Following media day, the Charlotte Hornets began training camp at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, Tuesday. After the first day of workouts, Hornets head coach Charles Lee addressed the media, discussing how the day went and the team's identity heading into the 2026-27 season.
"The first thing I look for is just building our habits. I thought our group did a great job of laying the foundation for our absolutes on both sides of the floor. The competitive spirit of the group was phenomenal."
"Our identity is to come out defensively and try and be one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. We understand that if you want to be a team that wins a lot of games in this league, you have to be good on both sides of the floor," Lee told Hornets
reporter Sam Perley.
Having ranked 12th in defensive rating a season ago, Charlotte has a great opportunity to improve on that side of the ball, having added versatile defenders in both Naz Reid and Royce O'Neale. Blocks and steals are likely to be an area of emphasis as well, with Charlotte having ranked 21st and 29th in those categories a season ago.
For more NBA content, check out the BasketBaltes podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/@BasketBaltes/videos
https://www.instagram.com/basketbaltes/
This article originally appeared on Rookie Wire: Hornets' coach Charles Lee discusses Charlotte's identity at training camp
