Charlotte welcomes the 'Bobcats'

Jet, June 30, 2003

* CHARLOTTES WELCOMES THE 'BOBCATS': Charlotte's new NBA franchise team owner Bob Johnson (c), NBA commissioner David Stern (1) and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory share a laugh during the unveiling ceremony of the Charlotte Bobcats logo in downtown Charlotte, NC. Thousands flooded the city's center to see which nickname Johnson chose for the expansion team.

Johnson picked it over "Flight" and "Dragons," saying that Bobcats was always his choice. "The name represents the pride, enthusiasm, courage and commitment of Charlotte," the billionaire founder of BET said. "And the name has to symbolize the team, it is from the cat family so it is strong and a predator and agile. It has to have merchandising capability, and the owner has to like it." Charlotte's team will be the first in professional sports to use Bobcat as the logo, which has "Bobcat Orange," as its primary color, also unique to the NBA. Blue, silver and black also are used in the logo.