when did the charlotte bobcats first play in the nba?
2004 NBA Draft
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 The NBA 's New Orleans Hornets became the first major league sports franchise based in Oklahoma when the team was forced to relocate to Oklahoma City 's Ford Center , now known as Chesapeake Energy Arena , for two seasons following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 . In July 2008 , the Seattle SuperSonics , a franchise owned by the Professional Basketball Club LLC , a group of Oklahoma City businessmen led by Clay Bennett , relocated to Oklahoma City and announced that play would begin at the Ford Center as the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2008 – 09 season , becoming the state 's first permanent major league franchise . 

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 With the Posse folding , the Gold Miners moving , and the Pirates facing money troubles three of the four CFL expansion teams had stumbled . The league , however , still managed to add two new cities before the 1995 season . The Memphis Mad Dogs were announced in November 1994 , followed by the Birmingham Barracudas in January 1995 . The Memphis deal was hailed as a large step forward for the league 's presence in the US as it brought in the marketing connections of Federal Express and the wealth of its founder Fred Smith . 

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 Coincidentally , the World League of American Football , an attempt by the NFL to create a spring league in major markets without NFL teams , suspended its North American operations after its 1992 season . WLAF owners Fred Anderson of the Sacramento Surge and Larry J. Benson of the San Antonio Riders applied to join the CFL as the Sacramento Gold Miners and San Antonio Texans , respectively . 

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 The rival American Football League arose in 1960 and challenged the NFL 's dominance . The AFL began in relative obscurity but eventually thrived , with an initial television contract with the ABC network . The AFL 's existence forced the conservative NFL to expand to Dallas and Minnesota in an attempt to destroy the new league . Meanwhile , the AFL introduced many new features to Professional Football in the United States : official time on the scoreboard clock , rather than on a watch in the referee 's pocket , as the NFL did ; optional two @-@ point conversions by pass or run after touchdowns ; names on the jerseys of players ; and several others , including expansion of the role of minority players , actively recruited by the league in contrast to the NFL . The AFL also signed several star college players that had also been drafted by NFL teams . Competition for players heated up in 1965 , when the AFL New York Jets signed rookie Joe Namath to a then @-@ record US $ 437 @,@ 000 contract . A five @-@ year , $ 40 million NBC television contract followed , which helped to sustain the young league . The bidding war for players ended in 1966 , when NFL owners approached the AFL regarding a merger , and the two leagues agreed on one that would take full effect in 1970 . This agreement provided for a common draft that would take place each year , and it instituted an annual World Championship game to be played between the champions of each league . That game began play at the end of the 1966 season . Once the merger was completed , it was no longer a championship game between two leagues , and reverted to the NFL championship game , which came to be known as the Super Bowl . 

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 On May 21 , 2013 , Jordan filed papers to change the Bobcats ' name to the Hornets , effective with the 2014 – 15 season . The Hornets name had become available when the original Hornets , who had moved to New Orleans in 2002 , changed their name to the New Orleans Pelicans for the 2013 – 14 season . The NBA approved the change on July 18 . The name change became official on May 20 , 2014 . On the same day , the team announced that it had reclaimed the history and records of the original 1988 – 2002 Hornets . 
