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Leaving Charlotte While the Hornets continued to put a competitive team on the court, the team's attendance fell through the floor, in large part because Shinn was now a pariah in the city. For much of the early part of the 21st century, the Hornets ranked at or near the bottom of the league in attendance--a marked contrast to their first years in the league. Shinn had become increasingly discontented with the Coliseum, which had a limited number of luxury boxes. He finally issued an ultimatum demanding that the city of Charlotte agree to build a new arena at no cost to team ownership or else he would leave. The city initially refused, leading Shinn to consider moving the team to either Louisville, St. Louis or Memphis. It should be noted that of the three cities, only St. Louis was a larger media market than Charlotte. Finally, a new arena in Uptown was included in a nonbinding referendum for a larger arts-related package, and Shinn withdrew his application to move the team. The referendum appeared to be on its way to success despite fierce opposition. However, a few weeks before the vote, the city's mayor vetoed an ordinance to provide a living wage for city workers, leading many of the city's black ministers to oppose the arena. They claimed the city shouldn't build an arena when city workers couldn't afford to make a living. The referendum was defeated. City leaders then devised a way to build a new arena in a way that didn't require voter support, but let it be known that they would not even consider building it unless Shinn sold the team. While even the NBA acknowledged that Shinn had alienated fans, NBA officials felt such a statement would anger owners. The city council refused to remove the statement, leading the Hornets to seriously consider a move to New Orleans. 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 with the city, the NBA promised that Charlotte would get a new team, which took the court two years later as the Charlotte Bobcats.
New Orleans The Hornets opened their inaugural season in New Orleans against the Utah Jazz, who were originally in New Orleans and called the New Orleans Jazz; "Pistol" Pete Maravich had his number retired during halftime. It was the first regular season NBA game played in New Orleans in 23 years (there were a few exhibition games played through the years including the then Charlotte Hornets in New Orleans in 2000). They qualified for the playoffs for the fourth straight year in 2002-03, but were beaten by Philadelphia again. Jamal Mashburn also missed most of these playoffs. There was some concern at first about sluggish ticket sales; the Hornets were only able to sell 11,000 season tickets. However, Shinn remained committed to the area. After the season, the team unexpectedly fired Silas. He was replaced by Tim Floyd, and the Hornets got off to a 17-7 start, but the team reverted to form and finished 41-41, narrowly missing out on home court advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. They played the Miami Heat in the playoffs, but Dwyane Wade's last second shot sunk the Hornets in Game One of the series. The teams ended up winning all their respective home games after that, but Wade's shot was the difference, even though the series went to seven games, the Heat winning 4-3. After the season, Floyd was fired and the team hired Byron Scott to be their head coach. With a move into the Southwest Division of the Western Conference which included four playoff teams in the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Memphis Grizzlies, 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 quickly became a 2-29 record (including a one-point loss in overtime to their replacements, the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, in the team's first game back in Charlotte since relocating). This started a watch of how bad their record could get, threatening the Philadelphia 76ers' record of a 9-73 season. The team performed better in January and February with the emerging play of fan favorite Dan Dickau, but the season was essentially over before it started with the horrendous start. As a result of the lack of success, the team's roster was reshaped, with older veterans Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn traded to facilitate a rebuilding process. The team found stronger support for their younger, scrappier players than they did the previous year. They also acquired Jimmy Jackson from the Houston Rockets, but Jackson never reported to the team (which surprisingly was supported by leading NBA analysts on radio shows and TV networks) and was traded again, this time to the Phoenix Suns for Maciej Lampe, Casey Jacobsen, and Jackson Vroman, none of whom made a significant impact. The Hornets finished 18-64--tied for the second-worst record in the league, and the franchise's first losing season in 15 years. They were initially in the NBA draft lottery when their pick slid to fourth. Despite the bad luck, the Hornets got their man in Chris Paul, who surprisingly was available after the Atlanta Hawks, drafting ahead of the Hornets, passed on him. New Orleans/Oklahoma City Due to the catastrophic devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina upon the communities of southeastern Louisiana, the New Orleans Hornets relocated their base of operations to Oklahoma City from 2005-2007. They would play home games at the Ford Center and their practice facility while in Oklahoma City was the Sawyer Center on the campus of Southern Nazarene University. 