The Boston Celtics obviously did something right.

Of course, everyone will look to the 2024 NBA Championship banner that will be raised on October 22 as proof of this, but the truth lies much deeper. Boston has made the playoffs ten years in a row, including six appearances in the Conference Finals. Almost every other team in the NBA would love to claim that track record.

And it looks like another Eastern Conference team is trying to replicate Boston’s success. Not in terms of schedules or draft choices, but in a much more literal sense.

In the space of a year, the Charlotte Hornets have added a surprisingly long list of former Celtics players to their roster. From players to coaches, green is slowly coloring their world of teal and purple.

Charles Lee is the most prominent of the squad. Charlotte hired him as their new head coach in the middle of Boston’s 2025 playoff run, and he will take the lead for a young and hungry Hornets team.

He brought two former Celtics coaches with him to Charlotte – Blaine Mueller and Jermaine Bucknor.

Mueller has been with Lee since Lee’s time as a senior assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks. Last year, Mueller was the head coach of the Maine Celticswhich allowed them to reach the G League finals.

For Bucknor, last season was his first year as a coach in the NBA. Before that, he was had a long, legendary career with Trier, a professional team in Germany. When he left, Bucknor had already played twice for the organization, led it as a coach, and had his number locked up and posted on the field.

The connections between the Hornets and the Celtics don’t end here.

Grant Williams was traded to the Hornets mid-season last year after starting the season with the Dallas Mavericks. He spent the first four years of his career with the Celtics.

And although he’s best known for his time with the Hornets, Kemba Walker also wore green and white for a while. This summer, he returned to Charlotte as a player development coach.

Add in former Hornets players like Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, Brad Wanamaker and Isaiah Thomas – all of whom played for the Celtics – and you’ll see that Charlotte has been bringing in former Boston players for years.

The Hornets almost certainly aren’t building their team with the intention of stealing from the Celtics, but the fact that they have so many ties to Boston is a testament to their continued success.