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.
The NBA conference finals are the Eastern and Western championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA), a major professional basketball league in North America. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The NBA adopted its current name at the start of the 1949–50 season when the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL). The league currently consists of 30 teams, of which 29 are located in the United States and 1 in Canada. Each team plays 82 games in the regular season. After the regular season, eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs. At the end of the playoffs, the top two teams play each other in the conference finals, to determine the Conference Champions from each side, who then proceed to play in the NBA Finals. Trophies were given to each conference winner starting in 2001. In 2022, they named them the Bob Cousy Trophy for the Eastern Conference and the Oscar Robertson Trophy for the Western Conference. Also that year, the league started naming an NBA conference finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for each conference.
The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, four games to two to win their first NBA championship.
The Southwest Division is one of the three divisions in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Despite its name, the division is actually located in the South Central United States. The division consists of five teams, the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Rockets, the Memphis Grizzlies, the New Orleans Pelicans and the San Antonio Spurs. Three of the teams, the Mavericks, Rockets, and Spurs, are based in Texas.
The Central Division is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams, the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers, and the Milwaukee Bucks. All teams except the Cavaliers are former Midwest Division teams; thus, the Central Division now largely resembles the Midwest Division in the 1970s.
The Southeast Division is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams: the Atlanta Hawks, the Charlotte Hornets, the Miami Heat, the Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards.
The expansion draft for the construction of the Charlotte Bobcats, recognized at the time as the 30th NBA franchise, was held on June 22, 2004. The Bobcats selected 19 players from other teams' unprotected players lists and constructed their squad for what was regarded at the time as their inaugural season.
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.
The 2004–05 New Orleans Hornets season was the franchise's third season in the National Basketball Association. The Hornets moved from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the tougher Southwest Division of the Western Conference for the season. Under new head coach Byron Scott, the Hornets played and suffered their worst basketball ways losing their first eight games, which led to an awful 2–29 start. Many players were traded away during the season. The team traded David Wesley to the Houston Rockets in December, then midway through the season dealt Baron Davis to the Golden State Warriors, and sent Jamal Mashburn, who was lost for the entire season with a knee injury, to the Philadelphia 76ers for Glenn Robinson, who never played for the Hornets and was released to free agency and signed with the San Antonio Spurs. Mashburn would never suit up for the 76ers.
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 following is a timeline of the expansion and evolution of franchises in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league was formed as the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946 and took its current name in 1949. The histories of NBA franchises that were also members of the American Basketball League (ABL), National Basketball League (NBL), National Pro Basketball League (NPBL), and American Basketball Association (ABA) are also included.
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.
