The sadness of the small football market! It has only been 21 years since the team was established. After finally producing three stars, they are still poached!

As the youngest team in the NBA, although it inherits the Hornets' history in the past, the current Hornets have not been able to reproduce the glory of the 1990s. And with all their plans, they have only been in the team for 21 years. Being in the small city of Charlotte, it is determined that it is difficult for them to attract big-name stars to join, and this is also the tragedy of the small ball market. Unless they can get the No. 1 pick and get the top talented stars, it will be difficult for them to make a comeback. Recently, Hornets fans discovered a situation where the team's main defender Lamelo Ball has cancelled the team's account on personal social media, which makes people speculate that this All-Star guard is likely to leave in the summer.

If Ball really leaves, then in the past 21 years, the Hornets have finally developed several stars who can be proved to be poached. In fact, the Hornets have been the bottom team in the league for a long time. Even in the East where competition is not so fierce, it is difficult for them to stand out. They have only made it to the playoff stage twice in total, and they have all stopped in the first round. In addition, they are unable to retain the stars, so they have a miserable fate. This is why Michael Jordan sold almost most of the team's equity in just ten years after becoming the big boss. Let’s take a look at who the Hornets have trained over the years and where they have gone!

1. Emecka Okafo

Career data: 12 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks

Playing time: 5 seasons

Although I have never been selected into the All-Star lineup, the first real star in the history of this Hornets is still the second-tier Okafo's appearance in 2004. Don’t look at Okafor’s contribution to his career average of only 12 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. He only debuted that year and was once regarded as the top blue-collar insider in the NBA. In his rookie season, he could even contribute 15.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, successfully defeating Dwight Howard and winning the Best Rookie Trophy of the year. Unfortunately, Okafor later suffered from injuries and failed to fully realize his talent. But even so, he is still a double-double machine. In the team's five seasons, he can stably output 14+10 levels of data in each season, and has performed extremely well on both offense and defense. In the summer of 2008, he received a contract renewal of $72 million for six years. He thought he would stay with the team for a long time, but he never thought that in just one year, he was poached by the Hornets, which moved to New Orleans, that is, the Pelicans, now in exchange for the poor form of Tyson Chandler. In this way, they lost their first star in their team history.

2.Gerard Wallace

Career data: 12.4 points, 6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks

Playing time: 6 and a half seasons

And in the history of this Hornets, the first All-Star player was the team's first "Elvis" Gerald Wallace. Wallace entered the NBA as early as 2001-02. At that time, although he had few chances to play in the Kings, he was deeply influenced by the Princeton system. Therefore, when he was attracted by the Bobcats through the "draft" in the 2004-05 season, he quickly realized his talent in Charlotte. In the 24-year-old season, he was able to contribute 18.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2 steals and 0.9 blocks, and he was one of the most versatile small forwards at the time. With Okafor being traded, Wallace became the boss of the team. In the 2009-10 season, he averaged 18.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 1 block. He was the only star in the league who could play such data. In addition, he helped the team to reach the playoffs historically, Wallace was selected for the All-Star lineup that year. However, just when Wallace became an All-Star player, he was poached by the Trail Blazers in the second year, and it is incredible that the resources he received were very ordinary, namely injury-ridden center Joel Poulzbila, Dante Cunningham and two draft picks. In this way, there was almost no way, and they lost the first All-Star in team history.

3. Kemba Walker career data: 19.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.2 steals, play time: 8 seasons

Finally, let's talk about the first star in the Hornets' history so far, that is, Kemba Walker. Speaking of Walker, he is also one of the few players in the team's history who have undergone the team's name from Bobcats to Hornets. What's even more difficult is that as the team's lineup changes almost every year, he has won the core position and has continuously played highlights. In the 15-16 season, Walker was able to contribute 20.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.6 steals. He was the point guard in the Eastern Conference at that time, after John Wall and Kyrie Irving. He also helped the team make the playoffs for the second time. He fought with the Heat until the tiebreak battle before losing, so Walker began to join the All-Star guard. Since 2017, he has been selected into the All-Star lineup for three consecutive years, setting many records in team history, and even today, many of them are still controlled by him. In the 18-19 season, he completely scored his peak in his career, averaging 25.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. But helplessly, as he performed at the top, he was soon poached by the Celtics and signed a four-year, $141 million contract with the Celtics. The Hornets also had no choice but to say goodbye to Walker, and even when he left, the team failed to get anything.