NEW ORLEANS PELICANS FRANCHISE FACTS:
Founded: 1988
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Stadium: New Orleans Arena
Conference: Western Conference
Division: Southwest Division
Dancers: Honeybees Dance Team
Notable Players: Pete Maravich
New Orleans Pelicans Championship Titles: 0
New Orleans Pelicans Conference Titles: 0
New Orleans Pelicans Division Titles: 0
See Also:
New Orleans Pelicans Playoff tickets
New Orleans Pelicans Season Preview History
NEW ORLEANS EXPERIENCE:
The New Orleans Pelicans are relative newcomers to the world of professional basketball and the New Orleans area itself. As an expansion team that entered the league in the 1988-89 season with the Miami Heat, the team got its start in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the Hornets and led the NBA in attendance in eight of their first ten seasons. The franchise finally made the playoffs during the 1992-93 season, when the Hornets defeated the Boston Celtics in the first round before falling to the New York Knicks in the second round. These early Hornets payers were led by point guard Muggsy Bogues, Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning, all of whom were able to indicate a bright future for the team.
Even though a handful of NBA superstars, such as Baron Davis, were drafted by the organization in 1999, attendance began to dwindle during the late '90s when they made a series of questionable personnel moves. After the end of the 2001-02 season, the Hornets suffered its worst attendance numbers of its history and decided to pack up and bring professional basketball to the Big Easy.
The Hornets experienced some up and down seasons during their first few years in New Orleans, as they tried to lay the groundwork to become a strong contender in the league. In 2005, the Hornets acquired point guard Chris Pauls, who became the ball handler and precision passer that the team had sorely lacked. After a period of growing pains, the Hornets posted their best record ever in the 2007-08 season by surging to a 56-26 record, a division title and the 2nd overall seed in the NBA playoffs. Even though they lost in the second round to the San Antonio Spurs, the Hornets would return to the playoffs the following year and become a fixture in the postseason for years to come.
Eventually, the team finally established its own identity in the city with two appearance changes. In an attempt to bring a visual representation to the court that the franchise had finally been ingrained in the New Orleans community the squad changed uniforms before the 2008 season to feature teal, purple and Mardi Gras gold. The second change came after the 2013 season to the teams mascot. To better represent cities culture the team would take on the image of the New Orleans state bird and become the New Orleans Pelicans. While they still face plenty of stiff competition in the Western Conference, the Pelicans have managed to showcase exciting game play on the court and build a dedicated and unwavering fanbase.