Forgotten Seasons

The Charlotte Bobcats existed for 10 seasons and racked up a grand total of zero playoff wins. The pinnacle of the franchise came in 2009/10, when the Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace-led Bobcats made the playoffs and ranked first in defense.

Stephen Jackson arrived in Charlotte nine games into the 2009/10 season after being traded from Golden State. Stak was just two years removed from making history with the 2007 We Believe Warriors. That Warriors core - featuring Baron Davis, Matt Barnes, Jason Richardson and Al Harrington - dismantled quickly following their magical run. By 2009, Captain Jack was the lone sailor left, and he wasn't happy. He publicly requested a trade in the summer of 2009 and was shipped off to the Bobcats in December.

Directly following the trade, reporters asked Bobcats head coach Larry Brown if he was worried about Jackson joining his locker room. Stak had a bad reputation following the Malice at the Palace, and more recently from a sideline blow-up with his old Warriors coach, Don Nelson. But Brown was not worried at all. Jackson, he said, shared certain qualities with his former student, Allen Iverson. "I can deal with (high-maintenance) kids. All you have to do is be straight with them,’ Brown said. ‘After six years with Allen (Iverson in Philadelphia), I don’t look at anybody as a challenge. (Jackson) wants to play and he’s a competitor. Guys like that you can make work in your locker room."

With Jackson, Wallace, Tyson Chandler and Boris Diaw, the Bobcats won a franchise-high 44 games and made the playoffs for the first time in their history. Despite getting swept in the first round, this 2010 season is a source of great pride for Jackson.

Catch new episodes of Forgotten Seasons every Wednesday.

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There are a lot of narratives swirling the web about former Mavs All-Star forward, Josh Howard. Most notably, one video with 4M views titled "how a YouTube video ENDED an NBA career."

In today's episode, Howard clears the air on those false narratives and relives the beginning to his career with the Mavericks.

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Gary Payton, Jason Kidd and John Stockton. These are the only three point guards in NBA history that logged more games than today's guest, Andre Miller. If there's one thing Miller embodies, it's being a floor general. And in today's league, it seems like floor generals are endangered, maybe even extinct. Miller candidly walks us through his thoughts as to why the true point guard is being phased out of the league. He also takes us back to memorable pockets from his rich 17-year career, including secret pickup runs with John Stockton and Karl Malone, joining the 2003/04 Nuggets for Melo's rookie year and his unsuccessful attempts at containing a surging Steph Curry in the 2013 Playoffs.

00:00 Beginning

00:30 Secret to being an NBA ironman

03:50 Private pickup runs with 90's Utah Jazz

10:25 Who is the best team to never win a ring?

13:55 Using Stockton's techniques in NBA

15:35 What happened to the true point guard?

19:02 Memories of rookie Melo, Traded for Iverson

23:10 Art of the post-up point guard

27:14 Steph Curry's 2013 Playoff explosion

29:09 Is Steph a true point guard?

33:44 Does Draymond get enough credit?

34:58 52-point game vs Mavericks in 2010

38:58 Trainer culture ruining youth?

47:44 End

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The 17-Foot Assassin, David West, joins the show to relive the rise of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in the mid-2000's.

West was drafted to the Hornets 18th overall in the legendary 2003 NBA Draft, joining the team for their first season in New Orleans. But just two years after West and the Hornets' arrival in New Orleans from Charlotte, they needed to move again due to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Just a month before the 2005/06 season tipped off, it was determined that Oklahoma City - who had no other major sports teams - would be the Hornets temporary home until New Orleans was rebuilt (enough).

From 2005-2007, the Hornets played nearly all of their home games in Oklahoma City. And to their surprise, Oklahoma City welcomed them with rabid support. This successful foster parent-like relationship laid the groundwork for the city being able to swipe the Sonics from Seattle just a few years later.

Coinciding with the Hornets temporary move to Oklahoma City was the emergence of the team, led by West and the young point god, Chris Paul. In 2008, the Hornets were back in New Orleans and won a franchise-record 56 games. They would fall to the Spurs in 7 games in the West Semis, and according to West, his injured back was the only thing that kept the Hornets from making the NBA Finals.

West details the rapid ascension of his team, reveals the origin to his signature mid-range jump shot, gives his opinion to why the Hornets eventually fell apart and much more.

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Tim Thomas joins the show to talk late 90’s Sixers, 2001 Bucks and mid-2000’s Knicks. He also highlights his rise to the league as the #1 player in the Class of 1996 and his rivalry with Kobe Bryant in high school.

We use the “ahead of his time” label pretty lightly these days. But Thomas, at 6’10” with a sweet stroke and guard-like handles was...definitely ahead of his time.

Philadelphia was his landing spot in the 1997 Draft, and Thomas joined a squad featuring a young Allen Iverson and Jerry Stackhouse. Thomas dispels the narrative that AI and Stackhouse hated each other and dives deep into his relationship with Larry Brown.

Less than two years into his Sixers tenure, Thomas was shipped to Milwaukee, where he'd play alongside Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell. The Bucks had the number offense in the league in 2001 and beat Indiana and Charlotte in the playoffs before facing Philly, Thomas' old team, in the Conference Finals. The epic 7-game series came down to the last shot, which Glenn Robinson missed, and Philly advanced.

After Milwaukee, Thomas had successful stints with New York and Phoenix. To wrap up the episode, we talk about Tim Thomas Playaz AAU program, which has ushered more than 25 players into the NBA with tens of millions in contract dollars earned.

Follow Forgotten Seasons (@forgottenseasonsnba). This episode is co-hosted by Dylan Dreyfuss and Jelani McCoy.

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