New Orleans Hornets

About New Orleans Hornets

The New Orleans Hornets are a professional basketball team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They play in the Southwest Division of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The franchise began play during the 1988-89 NBA season as the Charlotte Hornets, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they were located until the end of the 2001-02 NBA season.

In 1985, the NBA announced plans to expand by four teams. George Shinn, an entrepreneur from Charlotte, North Carolina, announced plans to bring an NBA team to the Charlotte area. He assembled a group of prominent local businessmen to head the prospective franchise.

Charlotte had long been a hotbed for college basketball, home to the Charlotte 49ers, Davidson Wildcats, and the large and loyal alumni and fan bases from the four North Carolina schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Charlotte was also one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. It had also previously been home to the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars, from 1969 to 1974.