By Angela Lindsay
It’s no surprise that Charlotte’s NBA franchise has been struggling for some time. Over the past several seasons, the Hornets have underperformed winning under 30 games out of 82 for most of the past 10 years. Enter: Jeff Peterson. In March, the 35-year-old was named the President of Basketball Operations for the Charlotte Hornets, replacing longtime executive Mitch Kupchak. His vision for the organization? Shifting the squad’s reputation from mediocrity to that of a winning culture.
“We are looking to create a team culture around hard work, player development, a commitment to winning and togetherness,” said the Springfield, Missouri native. “We want a team that plays hard and competes every night. It’s important that we have players on our team that embody these characteristics. Our entire organization is focused on developing a winning on-court product for our fans, for this city and for the Carolinas.”
As the organization’s chief basketball decision maker, Peterson is also responsible for leading the team’s day-to-day basketball operations. Before arriving in Charlotte, he spent four and a half years as assistant general manager with the Brooklyn Nets where he said he was forced to get out of his comfort zone, manage different people, and see a new way of doing things in a different market.
Initially wanting to be a sports agent, Peterson instead pursued an internship after college with the Atlanta Hawks (at the urging of a college coach), which gave him his start in the industry. At the time, their front office was very small, so he was afforded more opportunities than most interns. Though he admits he made lots of mistakes, they allowed him to grow and learn and he was kept on after his intern year. Over the next few years, he was promoted several times and, by his fourth year, he was assistant general manager.
“I’m very fortunate, and I give a ton of credit to the players, coaching staff and everyone I was with because they helped me a ton,” Peterson said.
Though a passionate pursuit of athletics played a prominent role during his youth, it was academics that his parents emphasized growing up.
“Obviously, they knew I loved basketball and wanted to be an NBA player, but at the same time, even if that would’ve worked out, at some point the ball stops bouncing, and they would always say, ‘people can’t take away your mind.’ It was instilled in me at an early age that you have to work to get good grades, and more than anything just be open to learning,” said Peterson.
And he was.
For high school, Peterson transferred to DeMatha Catholic in Maryland, an institution known as much for its legacy of producing professional athletes as it is for its rigorous academic program. There, Peterson actually committed to Princeton but decided to play basketball at a “bigger school” and ended up at Iowa. He received his undergraduate degree in marketing at Arkansas and a master’s degree in marketing at Florida State.
“I’m really proud of that,” he said.
Along with his education and experience, Peterson brings a vision that some would argue the organization seems to have lost sight of since the days of the pulsating energy and palpable excitement at “the old Coliseum” formerly on Tyvola Road with its once consistently sold-out purple and teal-colored crowds.
“Our goal is to become a premier franchise in the NBA. A big part of that is constructing a team built for long-term sustainable success,” he said.
Such a challenge isn’t foreign to him. He’s been involved with a couple of remarkable circumstances in the league.
“During my time in Atlanta, we went from a mediocre team to the Eastern Conference Finals to going through a rebuild,” said Peterson. “Then, I got to the Nets with three future Hall of Famers — Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden. It was a great reminder that there are no guarantees.”
Understanding that greatness is a process can be one of the biggest difficulties for someone in Peterson’s position to face. So, he tempers expectations with the reality that the team’s transformation will occur organically over time.
“It’s not an overnight thing as much as we all want it to be. Trust me, I want success more than anyone—but to truly build something sustainable, you can’t skip any steps. You have to be methodical in how you build it,” he said. “I’ve said this before, but we trust the process and we trust the work. Good things will come as a result of that. I continue to remind everyone, including myself, that sometimes you have to go through growing pains before we can get to where we want to go.”
Peterson said his decision to accept the job in Charlotte was due, in part, to his attraction to the city, its growth, its people and the unique potential the opportunity presented.
“People who end up in these kinds of positions aren’t always fortunate to step into a situation like this. We have all our (draft) picks. We have contract flexibility. We have a lot of optionality. That’s not always the case. The stars aligned with this job,” he said.
Hornets ownership was the other deciding factor.
“It starts with ownership—Gabe Plotkin, Rick Schnall, and their vision to turn this into a premier franchise in the NBA,” he explained. “Any organization needs to have trust, synergy and alignment between ownership, the general manager and head coach to have success.”
The head coach he acknowledges, Charles Lee, 40, was also hired by the franchise this year after helping the Boston Celtics secure the NBA title this past season as an assistant coach. Peterson said Lee’s leadership and contributions are helping to turn things around.
“First, hiring Charles as head coach was really important. That’s the voice the players are hearing on a daily basis, so we were very intentional as to who we brought into that seat. Charles has done a tremendous job, and it all starts with him,” Peterson said.
“He’s very relatable to the guys, he loves getting on the floor with them, he’s creative, and he always has their best interests in mind. On the other hand, he’s very demanding and holds everyone accountable . . . We’ve been down in some games, and guys have continued to fight back and show some grit and fortitude. It’s been really encouraging to see.”
Both Peterson and Lee were recently named to The Athletic’s NBA 40 Under 40 list of rising stars in the league. With such pedigree at play behind the scenes as well as the chemistry being built on the court, Peterson believes they’ll give fans something to cheer about.
“We don’t want to be a team that makes the playoffs one year and then misses the playoffs for the next three years. We strive to build a team that will be a perennial playoff team that advances in the playoffs and ultimately is competing for an NBA championship,” said Peterson. “We want to bring a winning team to our passionate Hornets fans throughout the Carolinas because they deserve it.”