotkin and Schnall know the future is bright in Buzz City.
“The biggest individual memory was Coby’s shot,” Plotkin said. “And then just that last play where Miles (Bridges) and Brandon (Miller) chased down that shot and everyone falling on each other. But it was the togetherness, the relentless pursuit in our front office of trying to improve the team.
“It was resilience that you saw throughout that game when we shot the ball very poorly and just the competitiveness. I think that game in many respects represented a lot of what we’re trying to build.”
The Hornets beat the Miami Heat at home in the 9-10 play-in game on a game-winning layup by LaMelo Ball. Charlotte's magical season ended in Orlando against the Magic.
“We have arrived at the point where we feel great about our leadership team, and we feel great about where we are, but we have a lot of work to do,” Schnall said. “You look at the playoffs, we would have had a tough time in the playoffs. We have to continue to build the team. We also have a lot of players on our team that reflect what we’re about. “We have competitive players. We have high-character players. We have players who want to win. Gabe and I are incredibly competitive, as is our ownership group and as is our leadership team. We’re not going to be satisfied just being a competitive team. And so we will do everything we can to get better.”
The Hornets haven't made the playoffs since 2016, but they have a bright future with Ball, Miller and Kon Knueppel leading the way.
“Where we are is kind of where we ended (the season) in a sense,” Plotkin said. “We’ve gone from being kind of a forgotten team without a path and culture to a team with a really strong foundation, to a team that won 44 games but also didn’t actually make the playoffs. We’re one of the youngest teams in the league, we have a ton of picks and it’s our job to kind of figure out how we go from here to take it to that next level. “The minute the season ends, you feel bad for a day or two and also really good in many respects, stepping back. But then it’s like, ‘How do we continue to get better?’ And that’s really what our focus is and that’s not going to stop.”