The New Orleans Pelicans are a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team commenced play in 2002 after the NBA granted founder George Shinn an expansion franchise to play in New Orleans. The Pelicans' establishment was unusual compared to most modern expansion teams in that New Orleans' roster was not stocked through an expansion draft. Instead, Shinn transferred the entire basketball organization (including player contracts) of his former team, the Charlotte Hornets, to his new franchise.

For its first eleven seasons, the team used the Hornets nickname. It competed as part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference for its first two seasons, and since 2004 has been a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. Due to the devastation to New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the team effectively executed a temporary relocation to Oklahoma City for the following two seasons, during which they were known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. Financial troubles eventually compelled Shinn to sell the franchise back to the league during the 2010–11 season.

The acquisition of the team's current name came along with the purchase of the franchise from the league by Tom Benson. Early on in the purchasing process, Benson made it clear that he intended to change the name to something more "local". Inspiration for the name change is given to Louisiana's state bird, the brown pelican. The Pelicans have been owned by Benson's widow Gayle Benson since her husband's death in 2018. In 18 seasons of play the New Orleans franchise has achieved an overall regular season record of 740–864 (.461) and qualified for the playoffs eight times.

Roots

Basketball in New Orleans New Orleans had been a founding member of the ABA with the New Orleans Buccaneers (1967–1970), but the lack of a dedicated arena and a poor performance record led the team to relocate to Memphis. The city acquired an NBA expansion franchise in June, 1974, but the New Orleans Jazz faced a number of the same logistical and financial woes, and relocated to Salt Lake City in 1979. In 1994, the Minnesota Timberwolves were suffering financially and an ownership group almost purchased the team and moved it to New Orleans. The Timberwolves would have played at the Louisiana Superdome until a new arena was constructed. Financial problems, however, led to the NBA blocking the move. New Orleans would attempt to chase the Vancouver Grizzlies before finally landing another team in 2002.

George Shinn moves his organization to New Orleans In 1987, the NBA awarded an expansion team to Charlotte named the Charlotte Hornets owned by George Shinn and a few other businessmen. While the Hornets continued to put a competitive team on the court, the team's attendance fell dramatically. Many attributed this lapse in popularity to the owner George Shinn, who was slowly becoming despised by the people of the city. In 1997, a Charlotte woman claimed that Shinn had raped her, and the resulting trial severely tarnished his reputation in the city. The consensus was that while Charlotte was a basketball city, fans took out their anger at Shinn on the team. Shinn had also become discontented with the Coliseum, which had been considered state-of-the-art when it opened but had since been considered obsolete due to a limited number of luxury boxes. On March 26, 2001, both the Hornets and the Vancouver Grizzlies applied for relocation to Memphis, Tennessee, which was eventually won by the Grizzlies. Shinn then issued an ultimatum that unless the city built a new arena at no cost to him, the Hornets would leave town. The city initially refused, leading Shinn to consider moving the team to either Norfolk, Louisville, or St. Louis. Of the cities in the running, only St. Louis had an NBA-ready arena, the Savvis Center, already in place and was a larger media market than Charlotte at the time; also, it was the only one of the four to have previously had an NBA franchise — the St. Louis Hawks, who moved to Atlanta in 1968.

Finally, a new arena in Uptown, what would eventually become the Spectrum Center, was included in a non-binding referendum for a larger arts-related package, and Shinn withdrew his application to move the team. Polls showed the referendum on its way to passage. However, just days before the referendum, Mayor Pat McCrory vetoed a living wage ordinance. The veto prompted many of the city's black ministers to oppose the referendum; they felt it was immoral for the city to build a new arena when city employees were not paid enough to make a living.World Class City, Third World Paycheck . Creative Loafing, 2001-12-29 After the failed referendum, city leaders devised a plan to build a new arena in a way that did not require voter support, but made it known that they would not even consider building it unless Shinn sold the team. While even the NBA acknowledged that Shinn had alienated fans, league officials felt such a demand would anger other owners as it could set a precedent. The city council refused to remove the statement, leading the Hornets to request a move to New Orleans, returning the NBA to that city after the Jazz relocated to Salt Lake City in 1979. Although New Orleans was a smaller television market, a deal was quickly made to play at the New Orleans Arena, next door to the Louisiana Superdome. Before the Hornets were eliminated from the playoffs, the NBA approved the deal. As part of a deal, as well as to avoid a Browns-like lawsuit, the NBA promised that Charlotte would get a new team, which became the Charlotte Bobcats two years later.

