Smoothie King Center

The New Orleans Pelicans (often known as the Pels) are an NBA team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans play in the NBA’s Western Conference Southwest Division out of the Smoothie King Center (aka SKC). The NBA considers New Orleans an expansion team that began play in the 2002-2003 season as the New Orleans Hornets.

The team was established as the Hornets in the 2002-2003 season when George Shinn, then owner of the team, relocated the franchise. However, due to damages to the arena caused by Hurricane Katrina, the team had temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City where they played two seasons as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City hornets before returning for the 2007-2008 season. The decision to rebrand as the Pelicans came in 2013 after the 2012-2013 season. The decision came when then owner, Tom Benson, indicated that he wanted to change the team’s name to something more local.

The name had previously been used by a minor-league baseball team that played in New Orleans from 1901 to 1957. The Hornets then officially confirmed the name change in a press conference held on January 24, 2013. Following the franchise’s 2013 disestablishment of the “Hornets” name, Michael Jordan submitted an application to change the name of his franchise to the Charlotte Hornets for the 2014-15 season pending a vote for approval.