Charlotte, N.C. ? We all had our favorites, and Washington guard Brandon Roy was mine.

But if you’re a fan of basketball, and of players who care about basketball, and of players who every time they run onto the court prove they care about basketball, how do you get anything but excited about Adam Morrison?

Morrison, the skinny 6-foot-8 forward with the skinny moustache out of Spokane, Wash., averaged 28.1 points last season for Gonzaga. He was by far the Zags’ best player and attracted by far the most attention from enemy defenses. But he scored anyway, scored from the outside, in the lane, from beneath the basket, from an array of angles and in a variety of ways.

Despite all those baskets – he five times surpassed 40 points – it was his passion that distinguished him. He was ripped by some and praised by others for crying after a season-ending NCAA Tournament loss to UCLA.

There’s no crying in basketball. The last NBA player in Charlotte to cry was Kelly Tripucka, who immediately became known as Kelly Crypucka and, in these parts, still is.

Morrison might come out of a mid-major conference but he let loose with major conference sobs. The tears did not bother Michael Jordan, the Bobcats’ part-owner and full-time czar, who called the episode a “showcase of passion for the game.”

Jordan dipped into the press room at the Westin Hotel on Wednesday night. He wore jeans with an intentional hole in the left thigh and a black shirt, not tucked in, that probably was the coolest black shirt in all of Charlotte. Jordan’s impact on the organization is such that half the staffers will show up today with holes, if not in their jeans, in their suit pants.

Because Morrison received so much attention for his scoring and his style, and was easily the best known of the candidates the Bobcats considered with the third pick, he’ll give ticket sales a boost.

But there also was a boost last season when the Bobcats drafted two North Carolina stars in the first round. “Before the draft, we called people,” a Bobcats employee said at the time. “Now people call us.”

Alas, a few weeks into the season operators were standing by. The boost was cosmetic. There’s only one way for the Bobcats to dig into Charlotte, and it has little to do with cool black shirts or big names.

“We got to win basketball games,” said Charlotte coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff.

Like the team’s previous first-round picks, Morrison comes from a program accustomed to success.

One quality that distinguishes him from Rudy Gay, another player the Bobcats considered, or at least acted as if they considered, is that he does not defer. He’s an excitable, hustling, talking big guard or small forward who will come into the league refusing to call anybody, except Jordan, sir.

“I think when you’re that way you better be damn good,” said Bickerstaff.

If this is the season Charlotte finally discovers the Bobcats, Morrison has to be.