Hornets’ fans everywhere are heartbroken. Patrick Doughty, the legendary and longtime public address announcer known as “Big Pat” whose thunderous voice welcomed Charlotte fans at the Spectrum Center for nearly twenty years, died Tuesday night. He was 55.
The Charlotte Hornets announced the somber news on their official social media platform, honoring and paying tribute to someone whose tenure and dedication to the franchise date back to the Bobcats era. No cause of death was released.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Pat Doughty, our beloved PA announcer for nearly 20 seasons,” the Hornets said in a statement. “Big Pat’s vibrant voice was the backbone of our game experience and energized Spectrum Center every night. He was dedicated to our team and our fans, even as he fought health issues in recent years.
“He will be greatly missed by everyone associated with the Hornets organization. Our thoughts are with Pat’s family and his many friends.”
Without a doubt one of the Queen city’s most famous announcers, Doughty was a mainstay of the Charlotte pro basketball scene. He joined the organization in 2004 when then-owner Bob Johnson had the foresight to change the fans in-game experience following the Bobcats’ first season at then-named Time Warner Cable Arena. Doughty has been a fixture at the team’s games since, fitting like a glove with the atmosphere. It was very apparent on those rare occasions he was not behind the microphone.
Doughty had been suffering from a condition called neuropathy, which is a disease that affects a person’s motor skills and nerves, and can occur nearly anywhere in the body. But he never let that slow him down in any way, utilizing a wheelchair to stay mobile, and the Pocomoke City, Maryland, native often traveled back and forth to the Eastern Shore where he still maintained a home.
He was like an adopted member of everyone’s family in the city, and a rock star at games, motivated to help deliver the most enthusiastic and best atmosphere possible, even when things were a complete disaster on the hardwood. Usually donning team’s colors, Doughty was always a popular figure at the scorer’s table, often receiving handshakes and congratulatory messages from opposing players.
He was naturally a talkative person and that quality shone through with each syllable, starting off with his usual pregame sound check. In an interview with The Athletic in 2018, Doughty explained how an announcing career was his destiny since he was eight years old because he loved to talk so much.
“The only thing I wish about this gig over anything else,” he said, “is that my mother and father were still alive to see it and they never got a chance to see it. But I’m pretty sure they are smiling down. “I know (my father) is somewhere looking down saying, ‘That boy still ain’t got no job. He’s still running his mouth.’ But it’s all good.”
