Charlotte Hornets, NBA
One of the best logos and color schemes in the 1990s relocated to Louisiana a couple of decades after its former franchise, the Jazz, left town. Ironically, the same people projected to bring the current Coyotes players and personnel to Salt Lake City own that franchise.
The NBA couldn’t make it work in Charlotte, and as a result, the Hornets made a new home in New Orleans while taking the franchise’s name and history with them. Fans in Charlotte wouldn’t wait long for the NBA to return, as the Bobcats came along for the 2004-05 season, and the expansion team had no history. The Bobcats and Hornets continued as separate entities until the 2013-14 season when the Hornets changed their name to the Pelicans.
This gave Bobcats owner Michael Jordan a chance to reclaim the name Hornets, but with it, we also discovered the Pelicans would relinquish their pre-2002 history to the resurrected Hornets. While this method wasn’t done in the same way as what we saw with the Browns 15 years prior, the Hornets original name, colors, and history still returned to Charlotte.
Therefore, the team that expanded the league to 30 teams, the Bobcats, have now technically began play in 1988, making the franchise originally founded in 2004 over three decades old here in 2024. Fortunately for Coyotes fans, should their team make a comeback, it would be more akin to what we saw with the Browns, plus the other team we have yet to discuss.