New Orleans Pelicans

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  The New Orleans Pelicans retired Pete Maravich's number 7 at halftime of their first game in the city, on the 30th of October 2002. Maravich had played for New Orleans once before, as a member of the original Jazz. His ghost loomed large over a city that had gone without NBA basketball for more than two decades. The franchise wearing Hornets colors that night would eventually become the Pelicans, but the name change was years away. So were the answers to the questions that first night raised. Why had professional basketball struggled so hard to survive in New Orleans? And what would finally make it stick?

  In 22 seasons since arriving from Charlotte, the franchise has reached the playoffs nine times. It has drafted two first overall picks and never once played a game in a conference finals. The path to understanding that record winds through ownership battles, a hurricane that temporarily displaced the team from Louisiana, and a decade-long identity search. That search ended with the brown pelican, Louisiana's state bird.

  5330

• 2. A City's Long Wait

  ›

  The New Orleans Buccaneers were there at the founding of the American Basketball Association in 1967. A lack of dedicated arena space and a poor performance record drove them to Memphis by 1970. In June 1974, New Orleans received an NBA expansion franchise. The team was called the Jazz, a tribute to the city's rich musical heritage.

  Among their most celebrated players was 'Pistol' Pete Maravich, who had starred in college basketball at Louisiana State University. Maravich won the scoring championship for the 1976-77 season, averaging 31.1 points per game. He was widely regarded as one of the most entertaining players in the league. The Jazz's best record during their New Orleans years was 39-43, in the 1977-78 season. Financial and logistical pressures mounted, and the team relocated to Salt Lake City ahead of the 1979-80 season.

  New Orleans tried again in 1994, when an ownership group nearly purchased the Minnesota Timberwolves to move them south. The Timberwolves would have played temporarily at the Louisiana Superdome while a new arena was built. Financial problems, however, led the NBA to block the deal. The city also pursued the Vancouver Grizzlies before that effort too came to nothing. What finally brought NBA basketball back was not the city's patience but a messy dispute unfolding hundreds of miles away in Charlotte.

  51011

• 3. The Charlotte Exodus

  ›

  In 1997, a Charlotte woman filed a rape allegation against George Shinn, the owner of the Charlotte Hornets. The allegation went to trial and severely damaged Shinn's reputation across the city. Hornets fans had been drifting away through the 1990s. The consensus in Charlotte was that they were punishing the team for their anger at Shinn. The franchise had put a competitive roster on the court throughout that decade; the crowds did not follow.

  The Charlotte Coliseum had been considered state-of-the-art when it opened, but it had since been judged obsolete. The arena offered a limited number of luxury boxes, which had become a critical revenue source for NBA teams. Shinn wanted a new building. The city was unwilling to build one.

  On the 26th of March 2001, both the Hornets and the Vancouver Grizzlies applied to relocate to Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies won that contest. Shinn then issued an ultimatum: build a new arena at no cost to him, or the Hornets would leave Charlotte. The city refused, and Shinn began considering moves to Norfolk, Louisville, or St. Louis.

  St. Louis had the most obvious appeal. The Savvis Center was already NBA-ready, and the city was a larger media market than Charlotte at the time. St. Louis was also the only one of the three candidates that had previously hosted an NBA franchise. The St. Louis Hawks had moved to Atlanta in 1968. Louisville, meanwhile, had formed a non-binding agreement with the Hornets. A group of businessmen and politicians pledged to build a new downtown arena. Louisville officials were in the early planning stages of what would become the KFC Yum! Center.

  Rick Pitino, newly hired as Louisville Basketball's head coach, publicly opposed the plan alongside athletic director Tom Jurich. The deal fell through. Commissioner David Stern later recalled thinking: 'If Rick Pitino doesn't want us there, why would we go?'

  Back in Charlotte, a new arena in Uptown was folded into a non-binding referendum for a broader arts package. Mayor Pat McCrory's veto of a living wage ordinance, issued just days before the vote, changed the outcome. Many of the city's African American ministers turned against the referendum in response. They argued it was immoral to fund a new arena while city employees could not earn a living wage. The referendum failed. City leaders devised a plan to build the arena without voter support, but stated they would not proceed unless Shinn sold the team. The NBA acknowledged that Shinn had alienated fans, but league officials worried a forced sale could set a precedent for other owners. Charlotte's city council refused to remove the demand. The Hornets then requested relocation to New Orleans. As part of the arrangement, the league promised Charlotte a new expansion franchise, which took the court two years later as the Charlotte Bobcats.

  In a 2008 interview with The Charlotte Observer, Shinn addressed the departure. He admitted that 'bad judgment I made in my life' had played a role in the Hornets leaving Charlotte. He added that had he done it differently, he would not have withdrawn from public life after the sexual assault trial. By then, his energy was directed entirely toward New Orleans. 'I've made enough mistakes in my life,' he said. 'I'm not going to make one here. This city needs us here. We're going to make this New Orleans thing work.'

