End of Tenure in New Orleans
The team picked up Wendell Ladner in the draft and rechristened itself the Louisiana Buccaneers, planning to play its home games throughout the state during the 1970-1971 season including in New Orleans, Shreveport, Lafayette, Monroe and Baton Rouge. Like most ABA teams, the Bucs were never on strong financial ground, and the move to the smaller Tulane Gym combined with the marked dropoff in their play caused revenue to dry up. It was hoped that becoming a "regional" franchise would provide more capital.
However, on August 21, 1970 the franchise was purchased by a new owner and ten days later it was moved to Memphis, Tennessee and renamed the Memphis Pros.
On December 10, 2008, in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats, the Buccaneers were for the first time "revived" by the New Orleans Hornets, the city's current NBA franchise, who played the game in 1967-68 styled Bucs throwback jerseys. The team's cheerleading squad was also dressed in Bucs throwback outfits, Bucs video highlights were played throughout the game, and many of the team's past players and coaches were honored at halftime. The Hornets would win the game 105-89. The Hornets wore their Buccaneers throwback jerseys once again in a road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 16, 2009, with Cleveland coming out on top 92-78.
Read more about this topic: New Orleans Buccaneers
Famous quotes containing the word tenure:
“A politician never forgets the precarious nature of elective life. We have never established a practice of tenure in public office.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)