Source: Jacob Kupferman / Getty
As if the Charlotte Hornets weren’t already the most personality-filled team, it gets even more interesting as we approach the season’s tipoff.
While the other 29 teams are running around talking about their hopes for the 2023-24 season on media day, the Hornets announced that Kai Jones won’t be in attendance.
“The Charlotte Hornets announced today that forward/center Kai Jones will not participate in Training Camp due to personal reasons. There is not currently a timetable for his return to the team. Out of respect for the personal nature of the situation, the Hornets will not have any additional public comments regarding the matter at this time,” reads the statement.
It wasn’t made clear if it was the Hornet’s decision or Jones’ to evaluate his personal life, but his recent questionable posts on social media could have been the culprit.
It began in early September when he went live on Instagram with music blasting in the background. He speaks incoherently as he bobs his head to the music and sweats profusely. You can vaguely make out where he says he’s not on drugs and is just having a good day because he hasn’t been traded, and he laughs.
Days later, he proclaimed how much better he is than teammates LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, purely based on the statistics.
“I’ve had a higher fg% than those guys since I came out the womb and none of them can guard me so know your ball before you talk to the one in here MF,” he tweeted.
The trash talk didn’t stop there, as Jones said he was better than prime Shaquille O’Neal, he’d beat LeBron James in one-on-one and he had a better midrange shot than Michael Jordan.
In a video posted to his TikTok account, he can be seen dancing barefoot and doing a split in a parking garage with his yellow Lamborghini Urus in the background.
CBS Sports reports that some of his teammates have unfollowed him on social media during his bizarre episodes and his team is worried about his troubling social media habits.
The Hornets acquired Jones in a 2021 draft day trade with the New York Knicks, who chose the Bahamian with the 19th overall pick after being named Sixth Man of the Year at UT Austin.
