New Orleans Pelicans

New Orleans Pelicans

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The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Pelicans compete in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the NBA. The Pelicans were founded in 2002 as the New Orleans Hornets. After Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, the Pelicans played two seasons in Oklahoma City as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets and moved back to New Orleans in 2007. The team did not change its name to the Pelicans until 2013. The team has had very limited success in the NBA, making the playoffs just 7 times in its 17 seasons. The furthest the team has advanced in the playoffs is the second round. The Pelicans have one division title (2008) and have yet to appear in a Conference or NBA Finals. 

The Pelicans play their home games at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Hornets have yet to have a Hall of Fame player on their roster, but they did have superstars Chris Paul (2005-2011) and Anthony Davis (2012-2019) on their roster. Interestingly, the only number that the Pelicans have retired is Pete Maravich’s number 7. Despite not playing for the franchise, Maravich made such a strong contribution to Louisiana basketball through his time with the New Orleans Jazz and LSU that the Pelicans franchise wanted to honor him.

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Head Coach: Alvin Gentry

League: NBA

Conference: Western Conference

Division: Southwest Division

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