New Orleans Hornets tickets will be a hot commodity this season so be sure to order yours today! As a result of the devastation of hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Hornets will be away from their home New Orleans Arena, and instead will play in Oklahoma City for the 2005-2006 season. Oklahoma City will be host 35 regular games this season, with six regular games hosted in Louisiana.

This year the Hornets hope to go all the way, and Byron Scott, head coach, has introduced a few new faces to the team to help make it happen. Brandon Bass from Louisiana State, Arvydas Macijauskas from Lithuania, and Chris Paul from Wake Forest will start their professional careers in the NBA with the Hornets and are sure to contribute greatly to the team.

Last season Chris Anderson saw amazing development in his game and GM Allan Bristow wanted to see him resign this year. As a result, free agent, Anderson, has signed for another year as forward/center for the Hornets. Anderson started his NBA career with the Nuggets and spend three years there before joining the Hornets in July of 2004. Anderson has also purchased $25,000 worth of tickets for the 2005-2006 season which he plans to distribute to various charities over the course of the year.

With great team spirit and an active role in the community the Hornets deserve the support of their fans, so order your Hornets tickets today and get out to the court!

A brief history of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets

The New Orleans Hornets are a National Basketball Association Team based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Hornets are temporarily playing in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005. The Hornets will play a limited amount of games in New Orleans during the 2006/2007 season. The Hornets are currently owned by George Shinn and coached by Byron Scott. The majority of their home games will be played in Oklahoma City with only a handful to be played in the city of New Orleans. When in New Orleans, the Hornets play their home games at the New Orleans Arena which seats 18,000 fans. When in Oklahoma City, the Hornets play their home games at the Ford Center in downtown Oklahoma City. The Ford Center seats almost 20,000 basketball fans.

The Hornets joined the NBA in 1987 as an expansion team based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets began play in the NBA in 1988 with Dick Harter as their head coach and Kelly Tripucka as their first star player. The Hornets struggled to win games in their first 4 seasons in the league. But by 1993, they made their first playoff appearance behind a cast of young star players that included Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson and Kendall Gill. Injuries cost the Hornets a playoff spot in 1994 but they returned to the post season in 1995. Back to back playoff appearances in 1997 and 1998 were the lone bright spots for the Franchise during the time they spent in Charlotte. The Hornets made 7 playoff appearances during their 14 seasons in Charlotte but never made it past the Semi Final round.

Despite the Hornets consistent play in 2000 and 2001, the teams owner and the city of Charlotte were at major odds. The Hornets wanted a new state of the art facility to replace an aging Charlotte Coliseum and they wanted the City of Charlotte to pay the entire cost of the new facility. In 2002, when the final ultimatum to build an arena or the team moves was refused by the city, the Hornets moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. Ironically, the city of Charlotte built a new facility anyway and welcomed their new NBA team, the Charlotte Bobcats in 2005.

The New Orleans Hornets opened play at the New Orleans Arena in 2002. The Hornets were led by head coach Paul Silas and star players Jamal Mashburn, David Wesley and Baron Davis. The Hornets reached the playoffs their first 2 seasons in New Orleans. Byron Scott was brought in as head coach in 2004/2005 as the Hornets began to rebuild. The Hornets finished with a franchise low 18 wins in 2005. Despite the effects of Hurricane Katrina and the temporary move to Oklahoma City, the Hornets improved drastically in the 2005/2006 season with a 38-44 record. The 2006 Oklahoma City/New Orleans Hornets were led by a bevy of young players like David West, Chris Paul and Speedy Claxton.

The New Orleans Hornets will once again play a majority of their home games in Oklahoma City in 2006/2007. Tickets will also be available for a limited number of games to be played in New Orleans. The Hornets hope to move back to New Orleans on a full time basis by the start of the 2007/2008 season. By that time they hope to have all the pieces in place to bring a playoff contending NBA team to the city of New Orleans.