Delayed Return
In order to allow for a full recovery of the New Orleans market in the wake of the storm, the NBA announced on January 31, 2006, that the Hornets would remain in Oklahoma City for the 2006–07 season and return for the 2007–08 season. The league also announced that New Orleans would play host for the 2008 All-Star Game, in addition to hosting the team for six of their 41 home games during the season. Although guarantees by the league and organization indicated a return for 2007–08, many fans in New Orleans were still skeptical of a permanent return due to the popularity of the team in Oklahoma City. Meanwhile, the Hornets opened their season in Oklahoma City with a 26-point win over the Sacramento Kings on November 1, 2005. They played their first game in Louisiana in a loss to the Phoenix Suns on December 21, 2005, and they played the first professional sports event in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina on March 8, 2006, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Hornets completed the 2005–06 season by winning 38 games, tenth in the Western Conference. They became the first team since the 1974–75 Boston Celtics to play home games at four separate venues: the Ford Center, the New Orleans Arena, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and the Lloyd Noble Center. The Hornets had finished last in attendance in the previous season in New Orleans, but playing in Ford Center, they averaged 18,168 fans, a 78% increase. Referring to the fan support in Oklahoma City, Hornets star Chris Paul said that "You get a feeling you're a part of something special"; mayor Mick Cornett said "My expectations were lofty, but we've exceeded them".
All repair work on the New Orleans Arena was finished by March 2006, and a new scoreboard and video displays were added during the process. In June 2006, Shinn stated he was pleased with the ongoing recovery process in New Orleans and again reaffirmed his desire to permanently return for the 2007–08 season. However, the Hornets also announced that they were in the process of negotiating with Oklahoma City to play the 2007–08 season at the Ford Center as a contingency plan. The Hornets opened the 2006–07 season at New Orleans with a win over the Boston Celtics. They improved their final record from the previous season by one game, and again finished tenth in the Western Conference, three games out of the playoffs. Their attendance declined slightly compared to the previous season, and they finished 15th overall in attendance. The Hornets made their permanent return to New Orleans on October 31, 2007, when they defeated the Sacramento Kings 109-90 to open the 2007–08 season. In the two seasons since then, the Hornets have averaged an attendance of 15,574. During the 2008 All-Star Game, the NBA donated $5 million towards relief work, and staged an NBA Cares program throughout the city to help rebuilding efforts.
Read more about this topic: Effect Of Hurricane Katrina On The New Orleans Hornets
Famous quotes containing the words delayed and/or return:
“When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.””
—Bible: Hebrew, Exodus 32:1.
“I thought to myself that it was still another Sunday gone by, that Mother was now buried, that I was going to return to work and that, after all, nothing had changed.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)