They are the transplanted original Charlotte "Hornets", the jewel of the late '80's expansion. The original "Hornets" imploded under owner George Shin and his demands for a new arena, which was a palace. I had been there. But Shin ran them into the ground and turned off the passionate, numerous Charlotte fans. The NBA tried to make amends and gave the city an expansion team, the Bobcats, and a new owner, Michael Jordan. And the result was the consensus worst team in NBA history. Meanwhile, the transplanted "Hornets", renamed the "Pelicans" have been historical detritus and the NBA was pressured by the "sympathy" for Katrina's destruction to vow to keep the team in N.O. come hell and high water, of which they got both. Grievous mistake was compounded by grievous error and the result is this horrible team playing in a swamp.