Hornets Hive Cast10-29-23 - New Hornets Owners Rick Schnall & Gabe Plotkin
Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin just tipped off their first season as Co-Chairmen and majority owners of the Charlotte Hornets. They joined Hornets Radio Play-by-Play broadcaster Sam Farber for an in-depth interview discussing the young core already assembled on the floor, their goals for the franchise overall, and how they hope their stewardship will impact and be remembered by Charlotte and fans of the Hornets.
Welcome to the Hornets Hoivecast presented by Charlotte I ear nosen Throat Associates, the official i ear nosen throat Care provider of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Sam Farber.
Welcome to another edition of the Hornets haveime Cast, your Hornets podcast with all the notes, quote, san daily buzz around your favorite NBA team. I'm Sam Farber and it is a pleasure and a privilege save you here with us on a very special edition of the Hornet timee Cast, which is brought to you by Santa Charlotte I ear nosen Throat Associates, the official i ear nosen throat Care provider of the Charlotte Hornets. It is an off day for the Hornets, but never an off day here on the AHHC. And what a couple of guests we have for you in studio with us today. The new ownership group for the Charlotte Hornets has officially taken charge this season. They are led by Rick Schnell and Gabe Plotkin, who are kind enough to join us in studio today. They're going to talk about what their goals are, including building memories for the fan base of the Charlotte Hornets, what they like the fans to know about them, their thoughts on the young core we are already installed here for the Charlotte Hornets, and what they'd like to be remembered for when their time many many many, many many many years from now is done. Being the stewards of this franchise, can't wait to bring this conversation to you. Let's get it going right now, without further ado, Let's welcome Gaye Plotkin and Rick Shnall here for the first time to the Hornet Time cast. Gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us.
Thanks a lot.
We're thrilled to have you.
It's only been a few weeks, maybe a couple of months now, But how's it been owning an NBA franchise?
I'll start on that one. You know what, it's been great. We've obviously been here a lot. We've had an opportunity to engage with the management team, with our basketball ops and with the team, and you know, it's everything we had hoped for and more so. We're taking it on and we're having a lot of fun doing it, and we're excited to see how the team comes out at the start, and we'll see where we go from here.
You guys have.
Used two words a lot in your public comments early struck me. One is partnership. You want to be partners with the city, partners with all those involved here with the Charlotte Hornets. And also that you are stewards of the franchise, that it's not you know, yours to do exactly whatever you want, that you're representing a larger community that loves and cares about this team. Why are those two words so important and meaningful to you? Cable to start with you.
I think, you know, we love the game of basketball. You know, we want to be great stewards of this franchise. But when we move on in life, the Hornet's still going to be around. And with sports, you pass on that passion generation to generation. And so we think, if we build a winning franchise, if we build a great team, we're going to have fans that pass that on to the next generation and we're going to have memories that get created that that you know, really define this franchise. And so that's an exciting thing. We also have the ability to impact lives in the community with the actions that we take. So I think when we say that it's it's understanding that this is a part of something beyond us and we'll continue on after we're gone.
Rick, do you hope that mindset is reflected in what you guys do at the top of the organization.
You know, we represent the entire community. I think Gabe said it well, and how the organization performs on and off the court is we're out there to represent all of Charlotte and North Carolina and the Carolinas for that matter. And you know, we obviously have a simple goal, which is to be the premier franchise in the NBA. And and that goal is not just about winning games, but it's about the culture. It's about how we carry ourselves. It's about the values that we have as an organization and how we reflect our city and our fans and our and all of our partners, our sponsors, et cetera.
And it is we.
Are we are owners of the team, but we are stewards for the entire community and our fan base, and we have to carry ourselves in a way that that we would all be proud.
Rich Nall gave plaq in our guests today here on the Hornets Hive cast, seeing you guys around the commune to be quite a bit already and at many public events, but there's probably a lot of fans out there who haven't got a chance to get to know you. I'm sure you're going to be shaking a lot of hands over the first home stand and over your first season, But what's something that you would like fans to know about you as you take over the franchise? Cab, We'll begin with you.
Yeah.
For me personally, it's it's, you know, a couple of things. One, we love the game of basketball. Now, this is a real passion and we're really excited to be doing it, you know. Two, we're competitive. You know, anything we do we want to win, and you know, that's really important to us, and I think it should be really important to our fans. And you know, Three, we want to do it in the right way, you know, in a way that reflects high integrity. And so I think those are the most important things for our fans to understand when they think about how we're going to approach ownership.
