The New Orleans Hornets plan on changing their name in the near future. Their new owner, Tom Benson, is from New Orleans and he wants the name of the team to relate to the city in some way. The name "Hornets" came with the team when it moved from Charlotte.
Benson told the New Orleans Time Picayune:
“We need to find a name like (Jazz). Whether we can get that or let us use that, you’ve got to know we’re working on it. We’d like to change it tomorrow. We have not gotten that approved, but we’re not letting up on it, either. Because we’ve got a good relationship with the commissioner and his people and we’re going to be on them daily to do something.”
NBA Commissioner, David Stern, says that the name "Jazz" belongs to Utah. His message to Benson: find yourself a new one.
The Jazz, of course, were once in New Orleans. They moved to Utah and took their name with them. Now New Orleans wants the name back. It makes sense.
The name "Jazz" never should have been associated with Utah in the first place. Aside from Montana, Utah is about the whitest state in the union. It's about as "Jazzy" as New Orleans is Morman.
Utah should give the name back to New Orleans. In exhange, they can have "Hornets". Their State symbol is a bee, after all. New Orleans can throw Dwight Howard in on the deal, too.
