The

2004–05 NBA season The 2004–05 NBA season was the 59th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It began on November 2, 2004, and ended on June 23, 2005. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs defeating the defending champion Detroit Pistons, 4� ...

was the first season for the Charlotte Bobcats in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. This season marked the return of NBA basketball to Charlotte after a two-year hiatus. The original Hornets had moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

after the 2001–02 season to become the

New Orleans Hornets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, now the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

. The Bobcats had the second overall pick in the

2004 NBA draft The 2004 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2004, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ( EDT). In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur colle ...

, which they used to select Emeka Okafor out of the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. The team hired Bernie Bickerstaff as head coach during the offseason, and added veteran players like Gerald Wallace, Primož Brezec, Brevin Knight, Jason Hart,

Jason Kapono Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to lead the league in three-point field goal percentage in two consecutive seasons, and ...

, Melvin Ely and Steve Smith to their roster. The Bobcats played their first game at the

Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte Coliseum was a multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was operated by the Charlotte Coliseum Authority, which also oversees the operation of Bojangles Coliseum, which was called Charlotte ...

on November 4, which was a 103–96 loss to the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

. They would win their first game defeating the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

111–100 at home on November 6. However, the expansion team struggled losing ten straight games in January and March, finishing fourth in the Southeast Division with an 18–64 record. Okafor averaged 15.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.7 blocks per game and was named Rookie of The Year, and selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. At the time, this was reckoned as the inaugural season of the Bobcats. However, after the 2013–14 season, the Bobcats reclaimed the Hornets name and pre-2002 history after the original Hornets team changed its name to the Pelicans. As a result, this is now considered the 15th season of the Hornets/Bobcats franchise, the team having returned after suspending operations from 2002 to 2004. As an expansion franchise, the team unveiled their new logo and uniforms, which added dark navy blue, grey, and orange to their color scheme and added side panels to their jerseys and shorts, which remained in use until

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Draft picks

Roster

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Player statistics

Regular season

Awards and records

Rookie of the Year * Emeka Okafor

NBA All-Rookie First Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

* Emeka Okafor

Transactions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2004-05 Charlotte Bobcats season Charlotte Bobcats seasons Bob Bob