New Orleans Hornets Will Rebrand as Pelicans in Time for 2013-2014 NBA Season

[IceCap]

I'll hold you to that what the 2004 expansion Charlotte Hornets honour their rich tradition by raising #33 to the rafters

[TheOldRoman]

I'll hold you to that what the 2004 expansion Charlotte Hornets honour their rich tradition by raising #33 to the rafters

That would be far less silly than the Heat retiring 23 for Michael Jordan.

[IceCap]

I'll hold you to that what the 2004 expansion Charlotte Hornets honour their rich tradition by raising #33 to the rafters

That would be far less silly than the Heat retiring 23 for Michael Jordan.

Well yes, that is silly too.

[Mac the Knife]

[NatsFan2004]

I would love Tony Montana to be the Pelicans' head coach. I would wholeheartedly approve of the new name on that basis.

[DC in Da House w/o a Doubt]

Aren't those flamingos? Is that part of the joke? (I haven't seen Scarface... I kno, super lame. I'm not proud of it.)

[jhans203]

So if the Bobcats are renamed the Hornets do you think they'll retire Bobby Phills' #13? What about other Original Hornet players? Johnson? Mourning? Bogues? Rice? There's some food for thought.

[DC in Da House w/o a Doubt]

So if the Bobcats are renamed the Hornets do you think they'll retire Bobby Phills' #13? What about other Original Hornet players? Johnson? Mourning? Bogues? Rice? There's some food for thought.

They could very well at least honor them. The Nats include players from the first 2 Senators teams in their ring of fame or whatever you want to call it. I don't think it would be unreasonable to even retire those numbers. Think of it as honoring Charlotte basketball and great players who represented Charlotte more than just honoring the Charlotte Hornets specifically.

[TaylorMade]

Doesn't the league still own the name/history of the "Charlotte Hornets?" So turning it over could be easy and the Pelicans could be looked at almost like an expansion team. The Bobcats don't really have a history worth remembering. As for retiring numbers, don't forget that the Hornets' retired numbers include one guy who never played in New Orleans (Bobby Phills) and one guy who never played for the Hornets (Pete Maravich).

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

So if the Bobcats are renamed the Hornets do you think they'll retire Bobby Phills' #13? What about other Original Hornet players? Johnson? Mourning? Bogues? Rice? There's some food for thought.

Man they had some decent teams. Baron Davis, Jamal Mashburn...

[hawk36]

Easy... Cities should claim and honor the teams and players that played for the city.

Does anyone in OKC really want, or care about, Gary Payton being honored in a city (OKC) and for a fan base that never cheered for him just because it's technically the same franchise. Honestly, it makes no sense and it floors me every time this comes up.

Charlotte should honor those who were a part of the Charlotte Hornets. New Orleans should honor those who played in New Orleans.

[FrankCostanza]

Proposed mass eight team nickname trade (tried to make it work, some teams still make little sense, but no worse than what we have now):

Minnesota Lakers ---> Land of 10000 lakes

Utah Raptors ---> the Utahraptor

Charlotte Hornets ---> original name

New Orleans Jazz ---> oriniginal name

Memphis Kings ---> Elvis

Los Angeles Grizzlies ---> continues bear theme in LA (UCLA Bruins)

Toronto Huskies (Tiberwolves) ---> Toronto acquires a dog name, change into the old Huskies to continue dog theme

Sacramento Bobcats ---> continues cat theme in Sac-town (Sacramento River Cats)

[Conrad.]

everything but the Grizz and Bobcats works there. not bad.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Extremely bored at work today, so alternate history time. I know this isn't 100% accurate, but I'm just having some fun so blah. In this scenario, teams that relocated with names that didn't fit with the new city, actually changed.

EAST

Boston Celtics

New York Knicks

Brooklyn Nets

Philadelphia Warriors (Name stays behind when they leave for SF)

Toronto Huskies (apparently Huskies was a front runner at expansion, but any logo would look too much like the TWolves. Since the team in Minnesota is called the Lakers in my universe, Huskies it is.

Detroit Pistons

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Milwaukee Bucks (I know the Hawks were here briefly, but no real reason for the name to stay)

Indiana Pacers

Miami Heat

Orlando Magic

Charlotte Hornets (Hornets name is left in Charlotte when the team leaves for New Orleans)

Atlanta Hawks

Washington Wizards

WEST

Seattle Supersonics (never left)

Portland Trail Blazers

Utah Grizzlies (owners realized upon relocation that Jazz has nothing to do with Utah, and Grizzlies is much more fitting)

Denver Nuggets

Minnesota Lakers (changed their name when they moved in 1960. 1988 Expansion takes Lakers name)

San Antonio Spurs

Dallas Mavericks

Houston Rockets

New Orleans Jazz (Hornets change name to available Jazz upon moving in 2002)

Memphis Pharoahs (Vancouver expansion team is called the Mounties, because the Grizzlies already exist in Utah. Name is changed upon moving to Memphis)

Phoenix Suns

Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Stars (new name the Minneapolis Lakers took upon moving)

Golden State Breakers (Changed the name when the Philadelphia Warriors moved. I know it's cheesy but they picked names like that back then lol)

Sacramento Royals (never changed their name to Kings during their many stops)

EDIT- Changed Memphis to the Pharoahs. Awesome name.

[Conrad.]

^ Washington Bullets (or Federals if you're feeling somewhat PC)

[Lights Out]

Golden State Gators. References the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Zoo in one fell swoop.

[bosrs1]

Golden State Gators. References the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Zoo in one fell swoop.

How does it reference the Golden Gate Bridge? And who cares about the Oakland Zoo? Also, dump Golden State while you're at it. It shouldn't have ever changed from San Francisco.

[bosrs1]

I'll hold you to that what the 2004 expansion Charlotte Hornets honour their rich tradition by raising #33 to the rafters

Retiring a number of a guy who played in the city does not equate to the team claiming the history officially. The Ravens have a statue outside their stadium honoring Johnny Unitas, doesn't mean he ever played for them or that his records, etc... don't still belong to Indy. And that's despite Unitas wanting nothing to do with the Indy franchise and disconnecting himself completely from them.

[Lights Out]

Golden State Gators. References the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Zoo in one fell swoop.

How does it reference the Golden Gate Bridge? And who cares about the Oakland Zoo? Also, dump Golden State while you're at it. It shouldn't have ever changed from San Francisco.

GATE-ors. I know, it's a stretch, but so is a Utahn team calling themselves the Jazz.

[CharlotteIllini88]

If Charlotte gets the Hornets name back, is it a foregone conclusion that they also change colors back to the teal and purple? What are the chances they get the old name back but keep the new colors (navy blue, light blue, orange)? Personally, I much prefer the new colors, but I think if you're going back to the old Hornets nostalgia it's best to go all the way with it and get the old colors back too.