CHARLOTTE, N.C. — David Wesley was in San Antonio when he got the call from his fiancee. The Charlotte Hornets' owners had applied for relocation, she told him, and the team might be moving to Memphis.
"She called me pretty worried," Wesley said Wednesday. "She heard about it and called me right away."
Charlotte coach Paul Silas got a similar call from his wife.
"I had no clue until she told me, so it was a surprise to me," Silas said.
Everything the Hornets have heard the past five days has been a surprise.
They were in Chicago, getting ready to play the Bulls on Friday night, when they heard a group of Charlotte business leaders was trying to buy the team from owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge.
They were in Dallas the next day when rumors began to circulate that Charlotte's owners might swap franchises with Vancouver owner Michael Heisley.
And they were in San Antonio on Monday when the Hornets' owners asked the NBA to allow them to move the team to Memphis.
News of a possible relocation was especially troubling to Wesley, who has made Charlotte his permanent home.
Since signing with the Hornets four years ago, he's bought a house in Charlotte and is in the process of building another one. Both his brothers relocated their families to Charlotte, as did his cousin.
His father recently bought land in Charlotte to build his own home, and his mother and grandmother live 90 minutes away in South Carolina.
Playing in another city would be devastating for Wesley, who spent the first part of his career separated from his family while playing in New Jersey and Boston.
"There's nobody I'd rather hang out with than my brothers," he said. "Having my mom and my grandmother able to come to my games, and having everyone close for get-togethers and family reunions is great.
"In this day and time, when people don't put that much value in family, it's important to me. So even if the team leaves here, I'm not leaving."
Even though Shinn and Wooldridge have been threatening all year to move the team if the city of Charlotte doesn't build them a new area, the actual filing for relocation created an air of uneasiness among the Hornets.
Hornets vice president Bob Bass said that several players approached him about what they had heard, which prompted him to speak to the entire team before Tuesday's game against the Spurs.
"I called Mr. Shinn and Mr. Wooldridge and told them some players had some concerns," Bass said. "They told me the team wasn't for sale and that they filed for relocation to protect themselves if the arena vote fails.
"I relayed all that to the team. Naturally, the players are concerned, but there's nothing anyone can really do now but wait to see how it all unfolds."
Wooldridge has said all season that without a new arena, the Hornets can't stay in Charlotte. City leaders only recently agreed to hold a June referendum so voters can decide the issue.
But there's a good chance the referendum — which will ask Charlotte residents if they want to use $342 million to pay for a new arena and six other projects for the city center — will fail.
So Wooldridge filed to move the team to cover all options. But the Grizzlies also applied to move to Memphis, and the NBA will decide which, if either, team makes the move.