New Orleans Hornets Tickets

The New Orleans Hornets know all about transition, and it has nothing to do with the fast break. Before the 2002-03 seasons, they moved from Charlotte to New Orleans. And entering 2004-05, the club was moved from the Eastern Conference to the West. No one envisioned it this way when the NBA team put a team in Charlotte, N.C., an area known for its rabid college basketball fans. The idea was first proposed in earnest by George Shinn in a 1985 meeting with NBA commissioner David Stern, and a little more than three years later the Charlotte Hornets took the Charlotte Coliseum floor for the first time in easily recognizable teal and white jerseys. Attendance was strong in the early years despite woeful play by the expansion team, which took its first giant steps when it drafted Larry Johnson in 1991 and Alonzo Mourning the following year. The New Orleans Hornets Tickets made the playoffs in 1992-93 and won their first series over Boston. They won 50 games for the first time in 1994-95 and topped that total in two of the next three years. However, 10 straight seasons without a losing record in Charlotte could not keep the New Orleans Hornets Tickets from buzzing to a new hive on the Bayou in 2002. New Orleans Hornets tickets entered the 2004-05 seasons with a new head coach and a new conference, along with hopes of beginning a run of postseason success.

1986 While its bid to become an expansion team is considered, Charlotte sells nearly 8,500 season tickets, topping their goal by 1,000. 1987 Ticket sales swell to 13,000-plus. The NBA announces that Charlotte and Miami will join the league in 1988-89. 1988-89 With Dell Curry the team's top pick in the expansion draft and Rex Chapman its first choice in the college draft, Charlotte debuts with a 20-62 record. 1990-91 After just 19 victories the year before, rookie Kendall Gill helps the New Orleans Hornets win 26 games. Larry Johnson arrives in the 1991 draft. 1992-93 In Alonzo Mourning's rookie campaign, Charlotte becomes one of the fastest expansion teams in pro sports to win a playoff series. The New Orleans Hornets upset the Celtics in the first round on Mourning's buzzer-beating 18-foot jumper. 1994-95 Charlotte achieves 50 victories, a feat it will top twice in the next three years.

After the season, Mourning is traded to Miami in a deal that nets Glen Rice. 1996-97 Rice earns MVP honors in his second All-Star Game after setting records for points in a quarter (20) and a half (24). 2000-01 The New Orleans Hornets Tickets lose their chance to reach the Eastern Conference finals when they squander a double-digit lead at home against Milwaukee in Game 6, then drop Game 7 on the road. 2001-02 Attendance declines despite emerging standouts like Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn. By season's end, the New Orleans Hornets announce they will move to New Orleans for the 2002-03 campaign. 2003-04 The New Orleans Hornets Tickets finish 41-41 in their last year in the Eastern Conference. The team is moved to the West starting in 2004-05.