NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Hornets are moving ahead with plans to change their name to the Pelicans next season, people
familiar with the decision said.
The people spoke to The Associated Press
Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the Hornets have not
announced the name
change. The people say that is expected to come Thursday, when
club also will unveil the proposed new color scheme of blue,
gold and red.
Hornets owner Tom Benson has said since buying the NBA club last spring that he wanted a new name representing New Orleans
and Louisiana.
The brown pelican is the state bird and has
become symbolic of efforts to restore Louisiana's fragile coast, which
has been
hit hard by the 2010 BP oil spill and erosion from major storms
including Hurricane Katrina, which displaced the Hornets to
Oklahoma City for two seasons from 2005-07.
Benson owns the rights to the name Pelicans, which was used for decades by a former minor league baseball team in New Orleans.
The NBA would have to approve any name change, but Commissioner David Stern already said during a visit to New Orleans earlier
this season that he won't object to whatever new name Benson might choose because he knows it will be "sensible," and that
the league could expedite the process.
The Hornets are New Orleans' second NBA team. The first was the Jazz, which played in the Big Easy from 1974-79 before moving
to Utah, and current owners of the club have indicated on multiple occasions they had no intention of giving up that name
so New Orleans could have it back.
The Hornets were founded in Charlotte in 1988 by then-owner George Shinn, who kept that name when he moved the team to New
Orleans in 2002.
Shinn sold the Hornets to the NBA in December 2010, and the league spent more than a year looking for a buyer who would keep
the team in New Orleans long term.
Last April, Benson, who also has owned the
NFL's New Orleans Saints since 1985, agreed to purchase the club for
$338 million.
As part of the purchase, he agreed to a lease of the state-owned
New Orleans Arena through 2024, ending several years of speculation
that the club would be moved again to another city seeking an NBA
franchise.
The Hornets were in San Antonio on Wednesday night to play the Spurs, heading into the game with a promising stint of seven
victories in their past nine games, but still near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. The recent increase in
winning has coincided with the return of high-scoring guard Eric Gordon from a knee injury that sidelined him for most of
the first two months of the season.
Since Benson took over the club, the
contracts of general manager Dell Demps and head coach Monty Williams
have been extended,
and the team has seen an influx of new, young talent including
first overall draft choice Anthony Davis and 10th overall pick
Austin Rivers.
Now the hope is that the club's young nucleus will turn New Orleans into an NBA contender in the years to come, and do so
with a new look and new name which speak to the regions fans.