CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Longtime Charlotte Hornets fans may think they have seen the team flounder in every possible way, but a new chapter was added Saturday night when the Mark Williams trade got rescinded by the Los Angeles Lakers due to the 7-footer reportedly failing a physical.

The Hornets tried to put a good face on with a late-night statement in which they claimed to be “thrilled” to have Williams back.

But c’mon.

Charlotte had just shipped the oft-injured Williams to the Lakers on Thursday and the Hornets were excited about their return: rookie sharpshooter Dalton Knecht, veteran small forward Cam Reddish, the right to swap first-round picks with Los Angeles in 2030 and the Lakers’ unprotected 2031 first-round pick. It was going to be a haul.

As I wrote at the time, I liked the deal made by Hornets general manager Jeff Peterson. Williams, the former Duke star who was Charlotte’s first-round draft choice in 2022, was simply hurt too often to be counted upon. In three NBA seasons, he missed 60% of Charlotte’s games due to foot and back injuries. Let that sink in a little: Williams literally wore street clothes on game days more often than he wore a uniform.

But now, in what has to receive consideration as one of the Top 5 most Hornet-ty things ever, the Lakers either got buyer’s remorse or they saw something in the physical (or several things) they didn’t like. There were multiple reports that the deal was voided because Williams failed his physical.

This was despite Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka telling reporters Thursday that, while the Lakers still needed to do a complete physical for Williams: “We vetted the injuries he’s had, and we’re not concerned about those.”

The odd statement the Hornets put out Saturday night once the trade got rescinded made me laugh out loud in disbelief a couple of times.

For one, they never mentioned the Los Angeles Lakers. They called them “the other team,” as if the Lakers were Voldemort and must not be named under any circumstances.

For another, they made it sound like they had never planned to trade Williams in the first place and did so only with extreme reluctance.

“After the other team aggressively pursued Mark, we made the difficult decision to move him,” the Hornets statement said in part.

In Los Angeles, Pelinka had publicly given a different version of events. He said Thursday that it was actually Charlotte that had made it known Williams was available as Los Angeles went searching for a big man after trading away Anthony Davis in the blockbuster Luka Dončić deal.

“This opportunity came to us,” Pelinka said. “Maybe it’s in some sense like the L.A. housing market. Not every house is listed. And sometimes you become aware of something that’s available that’s not on the market. And when you see the perfect house, you’re willing to go get it, even if you have to be aggressive to do it. I think that’s how we looked at the Mark Williams opportunity when we opened up discussions with Charlotte.”

Zo, Kobe and ‘Hornet-ty’

A note about that earlier word “Hornet-ty.”

What is Hornet-ty, you may be asking? Let me give you a few examples from the past 30 or so years. Hornet-ty is:

— When you have the best odds of the No. 1 overall pick the year that Anthony Davis is available, but you instead wind up with the No. 2 pick and Michael-Kidd Gilchrist.

— When Michael Jordan buys the team and somehow it seems to get worse.

— When you trade away Alonzo Mourning in his prime because you don’t want to pay him — even though he now says he would have taken below market value to stay — and he winds up a Hall of Famer and NBA champion in Miami.

— When you are about to miss the NBA postseason for the ninth straight year — as Charlotte is, continuing the longest active streak in the NBA.

— When you draft a teenaged Kobe Bryant and immediately trade him to the Lakers in a pre-arranged deal, but that trade doesn’t get rescinded. (Maybe the Voldemort analogy regarding the Lakers isn’t that far off).

Hornets: not an easy team to love

The Lakers, of course, are going to be fine, because the Lakers are always fine. They still have LeBron James and Luka Dončić and they might even win another NBA title again.

But the Hornets are 13-36 and as of Sunday had limped their way to the fourth-worst record in the NBA. They did have an exciting home win over San Antonio on Friday night on a Miles Bridges 3-pointer. But in general this season has been a slog, like so many Charlotte seasons before have been.

This is a Charlotte team that has not only never been to the NBA Finals, but also has never been to the Eastern Conference finals. They are a team that perpetually seems about a year away from being a year away.

Yet Charlotte still does have surprisingly good attendance, with Spectrum Center selling out numerous times this season. Kudos to the Charlotte supporters in teal for that: The Hornets are not an easy team to love.

And this Williams/Knecht Hornet-ty trade that wasn’t? It just threw another bucket of cold water on those Charlotte fans.

Yes, they’re pretty used to it by now.

But it still doesn’t feel good.

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