Q 01/05

What name did the Hornets' uptown Charlotte arena take in 2016?

A) Time Warner Cable Arena

B) Spectrum Center

C) Charlotte Coliseum

D) Bojangles Coliseum

Answer · why

B) Spectrum Center

It opened in 2005 as Charlotte Bobcats Arena and became Time Warner Cable Arena in 2008 before the 2016 renaming.

Q 02/05

In which year did the original Charlotte Hornets begin play as an NBA expansion team?

A) 1990

B) 1988

C) 1995

D) 1992

Answer · why

B) 1988

They joined alongside Miami that season, with Minnesota and Orlando following a year later.

Q 03/05

Who was the founding owner who brought the Hornets to Charlotte in 1988?

A) Cy Bahakel

B) Michael Jordan

C) George Shinn

D) Robert L. Johnson

Answer · why

C) George Shinn

An entrepreneur from Kannapolis, Shinn's declining popularity in the city was blamed for the attendance collapse before the 2002 move.

Q 04/05

Which name was originally planned for the 1988 expansion team before a contest produced 'Hornets'?

A) Charlotte Spirit

B) Charlotte Knights

C) Charlotte Stingers

D) Carolina Cougars

Answer · why

A) Charlotte Spirit

The 'Hornets' name traces to Cornwallis calling the rebellious city 'a hornet's nest' during the Revolutionary War.

Q 05/05

The 'Hornets' name comes from a remark by which British general after the 1780 Battle of Charlotte?

A) Clinton

B) Burgoyne

C) Cornwallis

D) Tarleton

Answer · why

C) Cornwallis

He supposedly called Charlotte 'a hornet's nest of rebellion', though the phrase is first attested in 1819.