About the New Orleans Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets joined the NBA in time for the1988-89 season, as the league added four new teams in two years. The club suffered through the usual expansion-team growing pains for a few years but then built a solid roster thanks to productive draft picks. Within a relatively short period the Hornets assembled a star-quality lineup of forward Larry Johnson and center Alonzo Mourning, who led the team to the playoffs in only its fifth year. By the 1996-97 season both Johnson and Mourning had been traded, but Charlotte still looked to be a good team, and the Hornets responded by winning 54 games in 1996-97 and 51 this past season.

Many doubted the Charlotte community's ability  to support a professional team.   Nevertheless, Charlotte was added to the league on April 22, 1987, along with Minnesota, Miami, and Orlando. Charlotte and Miami began play in 1988-89, while Minnesota and Orlando first saw action the next year. The Charlotte team adopted the name Hornets, which had historic importance in Charlotte sports for many years, the city's minor league baseball team was known as the Hornets, and its World Football League team had carried the name.

Owner George Shinn hired Carl Scheer as the team's first general manager (gm). As commissioner of the ABA, Scheer had successfully run the ABA's Carolina Cougars from 1970 to 1974 before moving on to rebuild the Denver Nuggets in the mid-1970s. On the other hand, he had also been associated with the lowly Los Angeles Clippers teams of the mid-1980s.

In 2002 the Hornets moved to New Orleans and became the New Orleans Hornets.  Expectations and emotions were high for the Hornets as the team began its first season in a new city, picked among the favorites going into training camp to vie for the Eastern Conference title.

Opening night at the New Orleans Arena was a fairy-tale start to the year. The Hornets played the Utah Jazz, and won 100-75. That win sparked the Hornets 11-0 start at home, the best in team history. But once again injuries plagued the Hornets throughout the season.

Elden Campbell's knee surgery propelled Jamaal Magloire into a starting role. Magloire's improved production in the paint combined with Campbell's slow recovery kept Magloire in the lineup.  Baron Davis's troubles began December 1 when back problems kept him out of the starting lineup for the first time in his career. He would go one to miss 32  games with back and knee injuries.

Jamal Mashburn returned to good health and had a career-season after a year plagued with injury and illness. He played in all 82 regular-season games and was selected to the All-Star team, both firsts career firsts.

The Hornets finished the regular season as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and faced Allen Iverson and the fourth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the first-round of the playoffs. It was a tough battle for the two teams but the Hornets eventually fell in six games, ending their championship hopes.