The 1996–97 NBA season was the 9th season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association. For the first time since the 1990–91 season, Larry Johnson was not on the team's opening day roster. The Hornets had the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft, and selected high school basketball star Kobe Bryant, but soon traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Vlade Divac, acquired Anthony Mason from the New York Knicks, and signed free agent Tony Smith during the off-season. The team also hired former Boston Celtics star Dave Cowens as their new head coach. Under Cowens, and with the addition of Divac and Mason, the new-look Hornets played better than expected. After an 8–9 start to the season, the Hornets won 21 of their next 31 games, holding a 29–19 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team signed free agent and former All-Star forward Tom Chambers in January, then traded Scott Burrell to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Donald Royal, and dealt second-year guard Anthony Goldwire, and second-year center George Zidek to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Ricky Pierce in February. However, Chambers was released to free agency after 12 games. The Hornets posted a nine-game winning streak in April, and finished fourth in the Central Division with a franchise best record at 54–28, making it back to the playoffs after a one-year absence. Glen Rice had the best season of his career, finishing third in the league in scoring with a career-high of 26.8 points per game, while leading the Hornets with 207 three-point field goals, and shooting .470 in three-point percentage; he earned All-NBA Second Team honors, and finished in fifth place in Most Valuable Player voting. Rice was also selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, where he set several scoring records and was selected the game's MVP. In addition, Mason averaged 16.2 points, 11.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game, and earned All-NBA Third Team and NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors, while Divac and Matt Geiger both provided the best center combo in the league, as Divac averaged 12.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.2 blocks per game, and Geiger provided the team with 8.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, but only played just 49 games due to a back injury. Sixth man Dell Curry contributed 14.8 points per game off the bench, while Muggsy Bogues provided with 8.0 points, 7.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and Smith contributed 5.0 points per game. Curry also finished tied in fifth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and Cowens finished in second place in Coach of the Year voting. However, in the Eastern Conference First Round of the playoffs, the Hornets were swept by the New York Knicks in three straight games. The Hornets led the NBA in home-game attendance for the eighth, and final time during their history in Charlotte, with an attendance of 985,722 at the Charlotte Coliseum during the season; they also had the best three-point percentage in NBA history, shooting 42.8% from beyond the arch. Following the season, Pierce re-signed as a free agent with his former team, the Milwaukee Bucks during the next season, and Smith and Royal were both released to free agency.

NBA draft

In the 1996 NBA draft, the Hornets selected Kobe Bryant with the 13th overall pick. Before he was chosen by the Hornets, the 17-year-old Bryant had made a lasting impression on then-Lakers general manager Jerry West, who immediately foresaw potential in Bryant's basketball ability during pre-draft workouts. West even went on to state that Bryant's workouts were some of the best he had seen. Immediately after the draft, Dave Cowens expressed that the Hornets had no use for him. Fifteen days later, West traded his starting center, Vlade Divac to the Hornets for the young Kobe Bryant.

Roster

Roster Notes

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Ragular season

† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Hornets only.

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

Released Michael Adams. Traded Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac. Released Robert Parish. Traded Larry Johnson to the New York Knicks for Brad Lohaus and Anthony Mason. Signed Bob McCann as a free agent. October 19, 1996 Signed Tony Smith as a free agent. Waived Brad Lohaus. Signed Jamie Feick to the first of two 10-day contracts. Signed Eric Leckner to a 10-day contract. Signed Tom Chambers to a contract for the rest of the season. Traded Scott Burrell to the Golden State Warriors for Donald Royal. Traded Anthony Goldwire and George Zidek to the Denver Nuggets for Ricky Pierce. Waived Tom Chambers. Player Transactions Citation: