Even if the Sacramento Kings never make their move to Seattle, NBA fans will have to familiarize themselves with at least one new team next season. The New Orleans Hornets will officially change their nickname to Pelicans in the near future, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports.
New Orleans Hornets to officially change name to Pelicans, according to report
NBA fan, politely welcome the New Orleans Pelicans into your life.
Ending a long line of rumors regarding the possibility of name change, the Hornets will make an official announcement of the impending move on Thursday, Spears reports. The announcement will also include a new logo, which hasn’t been released yet.
After years of rocking the blue, purple, gold and white team colors, the Pelicans’ team colors will be blue, gold and red, Spears reports.
For the franchise, it’s just the latest name change in its 25-year history. After beginning play in 1988 as the Charlotte Hornets, the franchise relocated to New Orleans in 2002 after owner George Shinn couldn’t reach an agreement with the city to build a new arena. The team also played in Oklahoma City in 2005-07 due to the damage from Hurricane Katrina.
The Pelican is the official state bird of Louisiana and an environmental symbol for the state, Spears adds.
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