The Charles Lee era officially begins in Houston, the Charlotte Hornets aren’t quite ready for prime time, and their bags will take a beating in February.

These are just a few of several takeaways from the Hornets’ full 2024-25 regular season schedule, unveiled Thursday, exactly 48 hours after the release of this year’s Emirates NBA Cup schedule. The Hornets’ schedule also includes two games – one home, one away – between Dec. 12 and Dec. 16 against opponents to be determined, which will be announced once the tournament’s group play is complete.

Lee, the Hornets’ first-year coach, makes his debut as a true sideline coach on Oct. 23 against the Houston Rockets, and Charlotte has a date in Atlanta with the Hawks two days later before returning uptown on Oct. 26 for its first regular-season home game at the Spectrum Center against Southeast Division rival Miami.

But none of those games will be televised nationally, which is once again a recurring theme. Currently, only one of the Hornets’ games is scheduled for ESPN: the one on Jan. 17 in Chicago, likely because the network hopes it will feature a rare matchup between LaMelo Ball and his older brother Lonzo Ball. It’s similar to 2023-24, when a Hornets game was scheduled for ESPN – in San Antonio on Jan. 12 – but the network canceled it due to Charlotte’s struggles and badly banged-up roster.

Victor Wembanyama, who did not play in Charlotte during San Antonio’s visit in January, will make his lone trip to the Carolinas on Feb. 7, completing a team-record nine home games. The Hornets will also host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on the same home stretch on Jan. 27.

Steph Curry, the pride of Charlotte and newly crowned Olympic champion who shone at Davidson, comes to town on March 3 for his always thrilling homecoming.

All regional Hornets games are televised by Bally Sports Southeast.

IN NUMBERS*

Longest home score: 9 (January 24 – February 7 vs. Portland, New Orleans, Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn, LA Clippers, Denver, Washington, Milwaukee, San Antonio)

Longest road trip: 8 (February 9-27 in Detroit, Brooklyn, Orlando, Denver, Portland, Sacramento, Golden State, Dallas)

Most games in one month: 16 (November, March)

Away/Home games (back-to-back): 4

Home/Home Back-to-Backs: 4

Street/Street Back-to-backs: 1

Consecutive games against the same opponent: 2 (against Boston on November 1 and 2; in Boston on April 11 and 13)

Planned national TV appearances (excluding NBATV): 1 (in Chicago, January 17)

* – (The total includes 80 games as there are two games left during the season due to the NBA tournament)

Hornets regular season schedule

All times are Eastern Time.

““TBD” games are either tournament playoff games during the season or additional regular season games.