Hornets Fans Capitalize on Summer League Championship in Lean Times

It began with tongue-in-cheek memes — photoshopped banners hanging in the rafters of Spectrum Center declaring the Charlotte Hornets 2025 Summer League Champions. 

Other posts referenced the Hornets’ first Summer League championship title while depicting past NBA Finals celebrations like Kevin Garnett’s famous “Anything is possible” declaration. 

Fans were reacting to the news that the long-troubled team had taken home its franchise-first Summer League championship from Las Vegas on July 20. 

Led by Kon Knueppel, the rising rookie out of Duke who scored 21 points in the final game to earn Championship MVP, the team wrapped up a perfect Summer League with an 83-78 win over Sacramento that Sunday night. 

While the Summer League is largely seen as a warmup for practice squads, fans have become more comfortable with sincerely celebrating the championship, especially following an uncharacteristically active offseason that has fans feeling optimistic.   

“Charlotte made sensible moves in the offseason, the front office was widely lauded for its draft, and it seems — fingers crossed — like a corner is being turned,” said Walker Mehl, cohost of the Locked on Hornets podcast and WFNZ’s The Wes & Walker Show. “I think a Summer League title serves as some symbol of that … an imperfect symbol, but a symbol nonetheless.”

“It’s been a lot of fun,” added Evan Kent, co-founder of Crown Club, a Hornets fan club that sprung out of the Bring Back the Buzz movement. “I think it offers people who might not follow the team an inside look at just how passionate this fanbase truly is.” 

Kent said he often hears folks around the city claim that there aren’t any Hornets fans around, a misnomer thanks to the team’s struggles over the last 20+ years. 

“There hasn’t been much to celebrate since 2001,” he said. “So, yes, Hornets fans might not have a lot to talk about at the water cooler, but moments like this prove just how hungry they are for a winner.” 

On July 26, Crown Club hosted a Champions Party at their usual pregame spot, The Local on East 5th Street, offering free beer, a champagne toast, confetti cannons and a replay of the championship game. 

Kent estimated that 300 or more people stopped in throughout the night, adding that it was one of the most fun events his club has organized in the 15 years they’ve been around. 

“It really makes you imagine how this fan base would react to something as simple as winning a playoff series,” he said. “The energy and enthusiasm would be incredible.” 

While organizers knew the team was sending over team mascot Hugo to hang out at the party, it was a complete surprise when head coach Charles Lee popped in to The Local that night to acknowledge the fans’ fervor.

Lee hung out for about an hour, taking pictures with partygoers and signing merchandise. Kent said the coach’s wife told him she saw the social media posts and “practically demanded” that they attend the party. 

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” Kent said. “In no other city would the NBA team’s head coach show up at a fan-run party, mingle and take pictures with fans for over an hour — no security, just a genuine, down-to-earth presence.” 

The buzz has yet to die down. On Thursday morning, the Charlotte Hornets fan shop released its official 2025 Summer League championship merch, a T-shirt that reads “Victory in Vegas” on the front and “Undefeated” on the back above a listing of the team’s six league wins. 

Sold from a mobile pop-up shop set-up in Founder’s Hall in Uptown, the release saw lines of fans winding through Bank of America Corporate Center waiting for the chance to buy a shirt. Many more on social media called for the team to make the shirts available online.  

Mehl said he arrived at the pop-up shop upon it’s opening at 10 a.m. and had about a 30-minute wait to reach the front. He said the shirts serve as a badge to show that fans are “in on the joke,” though they also symbolize something bigger.

“Fans are showing the Hornets franchise they want to win, and they’ll be here when you do,” Mehl said. “If demand is this high for a Summer League title shirt, you can imagine the demand for a playoff shirt.

“Sure, this city is starved for basketball success, but I do think Hornets fans understand that this is all maybe a tad bit ridiculous, yet not giving a damn because we wanna celebrate something around here,” he added. “There’s an appropriate amount of self-awareness in celebrating tongue-in-cheek, while also defending some level of legitimacy.”

Before 1 p.m. on Thursday, the fan shop announced they were about to sell out but would be restocking in the days to come. 

Mehl pointed out that football may have surpassed the Hornets in popularity over the last 20 or so years thanks to the departure of the original Hornets franchise and the lack of success in recent years, but the buzz around the recent Summer League championship only goes to show how little is needed to reawake that passion.

“A lot of fans were showing up to the Spectrum Center a few years ago when the Hornets finished four games above .500 and had a budding All-Star to cheer for,” he explained. “The losing causes dormancy, but the passion is here, and it doesn’t take much to bring it out.”

Read more: Hornets Shake Things Up in Uncharacteristically Active Offseason

Has a vibe shift occurred? Or are thirsty fans of a sad franchise simply hanging on to whatever they can before another letdown season? That remains to be seen, but what’s undeniable is that the Summer League championship has brought some positive energy to a fan base that needed it desperately. 

“The Hornets fanbase is pretty savvy; there’s no delusion about what this all means or how important it is,” said Kent. “But there’s real pride and a strong desire to show how much we love this team. 

“This fanbase has been through a lot — losing a franchise, enduring the worst season in NBA history, experiencing bad luck in the draft lottery and more,” he continued. “Honestly, it takes a certain kind of sicko to stick around through all that. But I can tell you one thing: When the day finally comes and these fans are rewarded for their loyalty, no one is going to be able to say we’re just bandwagon fans. There’s a certain kind of dedication and community in this fanbase that I don’t think could exist anywhere else.”