The Hornets Are On Their Way to the Most Improbable Mid-Season Turnaround in NBA History
The 2025-26 Charlotte Hornets (same franchise) are on their way to completing what might be the most improbable season turnaround in NBA. To begin the year oddsmakers put Charlotte’s over/under win total at 27.5. And to start the season they seemed like a team well on their way to fulfill their statistical destiny. Before the month of November had come to a close the Hornets had already pulled off an impressive seven game losing streak. Lamelo Ball, the teams polarizing star, had started the season injured once again and league insiders considered him an increasingly likely guy the Hornets would find themselves selling low on. Brandon Miller, their second overall pick in 2023, found himself missing thirteen of the first fifteen games after dislocating his left shoulder the second game of the season. Making this even more unlucky: Brandon ad missed considerable time the previous season as well after tear a ligament in his right wrist.
After their seven game skid, starter’s slowly trickled back into the lineup. Miller’s shoulder injury proved manageable through non-surgical therapies and LaMelo slowly acclimated himself back to full speed play. But with both players on minutes restrictions. They still weren’t putting together anything too impressive. On New Years Day 2026, Kalshi gave them just 2% odds to make a play off series, Twenty days later, on January 21, 2026 the Hornets played their 44th game of the season and lost to the Cavilers, putting them at a record of 16-28. The team was finally healthy but 12 games out of .500 with more than half the season already played and 4 games back out of a 10th seed spot. It seemed as though the Hornets would likely be in the draft lottery for the ninth straight season.
Their next game the Hornets picked themselves up after a close loss against Cleveland, went to Orlando and blew out an, at that point, hot Magic team. Then they came back to Charlotte to play the dog shit Wizards and beat them too. Next up were the Sixers who became the bugs third straight victims. The Hornets would go on to win another six straight games.
After dropping seven straight games to start the season, the Hornets put up a winning streak that bested that streak total by two, winning nine straight games until losing in a (very physical) heart breaker to the Detroit Pistons a game before the all-star break.
Since that loss to Cleveland on January 21st the Charlotte Hornets, the franchise that holds the overall record for the worst statistical season and the current record for consecutive seasons without making a playoff series, has gone 23-6. Tonight they just stomped the Knicks, the East’s third best team, to bring their record to 39-34.
After some quick cursory research I’ve found only two other teams that have accomplished a similar feat in NBA history after 44 games: The 1984-85 Chicago Bulls, who, led by rookie Michael Jordan, overcame a 14-30 start to the season to finish 38-44 and snuck into the playoffs. And the Pelicans who started 18-26 but finished 36-46 to make the playoffs through the play-in.
However, while both impressive mid season turnarounds in their own right, the Hornets turnaround is simply more improbable. With nine games left, the hornets must win only three to finish with a winning record, and have already passed the win totals of the 84-85 Bulls and 21-22 Pelicans by two and three games respectively. Additionally, they are only a game and half back from the Raptors and have a realistic chance of skipping the play in altogether to make the 6th seed outright (Kalshi gives them plus 50% odds). If they can do that, there many who will consider them legitimate contenders to win the Eastern Conference. Given, they are still young and playoff basketball is a totally different beast, but with one or two more breaks their way, it is not inconceivable to imagine that the Hornets, the team odds makers gave the fourth lowest predicted wins-total before the season began, could find themselves playing in the NBA Finals.
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