Rick, what should fans know about you?
I think Gabe nailed it.
Basketball is a huge passion of mine and has been for my entire life, and We're incredibly focused on an organization that we can be proud of and that we can help to great success on and off the court. And for me, as Gabe said it, I am incredibly competitive, and so what I would want people to know about me is, you know, I want to win and everything I do and I expect and we expect to win here, and we are going to win, and we're going to do it in the right way. And you win by getting the right people and setting the right culture and the right tone and doing it every day and being consistent, working harder than everybody else. And I think we having been here you asked the question earlier on you know, or you know, having been here now for several months, it's going to work.
It's going to work. We're gonna do it.
We're gonna win, and our competitive drive won't allow it for anything else.
I'm sure that is music to every Hornets fans ears right there, that mentality, that mindset, the first thing that you both said, the love of the game. It's clear and obvious. We recently had a chance to sit down with Mitch Kupcheck and Steve Clifford on the precipice of the season and that's the first thing they said about both of you. I think said specifically they have that basketball Jones, which is one of my favorite songs from the original Space Jam album. Dating myself a little bit out there, but they said that you both have it. Where does that passion come from? Because a lot of people love sports or love a game, but most of us have a particular moment where that love really came to be. What is it for you that helped you fall in love with the game of basketball? Rick, let's start with you this time.
Well, I've played sports all my life and there just is no sport for me like basketball. It's five people playing together as a team. You develop bonds and relationships on the basketball court in my life like no other place. And I always say that I can figure somebody out in about five minutes during a pickup game. Is that someone I want to work with? Is that someone I would hire? Is that someone I want to play with? And personalities come out pretty quickly. And I love the game. I've played it since I was little, but when I started to work, it became my passion and my hobby, and so I played basketball about five, five or six days a week for about twenty years post college in lots of different things and camps and fantasy camps and travel teams and over forty teams at all kinds of things, and it was my passion, my fun, my social network, and that obviously led to a passion in and around both playing but also watching and understanding the game and what makes people successful in the game. And so I just love the love the sport. And you know, I got pretty lucky. In twenty fifteen, I had an opportunity to invest in a team in the Atlanta Hawks, and at that time, after doing that for a couple of years, I thought if I could put myself in a position to be in a control position and have an ability to combine my passion with my business experience, which has been in buying companies and working with companies, that I thought there'd be an opportunity to do something that was unique among NBA teams. And so finding Gabe as a partner who is very like minded, and you know, for me personally, basketball is unique. I mean, obviously there are other sports. There's there's great sports in football and baseball. Those don't interest me. I just don't think the game itself is as interesting to me, which is great. And so to have the ability to get involved in a game that you feel so passionately about and yeah, mit, Mitch, I know, Mitch tells me to stop playing, but I'm still out there playing pickup.
I just played.
We just I just we just got the staff out there and played for for the last hour and a half. And you know, to me, that's part of the passion. And you know, I can't play like I used to, but I still get myself out there and it's there's there's nothing quite like making a shot or running up and down the floor and delivering an assist, and it's just it's just a great just a it's just a great sport and a special sport. And so be able to be involved for me is really special.
You really feel that love. We can tell it comes through the microphone clearly here and I'm right there with you. The best sound of the world to me is a perfect shot going straight through the net. There is nothing like it.
Gabe, what about you?
Where's does your passion come from? And I also need to know now in the interview process for this partnership, did you have to play five on five?
Was that part I haven't yet. We need to. You know, I played growing up. I played in middle school, I played in high school. I was actually pretty small through a lot of high school, so that probably held me back. But but then in college as I grew, you know, I would play. We had great teams, great intramural teams.
I didn't.
I didn't play Division one, and then I played after college. And you know, I think you just said there's nothing like the ball going through the net. I mean the other day I was playing horse with the guy who coaches my kid in basketball, and we were playing horse and I was draining threes, and you know, I was like, man, that sound. You gotta love that sound. So I agree, it's the best sound in the world. And I think with basketball, it's not a coincidence that as the world got exposed to the game and you know, really took off after the you know, the Barcelona Olympics, it's become such a popular global sport because it's easy in terms of accessibility. You just need a ball in a basket. You can do it by yourself, you do it with teammates, and you can always be working on your game, and it's fast paced. Is a lot of scoring I know a lot of Europeans and others like soccer, and nothing against the local Charlotte FC team, but I really struggle to watch soccer. There's just not the kind of action that I want to see that happens on a basketball court, and so it's something I'm really passionate about and have enjoyed since I was a kid.
