Inside Hornets $190M center with float pod, barbershop
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Rendering: Hornets. Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
The Charlotte Hornets' new $190 million facility won't just be a place to practice when it opens next spring. It'll be a place for their star athletes to get a haircut or massage, record podcasts, play video games and recover in a float pod.
Why it matters: While those promises may not have been enough to keep LaMelo Ball around, the Hornets ultimately expect the 160,000-square-foot Novant Health Performance Center to rival other NBA teams' facilities and help recruit and retain players.
- Some players have already toured the unfinished center and were "blown away," says Hornets basketball facilities director Alex MacKenzie.
On a former parking lot across from Spectrum Center, the 160,000-square-foot facility is under construction. It will encompass 35,000 square feet of office space, 2,500 square feet of street-facing retail space, and a public Novant Health Orthopedics & Sports Medicine clinic.
But on a media hardhat construction tour Friday, the Hornets revealed more of the private bells and whistles the players will get.
- Here are the highlights.
Impressively high-tech basketball courts
The practice area features two full-length NBA courts with side baskets, for six baskets total. The space is more than double what the athletes currently practice on, and it will integrate some of "the world's highest level of basketball technology." That includes:
- 40 motion capture cameras that follow players' movements on the court
- Eight PlaySight cameras to record plays from different angles
- Four NOAH systems that track the trajectory of shots
- 18 wearable Kinexon sensors
- Two force plates to study the players' jumps
- Two 27-foot-wide by 10-foot-tall LED LG screens to roll the tapes and review all that data
The intrigue: Force plates typically go in a lab. But the Hornets are putting theirs under the court to capture more natural movements.
- Oh, and the courts will be surrounded by amenities, including a barbershop, a studio for podcasting and videos and a film room (with 20 heated chairs!). Also…
Decked-out recovery spaces
The team hydrotherapy room looks like a spa, but Hornets President Shelly Cayette-Weston stresses it's not just a place to relax. It's really about performance and recovery. Features include:
- A hot tub
- Cold plunge
- Underwater treadmill with cameras
- Steam and sauna rooms
- A sensory-deprivation float pod
- DEXA body-composition scanning room
- A physician's office
- A massage room with a personal massage therapist
Weight room
The 5,000-square-foot weight room is right off the court, with 350 square feet of turf along large windows, where the natural light shines in.
- At the weight racks, two more force plates will collect data on squats and other movements.
Spa-like locker room
The locker room is also emitting spa vibes, with rainfall showerheads, digital nameplates, custom shoe storage and a lounge area where players can play video games.
- It's about 2,000 square feet, roughly three times larger than what currently exists in the arena.
Team dining space
The team dining space is almost eight times larger than the space in Spectrum Center right now, with a restaurant-style commercial kitchen, high-tops, communal tables and lounge seating.
- A culinary team, along with nutritionists and dietitians, will curate personalized menus for players.
- 20-foot-tall glass windows will give views of Uptown, facing the Spectrum Center.
- The space is designed to serve about 80 to 100 people, two to three meals per day.
Catch up quick: The construction project, which started in March 2025, originally was budgeted at $150 million. But the Hornets say they've continued to invest as construction has progressed, especially into technology.
- The City of Charlotte is chipping in $30 million and leasing the site to the Hornets for $10 per year.
What's next: I expect my personal invite from Brandon Miller to play Around the World and video games in spring 2027.