Carl Scheer, the first president and general manager of the Charlotte Hornets has died at 82.
In the 1970s, Scheer was GM of the American Basketball Association’s Carolina Cougars, which played in Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro. Scheer served as an executive with the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers and also helped create the Slam Dunk Contest before joining the Hornets for their first season in 1988.
Speaking to WCNC a few years ago about that first season, Scheer said it put Charlotte on the map.
“We always used to have to say this was Charlotte, North Carolina," Scheer said. "Now we’re just Charlotte, and everybody knows who we are.”
In a statement, the Hornets said Scheer’s “contributions to professional basketball in the state of North Carolina are unmatched.”
He died Friday, one day before he would have turned 83, after a battle with dementia, according to the NBA.
