The 1988–89 Charlotte Hornets season was Charlotte's inaugural season in the National Basketball Association. The "Charlotte Hornets", along with the Miami Heat, began play as expansion teams during the 1988–89 season. The team revealed a new primary logo of a hornet bouncing a basketball, and got new pinstripe uniforms, adding teal to their color scheme. In the 1988 NBA expansion draft, the Hornets selected veteran players like Dell Curry, second-year guard Muggsy Bogues, Mike Holton, Dave Hoppen, Ricky Green, and Mike Brown, who was then traded to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Kelly Tripucka. The team also signed free agents; Kurt Rambis, who won four championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, Earl Cureton, and acquired Robert Reid from the Houston Rockets. The Hornets received the eighth overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft, and selected Rex Chapman from the University of Kentucky. Dick Harter was hired to be the team's first head coach.
