Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Eastern Conference, Southeast Division.

## History and League Success[edit]

The Charlotte Hornets originally began play as an expansion team in 1988. However, the team relocated in 2002 to New Orleans, Louisiana, as the New Orleans Hornets; two years later Charlotte would get another expansion team which was named the Charlotte Bobcats.

But in 2013 the New Orleans Hornets -- desiring a team name more closely associated with Louisiana -- elected to rebrand itself as the New Orleans Pelicans (as the brown pelican is the Louisiana state bird). The Bobcats then petitioned to reclaim the Hornets name, which the NBA granted in 2014. At the press conference announcing the name change, the NBA also announced that the Pelicans would officially transfer all the records and statistics of the original Charlotte Hornets (during the period when they were in Charlotte) back to the Hornets organization, thus unifying all Charlotte records under one franchise (the franchise records while in New Orleans remain with the Pelicans).

As such, the NBA retroactively considers the Charlotte Hornets to have existed from 1984-2002, then having suspended operations from 2002-2004, and then restarting in 2004, with the Pelicans considered an expansion team beginning in 2002.

The Hornets (during both tenures) have never appeared in the NBA Finals, nor have they ever won their division.

## NBA Southeast Division Rivals[edit]

* Atlanta Hawks
* Miami Heat
* Orlando Magic
* Washington Wizards

## External links[edit]

* Official Site of the Charlotte Bobcats

NBA Teams
|  | East  |  |  | Atlantic: |

* Boston Celtics
* New Jersey Nets
* New York Knicks
* Philadelphia 76ers
* Toronto Raptors

|

| Central: |

* Chicago Bulls
* Cleveland Cavaliers
* Detroit Pistons
* Indiana Pacers
* Milwaukee Bucks

|

| Southeast: |

* Atlanta Hawks
* Charlotte Bobcats
* Miami Heat
* Orlando Magic
* Washington Wizards

|

| West  |  |  | Southwest: |

* Dallas Mavericks
* Houston Rockets
* Memphis Grizzlies
* New Orleans Hornets
* San Antonio Spurs

|

| Northwest: |

* Denver Nuggets
* Minnesota Timberwolves
* Portland Trail Blazers
* Oklahoma City Thunder
* Utah Jazz

|

| Pacific: |

* Golden State Warriors
* Los Angeles Clippers
* Los Angeles Lakers
* Phoenix Suns
* Sacramento Kings

|