Mar 1, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) shoots on Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert (24) during the second quarter at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

Charlotte Hornets land in the top 5 in one unique area of NBA rankings

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Zach Roberts | Last updated Sep 11, 2025 12:41 PM ET

You'd have to a long way back to find a time when the Charlotte Hornets were ever a top-five team in the NBA. They almost made it as a top-five seed in the Eastern Conference in 2015-16, but they have otherwise spent most of this century as a pretty bad team.

At times, they will land top five in a random statistic or something like that, but if you ever see an NBA ranking of any kind, you usually have to find the bottom or at least the middle to see where Charlotte lands.

That's not the case in this ranking, although it has nothing to do with the quality of the team or organization. It's the jerseys, which are absolutely one of the best in the NBA. A win is a win, though, no matter if it's consequential or not.

Hornets have fourth-best jerseys in the NBA

CBS Sports' Sam Quinn ranked all 30 NBA jerseys, and the Charlotte Hornets landed fourth in the entire league. They were only behind San Antonio, Boston, and Chicago, and they outranked several iconic jerseys:

Golden State Warriors
Orlando Magic
Utah Jazz
New York Knicks
Miami Heat
Los Angeles Lakers

The jerseys are so good that it had Quinn remarking on how big of a gap there is between uniform quality or cultural impact and on-court performance. The teal and purple is celebrated, iconic, and relevant. The Hornets really aren't.

"The Hornets have never reached the conference finals, yet for a time, their teal merchandise was a popular as any team's besides perhaps Michael Jordan's Bulls. The logo is an unfortunate downgrade from its 90s counterpart, but the uniforms are an improvement," Quinn said.

Continuing on, he wrote, "Keeping the pinstripes monochromatic makes the whole look cleaner. The silhouette of the Hornet on the shorts gives them a bit more character. Even the little touches like the subtle stingers on the "H" and "S" in "Hornets" work to tie together the theme. The look is so effective that it makes you forget that hornets are not, in fact, teal."

The Hornets have had a ton of different variations of their look over the years, but the color scheme, design, and theme are generally really good. If only the roster could have had the same consistency.