The Hornets future in New Orleans is expected to soon come to an end.
No, the team is not moving elsewhere. They are, however, expected to change their team name.
If you haven’t heard about it yet, just check out the reaction from Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
Pelicans? Yes. The state bird of Louisiana is the pelican.
According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the team also considered Brass and Krewe as possible nicknames.
While New Orleans fans may not be fond of the choice, Bobcats fans should be ecstatic.
This news means that the Hornets name will be available for relocation back to its city of origin, Charlotte. Team owner Michael Jordan has already stated that he would welcome a change back to the original name.
“It’s definitely an interest down the road, but right now it’s the New Orleans Hornets. We would definitely entertain the opportunity. That’s as much as we can say right now. We’ve heard the community ask the question, and we would listen.”
It is good news to hear that the Hornets could possibly return to Charlotte. With how the Bobcats have played the past few years, the team could probably benefit from re-branding its identity.
Currently, there is no date set for the impending name change, but Hornets new team owner Tom Benson and his wife Gayle have indicated that the team colors will likely be changing as well. The preferred color scheme for the Pelicans will be red, gold and navy blue.
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On a side note, does Curry share a hive mind with Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum? Or, perhaps, both of their Twitter accounts are handled by the same PR department?
It just seems highly ironic that they both had the same reaction to the Hornets name change. Exactly the same, right down to the punctuation.
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While Curry and Batum may be on to something with regards to the mascot—it has the potential to be the most ridiculously hilarious mascot in the league—the fan response to the name has been less comical.
It is understandable to want to choose a name with regional roots, but the pelican doesn’t strike fear into the hearts of opponents, it simply causes confusion and laughter.
Hopefully Benson will reconsider the Pelicans name. Perhaps the team could do a fan contest to get suggestions, and then poll fans to choose the best name among the winning suggestions.
For now, prepare to welcome the New Orleans Pelicans to the NBA in the near future.
What do you think the new nickname for New Orleans should be? Leave your suggestions in the comments.
Tweet of the Night: Nicolas Batum
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Michael Brumagin is the “Tweet of the Day” columnist for Sheridan Hoops and a sports correspondent for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter.
I LOVE the name! Imagine going to see the ‘Cans vs the Lakers? All the cheerleaders better be Double-Ds!