  1112131617

• 4. Katrina and Chris Paul

  ›

  The 2004-05 season was marked by injuries to the team's three all-stars, and the Hornets posted a franchise-worst record of 18-64. From the subsequent draft, the team selected point guard Chris Paul out of Wake Forest University. Paul would prove to be exactly what the franchise had been missing.

  Hurricane Katrina struck southeastern Louisiana in 2005, bringing catastrophic devastation to communities across the region. The Hornets temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. During the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, they played most of their home games at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, posting records of 38-44 and 39-43 respectively. The franchise was known during this period as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets; a handful of games each season remained at New Orleans Arena. One year after the Hornets returned permanently to New Orleans, the Seattle SuperSonics also relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Oklahoma City Thunder.

  The Hornets returned to New Orleans full-time for the 2007-08 season, with all 41 home games at the New Orleans Arena. The city had been awarded the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, and a marketing campaign launched in February 2007 helped build momentum. The team opened the season at 29-12 at the halfway point and finished 56-26. They clinched the second overall seed in the Western Conference and won the Southwest Division. In the playoffs, they defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. They then lost to the defending-champion San Antonio Spurs in seven games in the conference semifinals.

  In August 2008, the Hornets unveiled new logos and uniforms featuring colors the team described as Creole blue, purple, and Mardi Gras gold. Pinstripes were added, and the lettering and numbers drew inspiration from the wrought iron designs found throughout the city. The team finished 49-33 in 2008-09 but were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in five games in the first round. A poor start to 2009-10 led to the dismissal of head coach Byron Scott. General manager Jeff Bower took over coaching duties for the rest of that season, and the Hornets finished 37-45, last in the Southwest Division.

  In December 2010, the NBA purchased the Hornets from George Shinn for an estimated $300 million. The following season, under new head coach Monty Williams, the team finished 46-36 and made the playoffs. They lost to the Los Angeles Lakers four games to two. Before the 2011-12 season, Paul requested a trade, preferring New York or Los Angeles as his destination. A three-team deal involving the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets was agreed upon but rejected. Commissioner David Stern, acting as president of basketball operations for the league-owned franchise, vetoed it. On the 14th of December 2011, the Hornets sent Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers. In return, they received Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, and a first-round draft pick the Clippers had originally acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Paul's departure closed one chapter; the arrival of new ownership would open another.

  1820228180

• 5. Becoming the Pelicans

  ›

  Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints, purchased the NBA franchise on the 13th of April 2012, for $338 million. He immediately brought two senior Saints executives into basketball operations. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis became head of basketball operations, working above general manager Dell Demps. Saints business operations chief Dennis Lauscha took on the equivalent role for the Pelicans.

  'Brass' and 'Krewe' were among Tom Benson's preferred candidates for the team's new name. He also suggested the Utah Jazz consider returning the 'Jazz' name to New Orleans, its place of origin. The Jazz, with over 30 years of history tied to that name in Salt Lake City, had no interest in giving it up.

  On the 4th of December 2012, it was reported that the team would rename itself the New Orleans Pelicans beginning with the 2013-14 season. The name had roots in New Orleans: a minor-league baseball team had used it from 1901 to 1957. At a press conference on the 24th of January 2013, the team unveiled new logos and a color scheme of navy, gold, and red. Those three colors all appear in the flag of the city of New Orleans. The name change became official on the 18th of April 2013.

  On the 21st of May 2013, Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan announced plans to reclaim the Hornets name for the 2014-15 season. The NBA unanimously approved the change. At a press conference on the 20th of May 2014, the Pelicans agreed to transfer records and statistics from the original Hornets era back to Charlotte. That covered the years from 1988 to 2002. The records and statistics from the 2002 move onward remained with the Pelicans. In league records, the Charlotte Hornets are considered to have suspended operations from 2002 to 2004. They then played as the Bobcats until 2014, at which point the Hornets name returned to Charlotte.

  Pierre the Pelican, the franchise's new mascot, debuted on the 30th of October 2013. That was opening night of the first home game under the new name. Fans selected the mascot's name through an online poll on the team's website. Pierre's initial design proved unsettling to some; a redesigned head was released on the 11th of February 2014. The uniforms released on the 1st of August 2013 featured a 'New Orleans' wordmark across the front, inspired by French Quarter street signs. The Pelicans were one of only three NBA teams to wear the city name across the front of both home and road jerseys.

  One detail captured the weight of the name transfer between cities: the jersey of Bobby Phills. His number 13 had hung in the New Orleans Arena since the franchise arrived from Charlotte in 2002. Phills had died in an automobile accident in Charlotte on the 9th of February 2000. The original Hornets had retired his number in his honor. When the Hornets history formally returned to Charlotte, the Pelicans sent the jersey back. In November 2014, it was hung at the Spectrum Center, where it remains.

