CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Arms comfortably folded and resting on a bank of chairs, along a wall where screened windows provide privacy from pedestrians scurrying about on Fifth Street, a familiar face shifts into observation mode.

Rick Schnall is dressed in everyday casual attire, making the Charlotte Hornets’ co-owner stand out in a gym where everyone else blends in with their purple-and-teal team-issued apparel. The cell phone in Schnall’s hand might as well be a paper weight, because he isn’t interested in business dealings or anything else until the practice session is complete and players disperse.

And all this isn’t unfolding on some random weekday — it’s well past lunchtime and there are only a few hours of daylight remaining before the sun sets on the weekend. This is the new norm for the Hornets, a repetitive scene that illustrates the many differences in how things operate with Charlotte’s NBA team these days.

Since taking controlling interest of the franchise from now-minority owner Michael Jordan last August, Schnall and Gabe Plotkin, the Hornets’ other co-owner, have almost been as visible as the guys in uniform. The duo is ever present by design.

“It’s a huge part, a really important part of our culture because we want to show the players that we care, that we see them and we are aware of everything that’s going on here and it matters to us,” Schnall told The Charlotte Observer in an interview alongside Plotkin. “We love the game, we are passionate about the game. And so in many respects there’s a direct line of reporting and we are not in that direct line. We play a support role. We want to support our players.

“We want them to understand that we care about them as players and as people because as an organization, we want them to feel the sense that, ‘Hey, this is a special place, the owners are visible, they love the game.’ And that’s extremely important to us as owners, and I think we have the ability to do that. That’s pretty unique because we are around.”

Their big brother-like presence is welcomed, too.

“They’re more engaged, they’re around more and that’s good for us, just to see that ownership cares,” Hornets forward Miles Bridges said. “I’m not saying that the old ownership didn’t care, but they are just around more. And it’s good to see them and they are participating in what they’ve got going on.”

‘Premier franchise’

Schnall and Plotkin are injecting a breath of fresh air into an organization that’s been stale by league standards, considering the team has never advanced past the second round of the playoffs in its 36 years of existence and holds the NBA’s longest current postseason drought, which is approaching a decade.

It’s why some are skeptical they can completely reverse course and the reason an eyebrow or two got raised when they mentioned how they wanted to make the Hornets a ‘premier franchise’ and a preferred destination. Those words were repeated in April during the introductory press for Jeff Peterson, the Hornets’ president of basketball operations

But what does that really mean and just how do Plotkin and Schnall make it happen?

“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of components to that,” Plotkin said. “First, is you are committed to long-term sustainable success. So, you have to set the culture expectation that that’s what you are trying to achieve, and then you have to bring in the people. At the end of the day, this is a people business. There’s no competitive moats beyond the people you have in place.

“I think when you look at organizations in sport that have been successful over time, it’s been anchored in culture, it’s been anchored in people that have been there for a long time. And we hope the hires we’ve made — and we truly believe that — they’re going to be with us a long time. And so they’ve set the agenda, they’ve brought in a lot of talent.”

During their short tenure running the show, Schnall and Plotkin have completely transformed the bulk of the team’s staff directory. In basketball operations alone, a department headed by their first real notable organizational hire in Peterson, only three people were retained.

In May, they hired a new head coach in Charles Lee and brought Shelly Cayette-Weston in from Cleveland as the new team president. In July, they added a 10-person health and performance department led by Trent Salo. The first of two phases of renovations to Spectrum Center was just completed and the Hornets will soon break ground on their multi-million dollar training center at the corner of Caldwell and 5th streets in uptown.

That’s quite a seven-month stretch.

“To be good on the court, you need great players, you have to invest in your facilities, you have to have trust in the organization,” Plotkin said. “We are investing a lot obviously across the organization. In sports, in performance, in the practice facility. And so there are many elements. Obviously, the arena renovation. And so it’s not just one thing. I think it’s kind of everything.

“So, every aspect of the business we are analyzing, every aspect of basketball we want to be premiere at. And the aggregation of all that makes you a premier franchise.”

Blink and another change might pop up overnight.

