The Charlotte Hornets have a clear direction and are in much better shape than usual.

Since basketball made its return to Charlotte, North Carolina, it was clear that the strategy that the Bobcats/Hornets franchise just wasn’t working.

Better late than never, because there’s a lot of ground to make up.

For the better part of 20 years, the strategy for the Charlotte Hornets was to acquire as many talented players as possible. Easy enough right?

Yet, there’s so much more to the story of building a team.

You need to know how players gel, how they fit in with each other, how they can connect with the community, and most importantly – how they can make each other better.

The Hornets didn’t really seem to take team chemistry into account though.

Aside from Kemba Walker, who wore the teal and purple with the utmost of pride, there were hardly enough leaders on this team.

Enter Collin Sexton.

Sexton was brought to the Hornets over the offseason, along with a future pick for Jusuf Nurkic from the Utah Jazz.

But he wasn’t the only addition to this completely new look roster. Charlotte also added Liam McNeely and Kon Knueppel in the Draft, re-signed Tre Mann, and acquired veteran guard Spencer Dinwiddie.

Sexton is the type of player that often goes unnoticed.

He’s not very flashy, and in the NBA, flash sells. But Sexton has the type of mentality that can rub opponents the wrong way.

The kids like to say “he has that dog in him,” and it’s hard not to agree. They used to call him “Young Bull” for a reason.

In his 2017 article in The Players Tribune, Sexton talked about growing up doing three intense workouts every day, and essentially forcing his way to get invited by Team USA in the FIBA U17 Camp.

The late great Kobe Bryant was universally praised for his “Mamba Mentality,” where when it was time to hit the hardwood, nothing was going to get in his way.

Sexton wrote, “Growing up, like plenty of kids, my idol was Kobe Bryant. He was the guy whose YouTube highlights I would always watch. It wasn’t just his game that drew me in, but also his attitude. It was clear that he was just an extremely competitive person. Basketball was just how he chose to express it. I liked that because I’ve always been the same way.”

Aside from Walker, a player who lived, breathed, and slept basketball continuously evaded the Hornets. Only talented players who just so happened to be good enough to be in the league – nothing more, nothing less.

Sexton coming into Charlotte will be a wake up call to everyone in that locker room once training camp starts. The duo with he and future superstar Brandon Miller, who shared the same alma mater in Alabama will only help team chemistry.

Miller is one of the league’s brightest stars, and having a personality like Sexton drive him to be even better can only mean massive things for the future of this franchise.