  2324263031

• 6. The Anthony Davis Era

  ›

  On the 30th of May 2012, the Hornets were awarded the first overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. They used it to select Anthony Davis. A photograph showed Davis already wearing a Hornets hat before the lottery result was known. Some claimed commissioner David Stern had arranged the outcome; the league denied any manipulation. Davis's arrival set the course for the next seven years.

  With the 10th pick, acquired as part of the Chris Paul trade, the team also drafted Austin Rivers. Ryan Anderson, the 2012 Most Improved Player and league leader in three-point field goals, arrived from the Orlando Magic via sign-and-trade. The deal sent Gustavo Ayon to Orlando and was completed on the 11th of July 2012.

  During the 2014-15 season, the Pelicans reached the playoffs for the first time under their new name, finishing 45-37 as the eighth seed. They owned the tiebreaker over the Oklahoma City Thunder by winning the head-to-head series 3-1. In the first round, they faced the Golden State Warriors, who swept them in four games. Monty Williams was fired after the season. Alvin Gentry was named the franchise's sixth head coach on the 31st of May 2015.

  The Pelicans missed the 2016 NBA playoffs with a 30-52 record. On the 20th of February 2017, they acquired DeMarcus Cousins from the Sacramento Kings. They sent Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a 2017 first-round pick, and a 2017 second-round pick in exchange for Cousins and Omri Casspi. On the 1st of February 2018, the Pelicans acquired Nikola Mirotic from Chicago, along with a 2018 second-round pick. They sent Omer Asik, Jameer Nelson, and Tony Allen in return. Mirotic had demanded a trade from Chicago after former teammate Bobby Portis punched him in the face at an off-season practice. He played well for the Pelicans following the deal.

  Tom Benson died from flu complications on the 15th of March 2018. Ownership of both the Pelicans and the Saints transferred to his widow, Gayle Benson. The team clinched a playoff spot on the 9th of April 2018, finishing 48-34. In the playoffs, they swept the Portland Trail Blazers in four games before losing to the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors four games to one.

  In January 2019, Davis publicly demanded a trade and was fined for making the request. On the 14th of May 2019, the Pelicans won the first overall pick at the 2019 draft lottery. They had held only a six percent chance of doing so. They agreed on the 15th of June 2019 to trade Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers. The package included Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and three first-round picks, one of which was the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft. The Pelicans later traded the rights to that fourth pick to the Atlanta Hawks. In return, they received the 8th, 17th, and 35th picks of the 2019 draft. The three-way deal closed on the 6th of July 2019. On the 20th of June 2019, the Pelicans had already used the first overall pick to select Zion Williamson. The franchise's next chapter had begun before the Davis trade was even final.

  2742464748

• 7. The Zion Era

  ›

  Zion Williamson did not play a single game to open the 2019-20 season, sidelined by knee surgery following a preseason injury. When he made his debut on the 22nd of January 2020, he scored 22 points in 18 minutes of play. By March 2020, he had been named the NBA Rookie of the Month for February. During that month, Williamson averaged 25.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.0 steal per game.

  Brandon Ingram, part of the haul from the Davis trade, had a breakout season alongside Williamson. On the 16th of January 2020, Ingram scored a career-high 49 points in a 138-132 overtime win against the Utah Jazz. With 0.2 seconds left in regulation, he gave the Pelicans the lead with a fadeaway jumper. Rudy Gobert was then fouled, and his free throw sent the game to overtime. Ingram was named an NBA All-Star for the first time that season and won the 2020 Most Improved Player award.

  Following the suspension of the 2019-20 season, the Pelicans were among the 22 teams invited to the NBA Bubble. On the 9th of August 2020, they were eliminated from postseason contention when the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers.

  CJ McCollum, the 2015-16 Most Improved Player, arrived via trade from Portland along with Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell. Williamson missed the entire 2021-22 season with a right foot fracture, but the Pelicans still advanced through the play-in tournament to reach the playoffs. They finished 36-46. On the 13th of April 2022, they defeated the 10th-place San Antonio Spurs 113-103 at home in the play-in. Two days later, they beat the 8th-place Los Angeles Clippers 105-101 on the road to clinch the eighth playoff seed.

  In 2023-24, Williamson played 70 games for the first time since his second season. Herb Jones, a second-round pick from the 2021 draft, was named to the All-Defensive First Team, becoming the fourth Pelican to earn that distinction. The Pelicans finished 49-33. In a play-in game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Williamson scored 40 points and grabbed 11 rebounds before leaving with an injury. Without him, the Pelicans beat the Sacramento Kings in the play-in to reach the first round of the playoffs. They were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

  In the 2024 offseason, the Pelicans acquired Dejounte Murray, a 2022 All-Star, from the Atlanta Hawks. They sent Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., E.J. Liddell, Cody Zeller, and future draft picks in return. On the 6th of February 2025, Brandon Ingram was traded to the Toronto Raptors for Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, and future draft picks. On the 10th of March 2025, the NBA and Australia's National Basketball League announced a joint event. In October 2025, the Pelicans would play two preseason games at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne as part of the NBA x NBL Melbourne Series.

  5455586276