In a 2008 interview with the Charlotte Observer, Shinn, who has not returned to Charlotte since the Hornets moved, admitted that the "bad judgment I made in my life" played a role in the Hornets' departure. He also said that if he had it to do all over again, he would not have withdrawn from the public after the sexual assault trial. Shinn emphasized how he was making amends by committing to New Orleans saying, "I've made enough mistakes in my life. I'm not going to make one here. This city needs us here. We're going to make this (New Orleans) thing work."Green, Ron Jr. Shinn: I messed up in Charlotte . Charlotte Observer, 2008-11-01.

New Orleans Hornets

2002–2005: Inaugural seasons The Hornets opened their inaugural season in New Orleans on October 30, 2002, against New Orleans' original NBA franchise, the Utah Jazz. In the first regular season NBA game played in New Orleans in over 17 years,ESPN.com: Eye for victory the Hornets defeated the Jazz 100–75, and posthumously retired #7 of "Pistol" Pete Maravich during halftime. Despite nagging injuries to the teams's starting point guard, Baron Davis, the Hornets finished the season with a 47–35 record and qualified for the 2003 playoffs. They were defeated by Philadelphia four games to two in the first round.

Following the season, the team fired head coach Paul Silas and replaced him with Tim Floyd. In the 2003 NBA draft, the Hornets selected David West, who would become a future All-Star with the franchise. The Hornets began the 2003–04 season strong with a 17–7 start, but sputtered at the end and finished 41–41, narrowly missing home court advantage in the first round of the 2004 playoffs. They met the Miami Heat in the first round three years after having swept them in the 2001 NBA Playoffs, but the Heat defeated the Hornets in seven games.

After the season, Floyd was fired and the team hired Byron Scott as their new head coach. Due to the NBA realigning divisions for the season, the Hornets began playing in the tougher Southwest Division of the Western Conference, which had four playoff teams the previous season, and the team was not expected to compete for a playoff spot. In a season marred by injury to the team's three all-stars (Baron Davis, Jamaal Magloire, and Jamal Mashburn) an 0–8 start became a 2–29 record. As a result of the lack of success, the team's roster was reshaped, with older veterans like Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn traded to start the rebuilding process. The team finished the year with a franchise-worst record of 18–64 and their first losing season in franchise history

2005–2007: Hurricane Katrina and temporary relocation to Oklahoma City

Due to the devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina upon the communities of southeastern Louisiana, the Hornets franchise temporarily relocated their operations to Oklahoma City in 2005–06 and 2006–07. During this time, the franchise was known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. In these two seasons, the vast majority of home games were played at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, while a few remained at New Orleans Arena. Their practice facility in Oklahoma City was the Sawyer Center on the campus of Southern Nazarene University (SNU)http://snu.edu/?p={E4161849-E79C-4F0C-AD27-33DC07C3ED45}&sc=-1&ni=761&fr=news 1 and the team held its 2006 training camp at their New Orleans practice facility, the Alario Center in Westwego, Louisiana.

With the fourth pick in the 2005 NBA draft, the Hornets picked future all-star point guard Chris Paul. For the 2005–06 season, the team played 36 games in Oklahoma City, with one game taking place at the Lloyd Noble Center on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, three in New Orleans, and one at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on the campus of Louisiana State University (LSU). The intent had been to play five games in all at Baton Rouge, but the restoration progress made on New Orleans Arena made the return to New Orleans a better option. They started off the 2005–06 NBA season better than expected, and the team briefly held the sixth seed in the Western playoff race. The team then lost 12 out of 13 games to drop out of playoff contention, while also setting an NBA record when they only scored 16 points in the second half of a game against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Hornets finished 38–44 and tenth place in the Western Conference. Despite the losing record, Chris Paul won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in a landslide.

The Hornets made major roster changes after the 2005–06 season in hopes of advancing to the Western Conference postseason for the first time. They traded J.R. Smith and P.J. Brown to the Chicago Bulls for Tyson Chandler, let Speedy Claxton sign with the Atlanta Hawks, but filled their backup point guard position with free agents Bobby Jackson and Jannero Pargo. They also inked Peja Stojaković from the Indiana Pacers. The Hornets opted to stay in Oklahoma City for the 2006–07 season, but promised to return to New Orleans full-time. Although the New Orleans Arena was capable of hosting the team, it was felt that the recovery efforts in New Orleans were not far along enough for the area to support a full NBA schedule. During the 2006–07 season, the Hornets played 35 home games in Oklahoma City and six in New Orleans. The team finished the regular season with a 39–43 record, one more win than the previous season, and missed the playoffs again.

The team's successful operation in Oklahoma City arguably contributed to the city being named as the new home for the Seattle SuperSonics franchise starting in the 2008–09 NBA season as the Oklahoma City Thunder.

2007–2010: Return to New Orleans