📍 New Orleans, Louisiana
🏀 Home of the New Orleans Pelicans

Louisiana has been a basketball stronghold for many years, with a storied past in both college and professional circuits. From the days of “Pistol” Pete Maravich and Karl Malone, to the arrival of Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson, crowds across the state have been delighted by their hooping heroes for decades. Having an NBA team to call your own is, of course, the ultimate goal for any region, and New Orleans has been fortunate enough to have several franchises come through – from the Jazz to the Hornets to the present-day Pelicans.

Pro basketball in the Big Easy began back in 1967 with the New Orleans Buccaneers, a charter member of the ABA. That team relocated to Memphis three years later, but the city was granted an NBA expansion franchise in 1974. Much like the Bucs before them, the Jazz – named for one of New Orleans’ biggest cultural by-products – suffered from venue and attendance issues. Pete Maravich, an LSU legend and all-time DI men’s scoring leader, was traded to the Jazz upon their inception and stuck with the team until 1980, one season after they had departed for Utah.

College hoops filled the twenty-year gap for basketball fans on the bayou, with the NBA finally returning in 2002 in the form of the relocated Charlotte Hornets. What was a controversial move in the Carolinas became a blessing to fans in Louisiana, who turned out to then-New Orleans Arena to see their new squad. The arena – built three years prior in 1999 – would later be renamed the Smoothie King Center, and its primary tenant would be rechristened the New Orleans Pelicans in 2013.

The street level lobby of the venue is full of memorabilia and lore that work to tell the tale of basketball in the Crescent City, as well as in the Pelican State as a whole. Lining the walls are pictorials which outline the history of the NBA in New Orleans, accomplished college teams from seasons past and some of the most important basketball players to play in Louisiana. There’s also a case displaying different uniforms worn by the Pelicans.

A large wall in the corner features jerseys of high school basketball champions from the Louisiana High School Athletic Association, allowing students from across all of the state’s 64 parishes the chance to see their school in the spotlight. The spotlight has often been shone on the Smoothie King Center too, with the arena having hosted the NBA All-Star Game on three occasions. SKC has accommodated many other sporting events and marquee concerts as well, making it the premier entertainment venue in Louisiana.

Thanks in part to its wind-resistant design, the arena also survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005 with little to no damage and acted as a hub for medical personnel during the aftermath and cleanup. Reopened just a month after the hard-hitting storm, Smoothie King Center has since persevered to become a local shrine to the sport of basketball, ensuring the impression that both the sport and the building have left on the people of New Orleans won’t be forgotten.