New Orleans Pelicans: 5 moments in team history that deserve a documentary

3. OKC season / Hurricane Katrina

The city of New Orleans has been through plenty in the last 15 years. The first thought many of us have is the state of things during Hurricane Katrina and the scars it’s left in Louisiana’s largest metropolitan area. Scars that will be seen for years to come.

The main reason this isn’t higher on the list is the fact that most people correlate the rebuilding and the arousal of hope throughout the city with the New Orleans Saints; the classic blocked punt by Steve Gleason and the team’s run all the way to the NFC Championship game led by newly signed star Drew Brees.

The Hornets had plenty of impact on the city post-Katrina, though. Even if the team didn’t play their home games there during the 2005-2006 season.

The storm went through New Orleans on August 29, 2005, just a month before players were to report for training camp. The Hornets organization had to figure something out, and figure something out quickly.

Lucky for them, Oklahoma City had erected the Ford Center in 2002, and was more than eager to welcome in a professional sports team. Even if that meant for just a year.

OKC had originally made plans to build the arena in order to be in the running for an expansion NHL team, but other than the occasional concert and hosting March Madness is the spring, the building didn’t get much attention. Oklahoma City wanted their very own professional sports team, and this was their chance.

Mick Cornett, then mayor of OKC, made haste getting ahold of then-NBA commissioner David Stern to pitch his city. Clay Bennett, the man that led the initial bid for Oklahoma City to grab an NHL team, once again grabbed the bull by the horns, fielding a call from Stern to further talks of the franchise moving to Oklahoma. “Listen, you guys might be able to help us out,” Stern told Bennet. “The Hornets are homeless right now.”

Thus began the plans to send the franchise 708 miles northwest.

At the beginning of their inaugural season in Oklahoma, the Hornets weren’t expected to be competitive, and the fan turnout wasn’t expected to be all that great either.

Things have a funny way of turning out.

Behind Rookie of the Year Chris Paul and the combination of vets like David West, P.J. Brown, Speedy Claxton and Desmond Mason, the Hornets nearly finished as a .500 team, at 38-44. Not only that, the fans were raucous. Even with visitors like Allen Iverson, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant the Oklahomans would boo the night away, following their Hornets till the very end.

This type of environment unquestionably paved the way for the Seattle SuperSonics to eventually become the Oklahoma City Thunder just a few years removed from the days of the Hornets.

Following their lone full season in Oklahoma City, the Hornets began their transition back to New Orleans, playing six of their home games in the Smoothie King Center. Their other 35 were played in OKC.

Though short-lived, the tenure as the Oklahoma City Hornets was an emotional one. A season that would pave the way for so much more for the city, and provide a small piece of healing for New Orleans.