Hornets owners Ray Wooldridge and George Shinn have pulled the latest trick from their Build-Us-An-Arena bag: They’re looking at moving their NBA team to Memphis.

Maybe it’s time people in the Charlotte region told the Hornets to buzz off.

Hornets-phobes from Rock Hill to Rockwell would be only too glad to see Shinn and Wooldridge depart. The region’s love affair with the team —much like the nation’s embrace of the NBA —has grown old and half-hearted, if not downright bitter.

When the Hornets first came to Charlotte in the 1980s, they brought the city new status. Long confused with Charlottesville and Charleston, Charlotte jumped up a peg or two in the nation’s collective psyche —or so supporters said —thanks to frequent media references to “the Charlotte Hornets.”

Unfortunately, those media references came with bad news attached all too soon. High salaries, low morals, self-centered players and a scandal-plagued owner presented the region with a bizarre type of morality play, a lesson in excess.

Now, not satisfied that Charlotte leaders are doing all they can to ensure the success of an arena bond referendum — even though the city has bundled the arena in a $342 million package that includes a baseball stadium and other, more popular goodies —Wooldridge and Shinn have the gall to threaten to move the team.

Others have likened the Memphis maneuver to a slap in the face, but what’s new?The Hornets have been slapping Charlotte around for a long time —always demanding more from the city, while giving back less and less. Each blow generates a few more votes against the arena deal.

Charlotte is on the map in its own right. The only thing the Hornets can take credit for now is annoying the public.