Nisa Nolan of Rock Hill, with a glittering "23" painted on her right cheek, got her dad to bring her to her first pro basketball game as a 13th birthday present.

Right behind her was Hattie Everton, 75, also at her first pro game. Everton has been a Michael Jordan fan since he was a North Carolina freshman. She and her son Randy drove five hours from Wilson to see the Hornets play the Washington Wizards at the Charlotte Coliseum on Wednesday night.

"I see every one of his games on TV," said Everton. "I was sick when he retired, couldn't hardly stand it."

The celebrity visitor brought the buzz back to the Hive, giving the Hornets the season's first sellout and studding Tyvola Road with ticket-waving sellers. Hornets fans were ready to seize the moment.

The Beekeepers, a group trying to keep the Hornets from moving, were busy collaring guests to sign their "stay in Charlotte" petition.

Jordan and Brian Tennent, 14 and 17, added their names.

"When I was a little kid, I used to come all the time. Dad would get season tickets," said Jordan Tennent. That faded, partly because the family moved from Charlotte to Weddington.

Michael Jordan lured them back, and the trip reminded them how much fun a Hornets game could be.

"I like the team and I like the players," Brian said. "I'm hoping they'll stay."

For Beekeepers volunteer Alice Carpenter, the new faces were a relief; at previous games she was seeing a lot of regulars offering to sign again. She didn't care if signers weren't Mecklenburg County voters or even Hornets fans. That's the point, she said: The Hornets bring visiting teams and visiting fans.

"Unfortunately, we still get `The Comment,'" Carpenter said, arching her eyebrows.

The Comment?

"`We'd sign it if you had a new owner,'" she said in a lowered voice, adding, "It's not about the owners. It's about the team."

Longtime fan Joyce Sanders of Denver, N.C., wasn't so subtle. She waved lime green posterboard with red and blue letters saying, "Welcome Back Michael / You Play, They Will Come / To-o-o-o Bad Charlotte / Shame on GEORGE."

If owner George Shinn had let Jordan buy in as co-owner when he had the chance in 1999, Sanders said, Jordan would be wearing purple and teal, and packed houses would be a regular event.

"Every child knows Michael Jordan," she said, gesturing at the crowd. "Look at the ages."

Jeff Farfour of Weddington, whose 10-year-old son Parker wore a No.23 Wizards jersey, agreed. After 14 years in the same seat, Farfour has seen crowds wax and wane.

"People that don't even like basketball are here tonight," he said.