The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at the Smoothie King Center. Since 2014, the NBA officially considers New Orleans as an expansion team that began play in the 2002–03 NBA season.
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at the Spectrum Center in Uptown Charlotte.
Glen Anthony Rice Sr. is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a small forward, Rice was a three-time NBA All-Star and made 1,559 three-point field goals during his 15-year career. Rice won both an NCAA championship and NBA championship during his collegiate and professional career. In recent years, Rice has taken up mixed martial arts fight promotion as owner of G-Force Fights based in Miami, Florida.
Chukwuemeka Ndubuisi "Emeka" Okafor is an American former professional basketball player. Okafor attended Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas and the University of Connecticut, where in 2004 he won a national championship. In his first season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2004–05, Okafor was named Rookie of the Year. He was traded to the New Orleans Hornets in 2009 and was then dealt to the Washington Wizards in 2012. However, a herniated disc in his neck caused Okafor to miss four consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2017 before being medically cleared to play.
Larry Demetric Johnson is an American former professional basketball player who spent his career as a power forward with the Charlotte Hornets and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 2008, Johnson was inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame. He was then inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame on November 24, 2019.
The Most Outstanding Player is awarded to one player after the conclusion of the championship game of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. Accredited media members at the championship game vote on the award.
Bobby Ray Phills Jr. was an American professional basketball player. He played shooting guard and small forward for the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Hornets.
The 1999–2000 NBA season was the 54th season of the National Basketball Association. The season began on November 2, 1999, and ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA championship, beating the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 2 in the 2000 NBA Finals.
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Hornets were first established in 1988 as an expansion team, but relocated to New Orleans following the 2001–02 season. In 2004, a new expansion team, the Charlotte Bobcats, was established. After 10 seasons as the Bobcats, the team changed its name to the Charlotte Hornets for the 2014–15 season, a year after the New Orleans franchise relinquished the Hornets name and renamed itself the Pelicans. In addition to re-inheriting the Hornets name from New Orleans, the Charlotte franchise reclaimed the history and records of the original 1988–2002 Hornets, effectively becoming a continuation of the original franchise.
The original Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) were established in 1988 as an expansion team, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team's roster was filled with unprotected players at the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft, and five days later the Hornets made their first picks out of college players at the 1988 NBA draft. The Hornets remained in Charlotte for 14 seasons before relocating to New Orleans in 2002. Two years after the Hornets' departure, the Charlotte Bobcats were established in 2004. The Bobcats first participated in the 2004 NBA draft, two days after their expansion draft was held. The franchise's name was changed back to the Hornets at the conclusion of the 2013–14 season, one year after the team in Louisiana renamed itself the New Orleans Pelicans. The history and records of the original Charlotte Hornets were conveyed to the newly named Charlotte Hornets.
The 1996–97 NBA season was the 9th season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association. For the first time since the 1990–91 season, Larry Johnson was not on the team's opening day roster. The Hornets had the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft, and selected high school basketball star Kobe Bryant, but soon traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Vlade Divac, acquired Anthony Mason from the New York Knicks, and signed free agent Tony Smith during the off-season. The team also hired former Boston Celtics star Dave Cowens as their new head coach.
The UConn Huskies men's basketball program is the NCAA Division I men's college basketball team of the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, Connecticut. They currently play in the Big East Conference and are coached by Dan Hurley.
The 2004–05 NBA season was the first season for the Charlotte Bobcats in the National Basketball Association. This season marked the return of NBA basketball to Charlotte after a two-year hiatus. The original Hornets had moved to New Orleans after the 2001–02 season to become the New Orleans Hornets, now the New Orleans Pelicans. The Bobcats had the second overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft, which they used to select Emeka Okafor out of the University of Connecticut. The team hired Bernie Bickerstaff as head coach during the offseason, and added veteran players like Gerald Wallace, Primož Brezec, Brevin Knight, Jason Hart, Jason Kapono, Melvin Ely and Steve Smith to their roster. The Bobcats played their first game at the Charlotte Coliseum on November 4, which was a 103–96 loss to the Washington Wizards. They would win their first game defeating the Orlando Magic 111–100 at home on November 6. However, the expansion team struggled losing ten straight games in January and March, finishing fourth in the Southeast Division with an 18–64 record. Okafor averaged 15.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.7 blocks per game and was named Rookie of The Year, and selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
Kemba Hudley Walker is an American professional basketball player for AS Monaco of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. Walker was picked ninth overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 NBA draft. He played college basketball for the Connecticut Huskies. In their 2010–11 season, Walker was the nation's second-leading scorer and was named consensus first-team All-American; he also led the Huskies to the 2011 NCAA championship and claimed the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. Walker is a four-time NBA All-Star.