Well, this Charlotte team definitely brings entertainment. You take over a squad that has LaMelo Ball maybe the most entertaining player in the game. I'm sure that's one of the reasons for the answer to this question. But from both of you, what specifically about Charlotte made this the organization that you wanted to run? LaMelo is a fine answer, but whatever comes to mind, gave Let's start with you.
Well, it is not my answer because when I invested initially, he was not on the team, so I can't tell you that was the case. But you know, I do think Charlotte, you know, we said this a couple of times, you know, when we've spoken, but it was always perceived and it's still perceived, and I think you know that reflects to some degree the lack of success on the court. But you know, it's always perceived at the bottom of the NBA. Even the ESPN recently had a poll and I think it had US twenty ninth out of thirtieth. And you know, that's sort of where you expect Charlotte to be, and we think as a city, and that's kind of defined how people perceive this organization and maybe the city to some degree. But when we looked at the city, when we look at the population growth, we look at the demographics, we look at the business climate, the geographical climate, how great a city it is to live in and want to be here and raise kids here. These were all huge positives. You know, a lot of corporate sponsorship opportunities. And so when we look at it today and when we fast forward ten fifteen years, we think it's going to become pretty apparent that Charlotte is one of the better cities in the NBA, and certainly not at the bottom of that list. And so when that opportunity came to invest in such a great city, you know, we jumped at it.
I really wholeheartedly believe in everything you just said. For my wife and I when we moved here to Charlotte, that was a game changer. We can't imagine our lives anywhere else. Now, Rick, for you, same question, what is it that made Charlotte the attractive place that you wanted to take over a franchising?
Yeah, I think it's the ideal market.
You know, as Gabe said, it's not viewed as a top ten market today in the NBA, and part of that is the size of the market, but also the performance that the team has had. And it's a great city. It's a growing city, it's incredibly well located, it has good weather, it has a very loyal and dedicated fan base, and we also have an opportunity to take a team that's not perceived to be great. In fact, the team hasn't been very good. Let's be frank. The team on the floor has not been very good. When you have three playoff wins since two thousand and four, we haven't delivered for our fan base or the community. So the opportunity to come into what I view as a great city in a great location that is growing, and all we have is upside. All we have is upside. And so you know, when you think basketball, you think North Carolina, and you think Indiana and maybe New York.
You tell me maybe.
Maybe people argue Philadelphia, I don't know, or maybe the New World as La, but I think North Carolina, I think Indiana, and so we have a chance to buy the professional basketball team in North Carolina in a growing city, and to be frank, since we've been here, it's better than we thought.
I mean it is.
It is a wonderful city, and it's everything we had hoped for and more. And it's it's it's it's the right city at the right time for great success.
It is certainly a place that loves its hoops and it loves its players. And I think one thing that's telling everyone doing the rankings out there, I think there's something very telling about where players want to retire. You see a lot of players whenever they end their careers, they end up here, and that says something.
I think this is a place we absolutely should be able to attract free agents to play, both because of the quality of the city and a great place to live and the type of franchise we are going to create. This should be a very desirable place for players to play.
Rick Snahl gave Plock in our guests today here on the Hornets, I've cast you talked about building a winner, and that is a process to it. But I'm curious where you think the team is along that route. You've already seen the team sign to the first ever rookie max contract in franchise history, LaMelo Ball. That is certainly an accelerant towards where you.
Want to go.
Where do you see the team on that path with LaMelo in the full long term? Rick, We'll start with you.
Well, we have a young team. We have a really talented team. You know, we have a very good core. And if you think about the young players we have with LaMelo who's now signed for the next five years, Brandon Miller, who's second pick in the draft, who were very high on Mark Williams, who's in his second year, who we think can be a really impactful player in the league. We feel great about that young base. We obviously have two vets in Terry and Gordon, and so we think we have a competitive team. We think we have a young team that should compete for the playoffs this year. I'm sure you heard that from from I haven't heard their podcast, yep, but I'm sure you heard that from Cliff and Mitch.
You can check it out.
You know, I think we expect to compete for playoff spot. We do have a lot to build on here, and we have some young talented players coming off the bench as well, and so the outlook is pretty bright for this team. Most teams that win in the NBA have more of a veteran presence than we have on our team, and so we're building towards something. But we certainly have the pieces to start that building process.
