New Orleans Pelicans
| New Orleans Pelicans | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 New Orleans Pelicans season | |||
| Conference | Western | ||
| Division | Southwest | ||
| Founded | 2002 | ||
| History | New Orleans Hornets 2002–2005, 2007–2013 New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets 2005–2007 New Orleans Pelicans 2013–present | ||
| Arena | Smoothie King Center | ||
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||
| Team colors | Navy blue, gold, red | ||
| Main sponsor | NewAge Products | ||
| President | Dennis Lauscha | ||
| Vice-presidents | Joe Dumars, Troy Weaver | ||
| Head coach | James Borrego (interim) | ||
| Ownership | Gayle Benson | ||
| Affiliation | Birmingham Squadron | ||
| Championships | 0 | ||
| Conference titles | 0 | ||
| Division titles | 1 (2008) | ||
| Retired numbers | 1 (7) | ||
| Website | nba | ||
| |||
The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Smoothie King Center.
The Pelicans were established as the New Orleans Hornets in the 2002–03 season when George Shinn, then owner of the Charlotte Hornets, relocated the franchise to New Orleans. Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the team temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City, where they spent two seasons as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets before returning to New Orleans for the 2007–08 season. In 2013, the Hornets announced that they would change their name to the New Orleans Pelicans.
In 22 seasons of play since the original franchise relocated from Charlotte, the New Orleans franchise has achieved an overall regular season record of 831–937 (.470) and qualified for the playoffs nine times. Their achievements include two playoff series victories and one division title. To date, the franchise has yet to advance to the conference finals, joining the Charlotte Hornets as the only two teams to have never played in that round of the playoffs.