Although the team moved to New Orleans, Bobby Phills never played there. He died in a car accidend on January 12th, 2000 at the age of 30. His #13 was the first number retired in Hornets’ history and it’s just a shame that it wasn’t for what he did on the court. Phills had to work for everything he got as he was the 12th man for the Cleveland Cavaliers for quite a while before getting a chance to really show what he could do. He played in 133 games (113 starts) in his three years in Charlotte and he averaged 32.2 minutes, 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game. This was a sad day in Charlotte Sports History when Bobby Phills died and hopefully NBA players have learned a lesson from it.

With the Eastern Conference being as weak as it is this season the Bobcats are going all out to make the playoffs and that has resulted in the rookies not getting much playing time. Forward Derrick Brown has played pretty decent in his limited time on the court this season. He has played in 24 games (0 starts) in which he has averaged 11.6 minutes, 4.0 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Brown could get more playing time if the need arises due to injury along the frontcourt. SG/SF Gerald Henderson has been pretty awful this season for the Bobcats so far. He has played in 21 games (0 starts) in which he is averaging 8.9 minutes, 3.2 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.3 assists per game. Henderson is only shooting 37.9% from the floor and 28.6% from three point range this season. Until his shooting picks up I just don’t see him getting much playing time.

In his rookie year last season it looked as if D.J. Augustin was ready to push Raymond Felton to a new city in 2009-2010. The Bobcats were smart to bring Felton back because Augustin has been heaving enough bricks towards the rim to build a house. Augustin has played in 28 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats this season and he has averaged 18.2 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Augustin is only shooting 34.3% from the floor this year and that is why his minutes are way down this year for the Bobcats. They simply can’t afford to play him much until he starts taking better shots and making some of them.