“That is one of the competitive advantages throughout the league — these new facilities and arenas and just amenities,” Peterson said. “They know that in order not just to attract but to retain talent you’ve got to be able to provide these guys with the best care possible.

“So, very excited they are living up to their side of the bargain with that. It’s been great. I think the common denominator amongst the really good owners is they are very committed and passionate, resourceful at the same time they know how and when to stay out the way and not be too involved. That, to me, makes a great owner.”

Prior to their controlling purchase of the team, Schnall and Plotkin agreed they weren’t going to be OK with status quo and simply allow things to continue in the previous trajectory.

If they were joining the ownership ranks, it was full speed ahead. No excuses.

“We came up with a great mission here is to be the premier franchise of the NBA, and what does that mean?” Schnall said. “It means, as Gabe just described, we have the best culture, we have the best people, we can win consistently on and off the court, be a partner to our fans, our sponsors. I think when you have a great organization, everybody in the organization knows that and they are all proud to work in the organization.

“Everybody works for the name on the front of our jersey, not the back of our jersey. That’s not just players. That’s every employee we have in the organization. They’re working for the greater good of the organization and they are proud to tell people that they work for the Hornets and what we are trying to achieve.”

Which, in turn, they hope pushes the Hornets to higher heights.

“Ultimately, we think it’s also about the realization that people outside our organization point to us as the best at what we do,” Schnall said. And we’ll know we’ve succeeded when we are consistently winning, and people outside of the organization are pointing and going, ‘Wow, these guys have done something different there.’

“And that’s what we set out to do. I think we both have enormous passion for the game. We love basketball, we are passionate about the game.”

Building in multiple ways

Schall and Plotkin, a pair of avid hoopers, will have a world-class facility to play their pick up games in prior to the start of the 2026-27 season. It will feature more than 100,000 square feet to be utilized for practice, training and recovery, plus another 35,000 square for the team’s business operations thanks to an adjustment from the original architectural design.

They wanted to add a third floor to better have everyone in one place, something that happened this past summer when the Hornets had to lease office space in uptown while the arena was being renovated.

“You can’t be the best or elite if you don’t have elite facilities and if so we have to have an arena that’s on par with the rest of the arenas around the league,” Schnall said. “The practice facility is essential. We’re one of less than a handful of teams that don’t have a separate practice facility, so as we want to be both retaining and attracting the best players, we’ve got to have a setup that is ...

“We think it will be the best in the league or among the best in the league. It’s a beautiful building. We are investing a lot of our own money in it. The city is contributing $30 million, the building is going to cost a lot more. But it’s really important that is state of-the-art, that players come in and it’s a really exciting experience for them and our whole staff.”

The multi-million project is just the latest in a string of steady organizational movement that began with Peterson’s arrival as the initial member of the new hierarchy. Peterson then tabbed Lee as the person to be at the end of the Hornets’ bench since they share a mirroring vision, partially from previous experiences together in Atlanta when both were employed by the Hawks.

It’s another piece of the puzzle Schnall and Plotkin are methodically putting together.

“Most businesses you look at, even if they hire a new CEO, changing the culture of business is a really long process,” said Plotkin, the founder and chief investment officer of Tallwoods Capital, a wealth management firm. “For us, it was making the right hires at the top and that can filter it’s way through you. When Jeff came in, a lot of people based on his relationships and how much they thought of Jeff, they wanted to come work for him.

“And when Jeff went to hire a head coach, he also wanted to hire a head coach that had the same values as him. Once Charles was here, Charles had multiple stops along the way, people were clamoring to work with Charles. Same with our sports performance department with Trent. So, it started with hiring Jeff. We went through a pretty rigorous search.

“With Jeff, I think there was an underlying belief that while this guy is really special, he’s young, he’s built great relationships. people connect to him, he understands the value of hard work, the value of collaboration, communication, not a big ego, someone who’s easy to work with. He wants to be in an organization where everyone is connected together. Bringing him in really set off a chain effect, and that’s kind of led us to where we are today.”

Peterson has already displayed why Plotkin and Schnall have such a strong belief in him. The Hornets, typically on the outside looking in during most NBA transactions, have acquired draft capital, cash and players — such as Josh Green — during the past five months. They’ve assisted in facilitating two multi-team deals, using their cap space wisely in the process.

