Changes

The '''New Orleans Pelicans''' are a professional [[basketball]] team based in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]] having moved from [[Charlotte]] in 2002.

The '''New Orleans Pelicans''' are a [[National Basketball Association]] ([[NBA]]) team based in [[Charlotte]], [[North Carolina]]. They are members of the Eastern Conference, Southeast Division.

The Charlotte Hornets originally began play as an expansion team in 1988.  However, the team relocated in 2002 to [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], as the '''New Orleans Hornets'''; two years later Charlotte would get another expansion team which was named the '''Charlotte Bobcats'''.

Originally the Pelicans began play as the '''Charlotte Hornets''', an expansion team, in 1988.  However, the team relocated in 2002 to New Orleans, keeping the Hornets name; two years later Charlotte would get another expansion team which was originally named the '''Charlotte Bobcats'''.

But in 2013 the New Orleans Hornets -- desiring a team name more closely associated with Louisiana -- elected to rebrand itself as the [[New Orleans Pelicans]] (as the brown pelican is the Louisiana state bird).  The Bobcats then petitioned to reclaim the Hornets name, which the NBA granted in 2014.  At the press conference announcing the name change, the NBA also announced that the Pelicans would officially transfer all the records and statistics of the original Charlotte Hornets (during the period when they were in Charlotte) back to the Hornets organization, thus unifying all Charlotte records under one franchise.  As such, the NBA retroactively considers the Charlotte Hornets to have existed from 1984-2002, then having suspended operations from 2002-2004, and then restarting in 2004, with the Pelicans considered an expansion team beginning in 2002.

But in 2013 the Hornets -- desiring a team name more closely associated with Louisiana, and unable to reclaim the Jazz name from [[Utah Jazz|Utah]] -- elected to rebrand itself as the Pelicans (as the brown pelican is the Louisiana state bird), surrendering the Hornets name back to the league.  The Bobcats then petitioned to reclaim the Hornets name, which the NBA granted in 2014.  At the press conference announcing the name change, the NBA also announced that the Pelicans would officially transfer all the records and statistics of the original Charlotte Hornets (during the period when they were in Charlotte) back to the Hornets organization, thus unifying all Charlotte records under one franchise (the franchise records while in New Orleans remain with the Pelicans).

This team was originally known as the New Orleans Hornets. After the [[damage]] to New Orleans from [[Hurricane Katrina]], the team played some of their home [[game]]s in [[Oklahoma City]] at the Ford Center; the popularity of NBA basketball in Oklahoma City ultimately led the owners of the [[Seattle SuperSonics|Supersonics]] to move their team to Oklahoma City in 2008.

As such, the NBA retroactively considers the [[Charlotte Hornets]] to have existed from 1984-2002, then having suspended operations from 2002-2004, and then restarting in 2004, with the Pelicans considered an expansion team beginning in 2002.

Originally keeping the Hornets name upon relocation to New Orleans, in 2014 the team renamed itself as the Pelicans (the brown pelican is the Louisiana state bird), thus allowing the [[Charlotte Bobcats]] to reclaim the Hornet mascot (in a separate deal, all New Orleans Hornets records were returned to Charlotte and are now part of that team's franchise records).

After the [[damage]] to New Orleans from [[Hurricane Katrina]], the team played some of their home [[game]]s in [[Oklahoma City]] at the Ford Center for the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons (and temporarily rebranded the team as the '''New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets'''; the popularity of NBA basketball in Oklahoma City ultimately led an Oklahoma-based group to purchase the Seattle SuperSonics and relocate the team to Oklahoma City in 2008.

==Official Team Website==

==Official Team Website==