2002–03 New Orleans Hornets season

(lost to 76ers 2–4)

The 2002–03 New Orleans Hornets season was the 15th season for the New Orleans Hornets in the National Basketball Association, and their first season in New Orleans, Louisiana. Decades after the Jazz relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah, and after fourteen seasons in Charlotte, North Carolina, the NBA returned to New Orleans as the New Orleans Hornets. Originally reckoned as the 15th season of the franchise, the second incarnation of the Charlotte Hornets' reclaiming the heritage of the original Hornets has since retroactively deemed this season as the inaugural season for the franchise that would eventually become the Pelicans. The team also moved into a new arena known as the New Orleans Arena. During the off-season, the Hornets acquired Courtney Alexander from the Washington Wizards, and signed free agent Robert Pack.

The Hornets won 10 of their first 13 games of the regular season, but struggled a bit down the stretch, holding a 26–24 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Elden Campbell to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Kenny Anderson, who had previously played for the Hornets back in Charlotte during the second half of the 1995–96 season. The Hornets won their final five games of the season, finishing in third place in the Central Division with a decent 47–35 record, and earning the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Jamal Mashburn averaged 21.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, contributed 119 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Baron Davis averaged 17.1 points, 6.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game, but only played just 50 games due to a left knee injury, and David Wesley provided the team with 16.7 points and 1.5 steals per game, and also led them with 134 three-point field goals. In addition, P.J. Brown contributed 10.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, while Jamaal Magloire became the team's starting center, averaging 10.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Off the bench, Alexander contributed 7.9 points per game, while Anderson provided with 6.0 points and 3.3 assists per game in 23 games after the trade, Pack contributed 5.2 points and 2.9 assists per game, George Lynch averaged 4.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, and Robert Traylor provided with 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Mashburn was selected for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was his first and only All-Star appearance. Meanwhile, Wesley participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout. Mashburn also finished tied in eleventh place in Most Valuable Player voting, while head coach Paul Silas finished in twelfth place in Coach of the Year voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 2003 NBA playoffs, the Hornets faced off against the 4th–seeded Philadelphia 76ers, who were led by All-Star guard Allen Iverson, Keith Van Horn and Eric Snow. The 76ers took a 3–1 series lead, but the Hornets managed to win Game 5 on the road, 93–91 at the First Union Center. However, the Hornets lost Game 6 to the 76ers at home, 107–103 at the New Orleans Arena, thus losing the series in six games.

Following the season, Silas was fired as head coach, while Anderson signed as a free agent with the Indiana Pacers, and Pack re-signed with his former team, the New Jersey Nets. For the season, the Hornets changed their primary logo, replacing the city name "Charlotte" with "New Orleans" above their original logo of a hornet bouncing a basketball; the team also changed their uniforms, replacing the color blue with yellow to their color scheme of teal. The team's new primary logo, and new uniforms would both remain in use until 2008.