Xavier Tillman reflected on his transition from Boston to Charlotte, highlighting the contrast in fanbases in an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.
“I think that Boston fans are spoiled because of their greatness, right? All the Celtics championships, the Red Sox, the Bruins, the Patriots… They have spoiled greatness over there,” Tillman said. “Over here, it feels like a city that’s hungry. The fans are ALWAYS going to support the team whether they win or lose and they show up every night.”
Tillman noted the energy in Charlotte is different, describing it as “light and aggressive.” He added, “It’s light because they’re just finding their greatness… but the aggressiveness is they want to be [great]. You can see in the energy on the court. The fight they bring, in the workouts you can see how locked in they are — like, they all want greatness.”
Reflecting on his basketball upbringing, Tillman shared his childhood fandom, focusing on Fatheads posters rather than jerseys. “No. Just my mom and my dad and me were the basketball heads. I was a big Fatheads guy. I had one of Troy Polamalu… and Maurice Jones-Drew. He was my favorite player growing up.”
He also described his first impressions of the Hornets’ past stars. “Kemba! Kemba [Walker] and Al Jefferson. Those are my two like… Yeah. That’s what the Hornets are about. Killers. Al was killin’ down low and Kemba obviously was killin’ from college but, really leading the organization to some of the fewest playoff runs that they’ve had, and they were a big part of it.”
The Hornets’ City Edition jerseys have caught Tillman’s attention for their unique designs. “I ain’t gonna lie… it’s fire! When I first saw their City Edition jerseys… I had never seen an orange jersey before! But yeah, these are fire and these are the best City Editions that I’ve seen, right? The colors aren’t bad either — like a light green or slime type of color. It’s a great color.”
Tillman’s move from Boston came via a trade on February 5, sending him and cash considerations to Charlotte for a protected second-round pick.
On maintaining ties with Boston, Tillman said, “Nope. I think maybe as soon as I got traded, they kicked me out! But I still check on ‘em because a lot of them are still my guys.”
Tillman has embraced life in the Queen City, praising both the culture and the weather. “The weather down here has been fantastic… The people down here are good people. They’re genuine and they’re kind.”