2005-2006 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 due to a conflict at the Ford Center, three in New Orleans and one at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on the campus of LSU. The Hornets started off the 2005-06 season better than expected, but did not make the playoffs. When Chris Andersen was kicked out of the league for two years due to a drug violation, it seemed to spark the Hornets to a hot streak, vaulting the team briefly into the sixth seed in the West. Eventually, however, the Hornets went cold, losing 12 out of 13 games to drop out of the playoff race, setting an ignominious NBA record in the process when they scored 16 points in the second half of a game in Los Angeles versus the Clippers. The Hornets rebounded to make one final push at the end of the season for a playoff spot, but last second losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz sank those hopes, and the team finished 38-44, 10th place in the Western Conference and 6 games out of a playoff spot. Despite the losing record, the season was a success. Chris Paul won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in a landslide, and several Hornets were also in the running for other individual awards. On June 28, the Hornets selected Hilton Armstrong and Cedric Simmons in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft. They also selected Marcus Vinicius from Brazil in the 2nd round. 2006-2007 Shinn and the NBA brass decided to stay in Oklahoma City another year because the area had not fully recovered. The Hornets opted to keep their base of operations in Oklahoma City for the 2006-07 season, but had promised to return to New Orleans full time, possibly as early as 2007. The Hornets made major roster changes after the 2005-2006 season in hopes of advancing to the Western Conference postseason for the first time ever. They traded J.R. Smith and P.J. Brown to the Chicago Bulls for Tyson Chandler. They let Speedy Claxton sign with the Atlanta Hawks, but filled their backup PG position with free agents Bobby Jackson and Jannero Pargo. They also inked Peja Stojakovic from the Indiana Pacers. The Hornets played 35 home games in Oklahoma City and 6 in New Orleans during the season. The team finished the regular season with a 39-43 record, one more win than the 2005-2006 season. Special Note: The Professional Basketball Club, LLC led by Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett purchased the Sonics and WNBA Storm franchise on July 18, 2006. This effectively sealed the fate of the Hornets since Mr. Bennett intends to file for relocation to his hometown's Ford Center if a suitable arena project in greater Seattle is not approved by local leaders by October 31, 2007. Bennett's group had previously sought to purchase a stake in the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets franchise from George Shinn but the request was denied. March back to the Big Easy The Hornets announced on January 31, 2007 that they would decline to renew an option to continue playing in Oklahoma City under its relocation agreement for a third season. The Hornets franchise will return to New Orleans full-time for the 2007-2008 season, with all 41 home games to be played in the New Orleans Arena. League officials had stressed from the beginning the desire for the franchise to return to New Orleans once it proved feasible and that they would make a good-faith effort to assist with the recovery. To that end, the 2008 NBA All-Star Game and its accompanying festivities were awarded to New Orleans and a serious marketing campaign was expected to start in February 2007, after the 2007 All-Star Game took place in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, various corporate agreements are being signed (under the umbrella of the Crescent City Champions), with Cadbury Schweppes and Capital One being the first of them. Beyond those agreements, the NBA is keeping a close eye on the rebuilding efforts of New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast, making note of the overwhelming support the Saints (the city's NFL franchise) received in 2006-07. The 69,703-seat Louisiana Superdome, where the Saints play, was sold out in its entirety before the season began for the first time in its history. Saints officials have announced that all season tickets were sold for the season beginning in 2007 and that for the time in the franchise's history, all 137 suites have been sold in advance as well. While the history of the Hornets is not as long as that of the Saints, nor the roots as deep, the league and the franchise appear to be making every possible effort to keep the Hornets in New Orleans for the long term. The New Orleans Hornets offered a renewed package for all fans who held season tickets the last full basketball season in New Orleans and Hornets officials announced they have been happy about the number of renewed season tickets as of May 8, 2007. Season-by-season records
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