New Orleans Pelicans: Players, Net Worth, History, and Stats

The New Orleans Pelicans are a professional basketball team playing in the Western Conference of the National Basketball League (NBA). The Pelicans were established as an expansion franchise in the 2002-03 season and have seen a host of relocations and changes, before finally settling in as the Pelicans in New Orleans, Louisiana.

A relatively new franchise, the Pelicans have not tasted much success in the past and are still up and about to prove their potential as a playoff contending team from the West. In this article, we dig deeper into the Pelicans' history, their identity as a franchise, their rosters, and some of the famous players coming out of the franchise.

New Orleans Pelicans Profile

The New Orleans Pelicans are one of the 15 teams competing from the Western Conference and a relatively young franchise in the NBA. The table below will give you a brief idea about the franchise as a whole in a nutshell.

New Orleans Pelicans History

The city of New Orleans has a vivid history of having it's own basketball franchise. The city got it's first basketball franchise in 1967 with the New Orleans Buccaneers, which was one of the founding members of the former American Basketball League (ABA). The team, however, struggled with finances and poor attendance, forcing them to move to Memphis in 1970.

In 1974, the NBA added the New Orleans Jazz as an expansion franchise to the league. The nickname ‘Jazz’ was chosen to pay tribute to Louisiana's history of originating Jazz music. However, poor attendance, team record, and financial woes once again forced the franchise to move to Salt Lake City, where they became the current Utah Jazz.

Years later, when the Charlotte Hornets were struggling with falling attendance and poor performances in the league, Hornets owner George Shinn decided to move the franchise to New Orleans. Hence, in 2002, the Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans, rebranding themselves as the New Orleans Hornets. This relocation saw NOLA getting an NBA franchise for the first time since the Jazz decided to move to Utah in 1979-80 season.

In 2005, the devastating Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, causing immense havoc across communities in southeastern Louisiana. Once again, such unexpected calamity forced the New Orleans Hornets to temporarily relocate to Oklahoma City, rebranding themselves as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for two seasons. In 2007-08 season, the Hornets returned back to New Orleans after the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City, rebranding themselves as the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The New Orleans Hornets were one of the only teams briefly owned by the league itself, when the NBA purchased the franchise for $300 million from George Shinn. Former NBA commissioner Late David Stern acted as the President of Basketball Operations for the franchise. The team was controlled and operated by the league until Tom Benson, the owner of the NFL's New Orleans Saints purchased the franchise from the NBA for $338 million. Benson went on the change the franchise's name to ‘New Orleans Pelicans,’ the name that it is still known by to this day.

New Orleans Pelicans Stats

The New Orleans Pelicans currently stand 14th in the Western Conference, as of the 2024-25 season. The team has qualified for playoffs nine times in their history and their highest achievements include winning two playoff series and one division title. The Pelicans haven't tasted much success, despite having some of the best talents such as Chris Paul on their roster. Here is a summary of their performance in the last five seasons in the league.

New Orleans Pelicans Famous Players

The New Orleans Pelicans had some of the most beloved stars in the league playing for the franchise. Despite the franchise's unfortunate history and turmoil through the years, these stars helped the team gain relative relevance in the league. Here are some of the most famous players that have played for the franchise:

JJ Redick

JJ Redick played one of the last legs of his career with the New Orleans Pelicans, from 2019 to 2021. He was reunited with his Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy when he signed with the Pelicans. Currently, Redick serves as the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers and was best known for being one of the most clinical shooters during his playing career.

Chris Paul

Chris Paul, also known as CP3 or Point God, is one of the most celebrated players of the franchise. Paul was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets as the fourth pick of the 2005 NBA draft and helped the team achieve a franchise-record 56 wins in the 2007-08 season. To this date, CP3 is regarded as one of the best players to have played for New Orleans, especially in it's new era of rebranding and relocations as a franchise.

Peter Maravich

Peter Maravich, also known as Pistol Pete, played for the New Orleans Jazz from 1974 to 1980. Though not directly associated with the Pelicans franchise, Maravich played an important role in establishing the relevance of basketball for the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans. He was one of the youngest player to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is still regarded as one of the greatest ball handlers of all time.

New Orleans Pelicans Roster

The current New Orleans Pelicans roster consists of some great talents such as former first overall pick Zion Williamson and other stars such as, Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy III. The team depth is particularly not at it's best, given the roster has been ravaged with injuries for a long time now. Furthermore, coupled with some of their best stars being ruled out due to injuries during crucial legs of the season does not help much for the franchise either. Here is a list of all the active players currently enrolled in the Pelicans' roster.

New Orleans Pelicans Head Coach

The current head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans is Willie Green, a former NBA player and assistant coach. Green played for the Philadelphia 76ers from 2003 to 2010 and had a brief stint as a player for the franchise when the Pelicans were still known as the Hornets. As for coaching experience, Green worked as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns before his appointment as the Pelicans' head coach in 2021.

Green has led the Pelicans to two playoff appearances and and holds a 146-172 record as a head coach in the NBA.

New Orleans Pelicans Owner

The New Orleans Pelicans is owned by Gayle Benson, the widow of Tom Benson. The Benson family own the NFL franchise New Orleans Saints and purchased the erstwhile New Orleans Hornets from the NBA for $338 million. Tom Benson renamed the franchise to Pelicans, suiting with the state bird of Louisiana, the brown pelican. In 2018, after Tom Benson passed away due to complications from a flu, the ownership of the franchise passed to his widow Gayle Benson.

New Orleans Pelicans Net Worth

The New Orleans Pelicans has an estimated net worth of $3.05 billion, as per Forbes. Breaking down the franchise's valuation, the Pelicans are valued at $1,748 million as a sporting franchise, $737 million in the market, $314 million counting their home arena, and $251 million in terms of brand value.

As of 2025, the Pelicans had a revenue of $272 million, with an operating income of $41 million and incurring player expenses of around $176 million.

New Orleans Pelicans Records

The New Orleans Pelicans do not have any such commendable records as an NBA franchise. Established as the New Orleans Hornets in 2002, the Pelicans have a Division Championship to their name in 2008 and have qualified for the playoffs nine times in their franchise history. The franchise has an overall regular season record of 831-937 and have won two playoff series

New Orleans Pelicans Stadium

The New Orleans Pelicans play their home games at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. The arena holds the capacity of holding 16,867 people for NBA games. The arena has hosted multiple All-Star games, most notably in 2008, 2014, and 2017. The arena was earlier known as the New Orleans Arena and had hosted games for the ertswhile New Orleans Hornets as well.

New Orleans Pelicans Championships

The New Orleans Pelicans have no NBA championships to their name as of yet. Their most notable franchise achievements are winning the 2008 Division and two playoff series in their franchise history. Till date, the New Orleans Pelicans have qualified for nine playoff series over their course of time in the league.