Shelly Cayette-Weston, along with the rest of everyone associated with the Charlotte Hornets, can’t stop beaming about the team’s success.
Palpable excitement from a starved fan base is apparent.
“It’s great,” Cayette-Weston, the Hornets’ team president of business operations, told The Charlotte Observer. “That’s part of the reason that I was attracted to this market, because it’s a basketball region. Already we’ve seen what this city and this market can do back from the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, having eight straight years of sellout attendance records actually and sell out games.
“Now, to have the product on the court and the vision again of being the premier NBA franchise match, what’s going on again from both on and off the court, it’s really something special. And I feel like certainly the market’s ready for it, our fans are ready for it, but the community’s also ready for it.”
Guaranteed at least a spot in the NBA’s play-in tournament, tickets for Hornets’ postseason play — including potential home games tournament and the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs — at Spectrum Center go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Monday. Tickets can be purchased at hornets.com, Ticketmaster.com or on the Hornets’ app.
Fans can also dial 704-HORNETS for assistance with any issues.
As long as the Hornets, who sit in eighth place in the Eastern Conference after Sunday’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, finish above the ninth seed at minimum they would have the opportunity to host a game depending on various results.
Currently, Charlotte is in position to host first NBA postseason game since 2016.
Given the Hornets’ record attendance this season, prompt action is encouraged due to expected high demand. The Hornets have experienced 23 sellouts this season, establishing a new mark in the uptown arena, and exceeded an average of 18,000 fans per game.
“The momentum and energy has been there all year long and we want to thank our fans for that,” Cayette-Weston said. “So, as we think about going into the postseason, it’s really exciting. We wanted to create a product from the very beginning that our city can be proud of and so and the Carolinas can be proud of and so going to the postseason is something that everyone can be proud of.
“The fans, our players feel the energy from our fans. When we think about the post season, we want to take everything to the next level — both on and off the court. So, that’s competitiveness, that’s energy, that’s excitement, that’s the noise level.”
