In the last week or so, journalists covering the NBA draft have started making jokes about the possibility of the Charlotte Bobcats drafting Tarheel forward Brandan Wright with their first round pick (#8 overall) in the NBA draft. Such a selection would be an extension of the much-discussed Bobcat connection to the University of North Carolina, and might further alienate Bobcats fans who seem to believe that the front office has an agenda when it comes to the Tarheels. An informal poll on the homepage of WFNZ.com, Charlotte's sports-talk radio station, notes that 56% of respondents would be "bothered" if the Bobcats chose Wright. But is this because he isn't viewed as the best player available, or because it is a continuation of the trend of selecting players and personnel with ties to Chapel Hill?
No doubt, the Tarheels are one of the most storied college basketball programs in the country, and have produced more than their fair share of NBA talent. Of course, success breeds contempt, leading to a strong divide between the Tarheels fans in town and…well…everybody else. Don't forget that it's not just Duke that is also up the road a piece. Within a three-hour radius of Charlotte sit other ACC foes like NC State, Virginia Tech, and Clemson, as well as looming Cinderellas like Appalachian State, Davidson, and Winthrop. Having so many schools in such close proximity, with large numbers of fans centered here in the Queen City, leaves plenty of opportunity for Tarheel-hating. The success of the Heels only makes it worse; the arrogant behavior of some of their fans might be the factor that pushes it over the edge.
It's also no secret that the Bobcats have close ties with the Chapel Hill program - maybe even closer than the casual fan might recognize. Don't think that the Bobcats Tarheel connection starts with Michael Jordan and ends with Raymond Felton and Sean May, or even backup point guard Jeff McInnis (who has one of the five highest salaries on a salary-conscious team despite playing less than 19 minutes per game). Former Tarheel star Phil Ford is an assistant coach. And Jordan's former Tarheel teammate Buzz Peterson is the Director of Player Personnel.
It's these connections that make fans wary. And yes, despite what Bill Simmons might think, the Bobcats do indeed have fans. I myself am a season ticket holder, and have been since their inaugural season. Might Brandan Wright be the best talent on the board if he's still available when the #8 pick rolls around? Possibly. But if he's taken by the Bobcats, it will feel to many like just another incident of Tarheel nepotism.
Nothing illustrates prevailing fan sentiment more clearly than the case of May. He was a focal point on the 2005 Tarheel national championship team, winning the Final Four MVP award and finishing fourth in the balloting for the Wooden Award. A fine college player, no doubt; plenty of fans, though, were unsure of his NBA-readiness. And May has become the litmus test for Bobcats fandom. If you like Sean May, you're a Bobcats apologist that supports their dastardly unwritten Tarheel policy. If you don't like Sean May, you're criticizing a potentially dominant player just because of his alma mater.
Back in the 2005 NBA Draft, the Bobcats used the 13th overall pick in the first round to select May, after taking his Tarheel teammate Felton eight picks earlier. Tarheel fans in Charlotte were delighted. Most everyone else in town raised their eyebrows. High school sensation Gerald Green was still on the draft board at #13. So were college-seasoned forwards Joey Graham and Danny Granger, who many fans preferred to May. And so even though the Bobcats front office might have been blind to the Tarheel connection, and even though they may have truly thought that May was the best option on the board, a section of the fan base cried foul.
Maybe the Bobcats did take the best player available at #13 in the 2005 draft. But to those who squawked, the team didn't do themselves any favors when they immediately began building the 2005 marketing campaign around the two Tarheels, or when they talked about the marketability of the duo playing together in the NBA. For a team desperate for ticket sales upon moving into a new arena, and entering just their second season in the league, the selection of May at #13 and the subsequent public relations blitz seemed preordained, especially for those with an axe to grind against hated UNC. In exploiting the college successes of their two first-round choices, the front office seemed to forget that a large portion of their fan base hates the Heels almost as much as they support their own school.
When healthy, May has shown that he is capable of being a solid NBA player. This past season, May averaged 11.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game - in less than 24 minutes per contest. And there was a nine-game stretch in the winter where one could make a solid argument that May was the best player the Bobcats put on the floor - including a monster 32 point game against Orlando on December 14 that followed up on a 15 point, 13 rebound effort in a close loss to the Cavaliers. His best game of the season was in a loss to the Hawks on November 29, where May gave the Bobcats a fighting chance with 21 points, 17 rebounds, and 5 assists in 38 minutes on a night where the starting frontcourt (Okafor, Wallace, and Morrison) contributed only 12 points and 2 rebounds combined.
Overall, during that nine-game stretch from November 28 to December 14, May averaged 29 minutes and put up more than 18 points and 8 rebounds a game. But May only played in 35 games last season due to his various injuries. He's only played in 58 of the Bobcats 164 regular-season games since he was drafted. And some question whether he'll ever be healthy enough to play on a regular basis.
Now, the Bobcats front office had no idea that May would require several knee surgeries during his first two seasons in the League. The Tarheel haters have forgotten that May was named MVP of the Rocky Mountain Summer League just before his rookie season. And Sean May might put his injuries behind him and still be a productive NBA forward.
The Bobcats didn't do themselves any favors with their fans this week, though, by reportedly turning down a trade offer from the New Jersey Nets of the 17th pick in this year's draft in exchange for May. Surely, Michael Jordan and company were merely paying allegiance to their fellow Tarheel by keeping him around, right? Would any rational front office turn down a first round pick in a supposedly deep draft in exchange for a gimpy forward with bad knees - especially when the 17th pick would give the Bobcats three choices in the first 22 selections and even more flexibility in various trade scenarios? That's what the anti-Heels contingent would have you believe. And, of course, that's something that it appears we'll never know.
Is it all a coincidence? Have Bob Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Bernie Bickerstaff surrounded themselves with the best people for the job - both on and off the court - and it just so happens that many of these people share the Tarheel connection? Or is an extension of the much-rumored Tarheel nepotism that is believed to exist in the Carolinas, where UNC grads always make sure to take care of their own?
Either way, if Wright is on the board at number 8, it seems as though half of the fan base will be frustrated with the decision that is made - regardless of what that decision actually is. And so the mediocre Bobcats continue to stir more discussions about their personnel decisions than they do discussions about their performance on the court. In the end, for a team looking for publicity, maybe that’s all that matters.
