Charlotte Bobcats return to Wilmington

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS FROM A NEWS RELEASE SENT TO THE WWAY NEWSCHANNEL 3 NEWSROOM…

WILMINGTON, N.C. – After a brief one-year hiatus, the National Basketball Association’s Charlotte Bobcats are returning to Wilmington and UNCW’s Trask Coliseum late next month for their seventh preseason training camp.

Bobcats Sports & Entertainment (BSE) President and Chief Operating Officer Fred Whitfield made the announcement late Tuesday that the club will hold its camp Sept. 28 through Oct. 4 in Wilmington. BSE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Jordan was raised in Wilmington and attended nearby Laney High School before embarking on his Hall of Fame career as a player.

“When Michael took over as the majority owner, we felt that it was important to let the Bobcats know we were still interested in hosting their training camp,” said Kelly Mehrtens, UNCW’s athletic director. “Between his strong ties to Wilmington and the quality of our facilities on campus, holding camp here makes sense for us and the Bobcats and we’re proud to be the place where they prepare for the rigors and challenges of an NBA season.”

Camp will begin one day after the team’s annual Media Day activities in Charlotte on Monday, September 27.

“After a year away, we are really pleased to be returning to Wilmington for training camp and the start of what we hope will be another trip to the NBA playoffs,” said Whitfield. “Michael was very enthusiastic about the opportunity to bring camp back to his hometown in his first full year as majority owner. Utilizing the great facilities at UNCW would not have been possible without the work and support of Athletic Director Kelly Mehrtens, who reached out and let us know they could host if we wanted to come back this fall.”

Bobcats Sports & Entertainment operates the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Time Warner Cable Arena, located in the heart of uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. The Bobcats will begin their seventh season of play in the NBA this fall after reaching the postseason last spring for the first time in franchise history.

Charlotte’s arrival next month marks the eighth NBA training camp held at UNCW. The Washington Wizards completed a three-year run from 2000-02 and the Bobcats began a four-year stay in 2005-06.