Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Hornets

The New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) were unable to play any home games for the entire 2005–06 season, after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29, 2005, and caused extensive damage to the New Orleans Arena (now known as Smoothie King Center). The team temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, becoming the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. After playing the majority of home games for both the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, the Hornets returned to New Orleans for the 2007–08 season.

Following the success of the Hornets' tenure in the city, the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City for the 2008–09 season, where they now compete as the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Because of the extensive damage resulting from the hurricane, where the Hornets would play for the 2005–06 season came into question. Although the New Orleans Arena suffered only slight damage, the flooding surrounding the area made it impossible to use. With the training camp scheduled to begin on October 4, the team announced that the first three weeks of camp would be held at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, instead of their usual location, Alario Center in Westwego. Additionally the team stated that they wanted to play home games within Louisiana, at either the Pete Maravich Assembly Center or the Rivercenter in Baton Rouge. On September 3, Hornets owner George Shinn stated that the storm would not be used as a reason to permanently relocate the franchise.

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