The emerald-bright pine trees stand tall along Billy Graham Drive outside the Charlotte Coliseum. The air is sweet with the dogwoods in bloom.
Charlotte is a place where one can imagine relaxing on the front porch, a setter sleeping nearby, a swing gently creaking and a Bible sitting on the wicker table.
It is a peaceful place, except perhaps if you’re a member of the Charlotte Hornets, who open the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Bulls here Sunday.
Which will give them a break from opening against one another.
“I’m not going to be out there risking my career and the chance of tearing my hamstring for no Dave Cowens,” center Matt Geiger said last week. “He can say whatever he can say. That’s his immaturity.”
Cowens had wondered why Geiger wasn’t playing against Atlanta after doctors said his hamstring injury was not particularly severe.
It was the latest in a nearly continuous series of threats, demands and criticisms players have expressed all season about their coach, team management and each other.
They may be the most contentious team in the NBA. If they focused half the anger on opponents that they do on one another, the Hornets would have a chance to defeat the Bulls.
But they could make it entertaining, as they did all season in the relative anonymity of Charlotte.
So for those who missed it, here’s what went on there:
– Sept. 11: Charlotte owner George Shinn under investigation for sexual misconduct.
– Oct. 5: Muggsy Bogues charges the team is trying to get him to retire even though he can play.
– Oct. 14: David Falk, the agent for scoring star Glen Rice, blasts the team for refusing to renegotiate and extend Rice’s contract.
– Oct. 28: Anthony Mason, in the first of dozens of such episodes, criticizes the coaching staff for pushing the ball more with the new backcourt of David Wesley and Bobby Phills rather than posting up, as was the style last season. “We’re moving away from stuff that is working,” Mason said.
– Nov. 10: Bogues is traded and blasts management over his treatment. Players openly complain about getting only B.J. Armstrong for Tony Delk and Bogues.
– Nov. 16: Mason criticizes the Hornets’ new style, saying, “Shoot first, pass second, a whole different game than won for us last year.” Cowens’ hair, though, is still said to be red.
– Dec. 1: Mason and Rice question the offense. “Ask guys their role,” Mason said. “You’d be amazed at the answers you get.” Added Rice: “I don’t buy that `new people’ stuff anymore. With my talent, there should not be stretches where I don’t get the ball.”
– Jan. 12: Vlade Divac says he wants a $10 million-a-year contract, but at least he’s honest: “It’s about money, no question.” Geiger’s agent, Falk, says the Hornets should probably trade Geiger since he isn’t playing much.
– Jan. 20: Trade rumors heat up regarding Geiger. Divac is rumored headed back to the Lakers.
– Feb. 1: Hornets sign Veron Maxwell, who stays with the team until he has to go to jail in Texas for an old marijuana conviction. Rice again blasts Cowens after scoring 14 points in a loss. “There comes a point where the coach has to get on guys and get them to get me the ball,” he said.
– Feb. 10: Mason is arrested during All-Star weekend on statutory rape and sexual-abuse charges.
Mason also says he’s tired of favorable officiating for the Bulls after a loss to them at home. “I understand they want Chicago to go out in style, but if they’re the greatest, let it be settled on the court, not by the whistle,” he said.
– Feb. 17: With both free-agent centers demanding big contracts–and this is the franchise that let Alonzo Mourning go over money–talks switch to a Phills-for-Will Perdue trade. With Divac out, Geiger is averaging 15.5 points and 9.1 rebounds as a starter.
– March 7: Armstrong refuses to go on the injured list when Dell Curry is activated after missing 29 games with a calf injury.
– March 20: Mason says financial commitments should be made to a half-dozen players: “We should be rewarded for what we’re doing.”
– March 28: Cowens says he’s tired of hearing Mason and Rice complain of team inconsistency. “This is a league of inconsistency unless you’re just unbelievable,” he said. Geiger seems to concur. “Maybe we point fingers too much. Not believing in one another. That’s a good bit (of the problem).”
– April 20: The Hornets suggest Falk is behind Geiger’s reluctance to play in part because of continuing contract complaints by Rice.
– May 3: Hornets come to Chicago after dominating Atlanta three games to one, only their second playoff series win in franchise history. Nobody is said to be happy.
