page_title: New Orleans Pelicans
section_title: 2005–2011: Chris Paul era
hierarchical_section_title: New Orleans Pelicans / Franchise history / 2005–2011: Chris Paul era
caption_attribution_description: English: Chris Paul dribbling the ball
context_page_description: The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home games in the Smoothie King Center.
  The Pelicans were established as the New Orleans Hornets in the 2002–03 season when then-owner of the Charlotte Hornets, George Shinn, relocated the franchise to New Orleans. Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the franchise temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City, where they spent two seasons officially known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. The team returned to New Orleans full-time for the 2007–08 season. In 2013 the franchise announced it would rename itself the Pelicans, effective after the conclusion of the 2012–13 season. The Charlotte Hornets' name, history, and records from 1988 to 2002 were returned to its original city to be used by the then Charlotte Bobcats franchise, which subsequently became the Charlotte Hornets in 2014.
context_section_description: In the subsequent draft, the Hornets used their first-round pick to select point guard Chris Paul out of Wake Forest University.
  Because of the catastrophic devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina upon the communities of southeastern Louisiana, the Hornets franchise temporarily relocated its base of operations to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 2005–06 and 2006–07, posting records of 38–44 and 39–43 respectively. During this time, the franchise was known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. In these two seasons, most home games were played at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, while a few remained at New Orleans Arena. One year after the Hornets moved back to New Orleans permanently, the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
  The Hornets franchise returned to New Orleans full-time for the 2007–08 season, with all 41 home games in the New Orleans Arena. The 2008 NBA All-Star Game and its accompanying festivities were awarded to New Orleans and a serious marketing campaign was commenced in February 2007. Healthier than previous seasons, the Hornets opened the season with a 29–12 record at the halfway mark, completing the regular season with a record of 56–26, making the season their most successful ever. The Hornets also won their first division title, winning the Southwest Division. Having clinched the second overall seed for the Western Conference in the 2008 playoffs, the Hornets beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, but then lost to the defending-champion San Antonio Spurs in seven games in the conference semifinals.
  In August 2008, the Hornets unveiled a modified logo and new uniforms with the colors of Creole blue, purple, and Mardi Gras gold. Pinstripes were also added to the uniforms. The Hornets also introduced a new gold alternate uniform in 2010 which was used mostly in games played on Saturday at home and on the road. The Hornets finished the 2008–09 season with a 49–33 record. Facing the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2009 playoffs, the Hornets were eliminated in five games. The Hornets started the 2009–10 season with a 3–6 record and fired head coach Byron Scott. General manager Jeff Bower took over the head coaching duties for the remainder of the season. The Hornets finished the season with a 37–45 record and last in the Southwest Division they had won two seasons prior. Jeff Bower resigned as head coach and Monty Williams was brought in as new head coach. The team finished the 2010–11 season with a 46–36 record and qualified for the 2011 NBA Playoffs, where they lost to the Lakers four games to two.
  In December 2010, the NBA purchased the Hornets from George Shinn for an estimated $300 million.
caption: Chris Paul, selected by the Hornets as the fourth pick of the 2005 NBA draft
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