The 1995–96 NBA season was the 8th season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Hornets re-acquired former guard Kendall Gill from the Seattle SuperSonics. On the first day of the regular season, which began on November 3, 1995, the Hornets acquired Glen Rice, Matt Geiger and second-year guard Khalid Reeves from the Miami Heat. The Hornets got off to a slow start losing eight of their first eleven games, but played around .500 as the season progressed. In January, they traded Gill and Reeves to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Kenny Anderson, who became the team's starting point guard, while Muggsy Bogues sat out with a knee injury that only limited him to just six games. Scott Burrell was also out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury after only playing just 20 games.
The 1997–98 NBA season was the tenth season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Hornets signed free agents David Wesley, and Bobby Phills, while re-signing former Hornets forward J.R. Reid. Early into the season, the team traded long-time Hornets guard Muggsy Bogues, along with second-year guard Tony Delk to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for B. J. Armstrong, who won three championships with the Chicago Bulls in the early 1990s. At midseason, the team signed free agent Vernon Maxwell, who was previously released by the Orlando Magic, as the Hornets held a 29–18 record at the All-Star break. Despite injuries to Phills, Vlade Divac and long-time original Hornet Dell Curry, the Hornets had another stellar season posting a ten-game winning streak between February and March, winning 15 of 16 games between February 21 and March 26. The Hornets finished the season third in the Central Division with a 51–31 record, and qualified for their fourth playoff appearance.
The 1999–2000 NBA season was the 12th season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association. Despite finishing the previous season with a 26–24 record, the Hornets received the third overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, and selected UCLA point guard Baron Davis, and signed undrafted rookie forward Eddie Robinson during the off-season. The Hornets got off to a solid 16–7 start, posting an 8-game winning streak in December. However, tragedy struck on January 12, 2000, when guard Bobby Phills was killed in a car accident while racing with teammate David Wesley after a team practice; Wesley also had a suspended driver's license at the time. The Hornets retired Phills' #13 jersey on February 9 during a game against his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers; the team also wore a patch bearing his #13 on their jerseys for the remainder of the season. Phills played a sixth man role this season, averaging 13.6 points and 1.5 steals per game off the bench in 28 games, starting in just nine of them before his death at the age of 30.
The New Orleans Pelicans are a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team commenced play in 2002 after the NBA granted founder George Shinn an expansion franchise to play in New Orleans. The Pelicans' establishment was unusual compared to most modern expansion teams in that New Orleans' roster was not stocked through an expansion draft. Instead, Shinn transferred the entire basketball organization of his former team, the Charlotte Hornets, to his new franchise.
The history of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Hornets dates to 1985 when founder George Shinn first thought of bringing professional basketball to Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets commenced play as an expansion team in 1988. After fourteen seasons under its original ownership, the franchise suspended operations in 2002 when Shinn transferred the basketball organization under his control to a new franchise in New Orleans. The Charlotte franchise was subsequently acquired, reactivated and renamed the Bobcats by Robert L. Johnson. After restocking its roster through their second expansion draft, the team resumed play in 2004. Johnson sold controlling interest to Hall of Fame legend and North Carolinian native Michael Jordan in 2010. Jordan, who restored the club's original name in 2014, sold the team to group led by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin in 2023. The franchise has reached the postseason twelve times and made ten playoff appearances, although as of 2024 they are the oldest club in all of North American major professional sports to have never won a division championship.
LaMelo LaFrance Ball is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft. Ball was voted the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 and named an NBA All-Star the following season in 2022.
