Kent Bazemore does not hide his support for his home-state Carolina Panthers.
The Hawks guard was especially vocal after the Panthers defeated the Cardinals in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game to earn a berth in Super Bowl 50. The Panthers earned the right to face the Broncos for the NFL Championship in two weeks.
“It’s great,” Bazemore said Monday. “I’ve been telling my teammates all season how real that team was. No one seemed to want to listen. I woke up this morning getting all kinds of messages. ‘Congrats man. You guys are the real deal.’ Seventeen weeks later.
“It’s big for the state of North Carolina. It’s been awhile since we’ve had something there. The Carolina Hurricanes hockey team was probably the last we had to talk about. It’s huge. I’m excited.”
Sadly, Bazemore will not be able to attend the big game. The Hawks play at the Magic on Feb. 7 in a 1 p.m. start. The Hawks may well be able to play the game and return to Atlanta in time for kickoff.
