The players with the most seniority got first class. After first class was full, everybody had to do coach. They would do two players for three seats. I remember the first flight I got on. There’s Dave Hoppen, 7 feet tall, didn’t quite make the seniority cut list, so he had to go sit in the back. Even with the two for three seats, he has his knees up in his face. Here’s Muggsy Bogues, sitting in first class while Dave Hoppen is eating his knees. During the flight, Muggsy was sitting there, with his feet in the little magazine holder, sleeping. Something didn’t seem quite right about that.

In the midst of this fascinating oral history of the Charlotte Hornets’ first season compiled by Matt Crossman, there’s this amazing bit of facepalm-ery.

We've become big-league literally overnight: Charlotte and its arenas

In August 1988, the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, celebrated the opening of a brand new 24,000-seat arena, soon to be known as the Charlotte Coliseum. The mayor and governor were on hand for opening night of course, but the Reverend Billy Graham provided real star power, and he took the opportunity to pronounce, “This is more than a coliseum that will meet the needs of a great city. This is a symbol of Charlotte’s vitality, its commitment to the future and that Charlotte truly has its place in the cities of the world.”

Graham was right. First the Coliseum, and now Time Warner Cable Arena, site of this year’s Democratic National Convention, have been symbols of Charlotte’s demographic upheaval, their use shadowing the city’s ongoing quest to be known as something more important than a sleepy landmark between Richmond and Atlanta.