That wasn’t happening under any of the previous regimes.

“You’re exactly right,” said Schnall, who’s also co-president of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a private equity investment firm. “Historically, we weren’t in those conversations and obviously it’s really important that we are. Jeff has great relationships around the league and we are also thinking very strategically about how to build the organization. So, we went from an organization that was void of assets, a little bit void of draft picks — had traded away a first-round draft pick and number of second-round draft picks and hadn’t acquired any — and depth.

“And we are now up in the top five or six teams with assets. Now that Jeff came in we gathered a lot of second-round picks and we have an abundance. Maybe not an overabundance. You never can have an overabundance, But assets that can allow us to build something great.”

That, again, is where Peterson comes in.

“There will be a time where it’s going to be go time and it’s time to use those assets to convert them into a team that can be a championship-caliber team. And we are looking forward to that time period because, of course, you don’t do this if you are not trying to win. We think Jeff gives us a great opportunity to build that over time, build this franchise into a winning team.

“We are now in the middle of a lots of conversations with other teams and other organizations about how we can continue to build our franchise. And that’s what you need to be in this business to build it.”

Peterson is witnessing things first-hand, fully immersed in the process.

“For us, it’s all about just being opportunistic and strategic, in terms of we certainly want to show improvement in the short term, but we also want to be flexible and ultimately create sustained success long term,” he said. “It’s hard in this league to just sit back and hope things come your way. There’s times when you’ve got to be aggressive and assertive to do what’s best for the franchise.

“So they have been nothing but supportive in that manner as well. So, yeah, really excited about that, too.”

‘It’s just going to be fun’

The commitment of Schnall and Plotkin goes beyond the outer reaches of the arena and the team’s offices. Understanding the significance of extending their footprint into the community as well, they’ve pledged to be dedicated in assisting the city and the Carolinas.

In establishing the Chairman’s Legacy Fund, a new annual financial program to help strengthen the Charlotte region, they’ve set their initial sights on revitalizing gymnasiums in nine area schools to create inclusive and state-of-the-art spaces. Over the summer, $500,000 worth of basketball-centric improvements such as new courts, goals, bleachers and scoreboards were finalized.

“We made a substantial investment to renovate nine gymnasiums and so the kids can really have pride,” Schnall said. “And it connected with us because we played basketball. We understand what it means to have an awesome gym and it’s a great place for kids to go and they’re doing athletic activities instead of being on devices or getting into trouble, who knows what?

“And so it’s a huge win for us, it’s huge win for the community which surrounds us, those are the kinds of things that really appeal to us to do with our foundation.”

Just recently, the Hornets donated 1 million dollars to the relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Helene in Western Carolina. Along with team employees packing 10,000 emergency food kits for Second Harvest of Metrolina, the team is selling t-shirts with “Carolina Strong” emblazoned on it with the net proceeds going directly to hurricane relief.

“Basketball is what we do, but absolutely leading with them and following their vision,” Cayette-Weston, the Hornets’ president, said of Plotkin and Schnall, “we have a responsibility in the city and in this region to create impact. Whether that’s jobs — part-time jobs, full-time jobs — action in the community and taking action immediately when things happen, devastation happens like Hurricane Helene.

“Or focusing on the things that are consistent needs, like the local schools and their facilities and bringing them to the level the students there deserve. Rick and Gabe are thinking constantly about these things. It’s really about the impact this franchise can have on this market and they are very, very committed to that.”

On and off the court. They yearn for the yesteryear, too, pondering what it would be like to turn Charlotte back into a hotbed for NBA basketball.

“We understand how special the fan base was here when the team was good in the old arena,” Schnall said, “and we think the environment that will be created here when we are competitive will be among the best in the league. We have fans that are just waiting for a winning team to cheer for. And this is a community that has brought into their local sports teams. It matters to them, and basketball matters to this city and state a lot.

“We think when we get really, really good here, it’s going to be explosive and fun. And we can’t wait. What’s better than a basketball game, when you play a good team and beat them? It’s just going to be fun. We are going to have a lot of those this year, but as we go through time we are really going to have a lot.”

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