2002–03 New Orleans Hornets season

The 2002–03 New Orleans Hornets season was the inaugural season for the New Orleans Hornets in the National Basketball Association.^[1][a] After fourteen seasons in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Hornets relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana and became the "New Orleans Hornets"; it was the first NBA franchise for the city since the New Orleans Jazz, who relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1979.^[2][3][4] Originally reckoned as the 15th season of the franchise, the second incarnation of the Charlotte Hornets' reclaiming the heritage of the original Hornets has since retroactively deemed this season as the inaugural season for the franchise that would eventually become the Pelicans.^[5]

The Hornets also moved into a new arena known as the New Orleans Arena. During the off-season, the team acquired Courtney Alexander from the Washington Wizards,^[6][7] and signed free agent Robert Pack. The Hornets made their NBA regular season debut in New Orleans on October 30, 2002, in which the team defeated the Utah Jazz at home, 100–75 in front of an attendance of 17,668 fans at the New Orleans Arena; the Hornets outscored the Jazz 32–11 in the fourth quarter, as Baron Davis finished the game with a double-double of 21 points and 10 assists, and made 4 out of 6 three-point field-goal attempts.^[8]

The Hornets got off to a fast start by winning 10 of their first 13 games of the regular season. However, after a 17–7 start to the season, the team struggled and lost 13 of their next 16 games, and held a 26–24 record at the All-Star break.^[9] At mid-season, the team traded Elden Campbell to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Kenny Anderson, who had previously played for the Hornets back in Charlotte during the second half of the 1995–96 season.^[10][11] The Hornets posted an eight-game winning streak between February and March, and won their final five games of the season, finishing in third place in the Central Division with a decent 47–35 record, and earning the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.^[12]

Jamal Mashburn averaged 21.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, contributed 119 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Davis averaged 17.1 points, 6.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game, but only played just 50 games due to a left knee injury,^[13][14][15] and David Wesley provided the team with 16.7 points and 1.5 steals per game, and also led them with 134 three-point field goals. In addition, P.J. Brown contributed 10.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, while Jamaal Magloire became the team's starting center, averaging 10.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Off the bench, Alexander contributed 7.9 points per game, while Anderson provided with 6.0 points and 3.3 assists per game in 23 games after the trade, Pack contributed 5.2 points and 2.9 assists per game, George Lynch averaged 4.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, and Robert Traylor provided with 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.^[16]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Mashburn was selected for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was his first and only All-Star appearance.^[17][18][19] Meanwhile, Wesley participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout.^[20][21] Mashburn also finished tied in eleventh place in Most Valuable Player voting,^[22] while head coach Paul Silas finished in twelfth place in Coach of the Year voting.^[22]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 2003 NBA playoffs, the Hornets faced off against the 4th–seeded Philadelphia 76ers, who were led by All-Star guard Allen Iverson, Keith Van Horn and Eric Snow. The 76ers took a 3–1 series lead, but the Hornets managed to win Game 5 on the road, 93–91 at the First Union Center. However, the Hornets lost Game 6 to the 76ers at home, 107–103 at the New Orleans Arena, thus losing the series in six games.^[23][24][25]

The Hornets finished 19th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 641,683 at the New Orleans Arena during the regular season.^[16][26] Following the season, Silas was fired as head coach after four in a half seasons with the Hornets,^[27][28] while Anderson signed as a free agent with the Indiana Pacers,^[29] and Pack re-signed with his former team, the New Jersey Nets.

For the season, the Hornets slightly changed their primary logo, replacing the city name "Charlotte" with "New Orleans" above their original logo of a hornet bouncing a basketball;^[30] the team also changed their uniforms, adding the color yellow to their color scheme of teal.^[31][32] The team's new primary logo, and new uniforms would both remain in use until 2008.