No. 18: Charlotte Hornets – Hugo the Hornet
How the mighty have fallen. Years ago Hugo could’ve made the top 5 easily, but in this era of the NBA, the mascot game has stepped up exponentially. Hugo definitely appears to have an inconsistent dietary plan.
The color palette and design are good enough to earn him this spot on the list. Nobody likes hornets unless they have great dunking and dancing skills. That said, Hugo is a landmark for the city of Charlotte.
Hugo has the privilege of having appeared for two different teams as he was with New Orleans when they were the Hornets and Charlotte was still the Bobcats. When the franchise was renamed to the Hornets – Hugo of course returned.
While I joke many of the out of date or less creative mascots could be muppets Hugo has a muppets tie-in which kind of makes him unique. That fun trivia fact is this – Jim Henson is the creator of the muppets and his daughter Cheryl Henson created Hugo in 1988.