Instead, a contest garnered six names submitted by fans, and Hornets was the eventual winning nickname for the team, which took the court for the first time in 1988.
The name’s genesis goes back to the Revolutionary War, when British General Charles Cornwallis wrote to the King of England in his battle report from the Carolinas that “this place is like fighting in a hornet’s nest.”
When the team moved to New Orleans beginning in the 2002-03 season, and when the team began playing home games in Oklahoma City due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005, the team maintained the nickname of Hornets.