Gate what excites you about the young core that is in place here led by LaMelo Ball, But as mentioned, there's a lot of players that make it up.
I think if I call the young core, just take you know, LaMelo, Brandon and Mark. Let's say, you know, you have three guys that you know, high basketball IQ's, share the basketball, work hard at the game. In terms of their positions, they're you know, they're all sort of large for their position, so they have kind of great positional length. They have the ability to impact the game on both ends, and you know, it's something that we want to continue to work on. And they also, you know, they seem to fit together in terms of the pieces. I remember when the Celtics, you know, they had Paul Pierson, they got Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and like it was seamless overnight the way those guys kind of played together, And it makes a lot of sense when you understand their games. I think with us, you know, with LaMelo, Brandon and Mark, you could see something. I mean, there are differences, but you can see something similar where you know, you've got a great ball handler and pass so you've got a secondary ball handle and a guy who can really shoot the ball. Well, you've got a guy that are on pick and rolls with and defend the middle, and you've got guys that are really good in transition, and so I think it's really unique to have a core that also can fit together and you can see them evolve over time and become a real force in the league.
My last question for you both, you've both been immensely successful in your professional lives and your personal lives. You don't get here without having that being a prerequisite. But for the average person, when your stewardship here with this franchise has done many many, many, many many years from now, this is probably going to be the thing that you're most well known for outside of your family and friends, is being in charge of the Charlotte Hornets. When we get to that spot, way way way down the road, what do you hope fans think of you for or know you for when your time is done here running the Charlotte Hornets gables start with you.
I mean, in my dream, it would be a championship. I mean, that's really what we're all after, right you know? You know, I know they had a tick or tape parade here after the first year to celebrate the fact that we had a franchise. But you know, I don't know the exact number, but I'm guessing that team won fifteen to twenty games. So you know, if we can deliver to this city a championship and all that comes with that in terms of growing the fan base, growing the business, having people really be excited about Hornets basketball, that would be the ultimate outcome. And I think that starts with building a winning culture, going about things the right way. And I think when they look back on our time and they say, will these guys really they were committed, they were willing to invest behind this team. They wanted to win, they wanted to compete. If we do those things, you know, it's it's hard to win a title. I mean, we'll have to see how that goes. You know, there's only one out of thirty teams that do it, and there's a lot of great players that come and gone and never won a championship. In same with organizations. But I think that's the ultimate goal. But trying to build the right process, season structure to move to that point. If people look back on our time and say, will these guys committed everything they could to building a winning team and they won an awful lot, then I think we'll be successful.
Rick, same question for you, What do you hope people say about Rick Snall when you were done with this tenure here with the Hornets.
Yeah, I think Gabe said it well. I hope people look back.
And say we were great stewards for the franchise, that we run the business in a consistent way, that we were approachable as individuals, and that we built an organization that could sustain successfully well passed our time, and hopefully we'll be remembered for building something special here in Charlotte.
Well, as a member of the staff, it's a real thrill and honor to have you guys here. We're excited for the energy you bring and we're excited to see what comes here this season and beyond for the Charlotte Hornets.
Thanks for joining us, appreciate it, Thank you, Thanks Sam.
That's going to do it for this edition of the AHHC cannot thank enough Rick Snall and Gabe Plaquin for taking so much time out of their busy schedules to be with us here on the Hornetsimee cast, I hope you've enjoyed the conversation. Continue to spread the word. Let people know that they can hear from the new ownership leadership here for the Hornets. They are two great guys, and hopefully their love of the game, their energy and enthusiasm for this franchise in this city came through in the conversation. Certainly came through for me here on this side of the table. If you'd like to comb through the archives, we've got many, many more great conversations here available for you now on the Hornet Time Cast. Earlier, just before the season, we had a chance to talk to Hornets General manager and President of basketball Operations Mitch Kupchik, as well as head coach Steve Clifford. They talked about their expectations for this season, which does include the playoffs, so definitely would encourage you to go back through the archives check those out. Tomorrow we're back to game day editions of the HC. We'll have our game preview for the Hornets homestand finale against the Brooklyn Nets. Look forward to talking to you that until next time, with thanks again to Rick Snaal and Gabe Plokin for joining us here, to our producer Rob Longo for putting this podcast together. Most of all to all of you for tuning in. I'm Sam Farber saying it's been a pleasure and a privilege having you with us. We'll talk to you again tomorrow for another edition of the Hornets Hopecast.
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