RIP Rick Bonnell

[vorbis]

Read on Twitter

oh man. a real OG of the Charlotte NBA beat. he will be missed.

[yosemiteben]

Wow, that's nuts. RIP

[Marino]

I know we always gave him a hard time but this is some terrible news. RIP Rick.

[Liver_Pooty]

Spent a lot of time on here bashing him, but this saddens me deeply.

[LamarMatic7]

Covering the team since the first day, right? Tough, tough news. Definitely a huge part of Hornets history.

[LofJ]

I never liked his attitude, but this is terrible. Dying suddenly out of nowhere is one of my greatest fears. My sympathies for his family and friends.

[Rich4114]

This is just terrible news to hear, what an absolute shame and only 63 years old. Say what you want about Rick but he was engaged and responded to fans on Twitter including myself all of the time. He was tweeting stuff just a few days ago. Prayers up to Rick and his family/loved ones.

[amcoolio]

Holy hell.

Terrible news.

[Chapelchilla]

Wow, did not see that coming. He is an indelible part of the Hornets history, been reading his stuff for 35 years or so. RIP.

[CuseMayne]

Wow. Another reminder that life is short and precious. Shocking news. RIP.

[JDR720]

It's always stunning how sudden death can be. He was tweeting just a couple days ago. RIP.

[-Ian-]

This is heartbreaking. Rick has been a constant for Charlotte basketball. I teared up reading tweets/tributes from other NBA writers. I know a lot of fans are not fond of him but he's well-loved around the NBA media circle and he seems to be an overall nice guy.

[fatlever]

Nothing unites Hornets fans like Rick. RIP. Hornets hall of fame.

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[HornetJail]

been an important part of Hornets basketball since before I was born. RIP

[BigSlam]

Catch you on the flip side, Rick.

[Bassman]

Condolences to Rick’s family. Very sad and surprising. Man did we have opinions on RB! His analysis always seemed so “company line”, which was my biggest frustration with his reporting/commentary. But he was a good reporter and writer overall, had good relationships with players, coaches and the front office (important).

[Rays Pompadour]

Bonnell stayed old school when the new school of in-your-face, 24/7 news-cycle internet journalism took over the universe. And he was true to his craft even when George "Snakes" Shinn and Ray "Pompadour" Woolridge ran away with the Hornets and Bonnell was forced to do NASCAR reports. He didn't see around corners, which is what columnists are built for, but he never, once, shied away from seeing and reporting what was straight ahead. I'll always be thankful for that.

Prayers and thoughts for his family tonight. May they be comforted.

[Liver_Pooty]

Hornets should pick a random number and retire it for him one day.

[BlackOutBuzz]

Rick must've blocked me at least 5 years ago. Still, often when there was breaking news about the team, he was the guy breaking it (and I'd have to find a backdoor way to read it).

He was an institution, and his insight will certainly be missed. RIP Rick, you won't need the block button anymore.

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[_tijo_]

Rick, I did not appreciate you enough when you were alive. I'm sad that I can't fix that.
RIP OG. I will try to be better.