Charlotte Hornets ‘Bury’ Bobcats Name For Halloween (Photo)

The Charlotte Hornets were renamed during the offseason and chose Halloween for a ceremonial burial of their former nickname, the Bobcats, with a casket cake.

The Charlotte Bobcats ceased to exist on May 20, when Charlotte’s NBA franchise rebranded itself with the popular moniker of the city’s first NBA team, the Hornets.

On Halloween, the Hornets found a delicious way to bury the Bobcats once and for all, ordering a casket-shaped cake from Got What It Cakes, a cake shop in suburban Pineville, N.C.

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Bonus points for picking the perfect day for a ceremonial burial.

Charlotte fans never embraced the Bobcats name, chosen by owner Bob Johnson when the NBA awarded a team to the city that started play two years after the original Hornets departed for New Orleans in 2002.

When the New Orleans franchise opted to go with branding that was a little more Louisiana-appropriate, choosing the state bird—the pelican—as its new mascot, the door was opened for Charlotte owner Michael Jordan to reacquire the name.

But the franchise did more than that. The Charlotte franchise’s history now includes the tenure of the original Hornets (1988-2002) and the Bobcats (2004-14).

According to the Mecklenburg Historical Association, the Hornets moniker has a long, storied history in Charlotte.

During the Revolutionary War, England’s Lord Cornwallis came to Charlotte in 1780 to put down the Continental Army, but left after 16 days.

He referred to Charlotte as “a hornet’s nest of rebellion,” an identity the city proudly holds onto to this day.

And the celebration reinforced another important historical fact: There is no “bad” cake. There are just some cakes that are better than others.

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