The New Orleans Hornets recently announced plans to change nicknames to the “Pelicans,” and they even unveiled the new team logo during the week. The pelican is the state bird for Louisiana, so the nickname has a lot more significance for New Orleans than the Hornets, which was the team’s nickname before moving to the Big Easy from Charlotte.
Though the pelicans nickname is a source of pride for some people from the area, it’s become a source of ridicule among outsiders who don’t find the bird to be very intimidating. Take Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale for instance. The former Boston Celtics legend had a few laughs at the expense of the new team nickname, even suggesting the motto, “watch out or we’ll dump on you.”
Watch McHale joke about the Pelicans nickname during his pregame press conference on Friday before the Rockets played the Hornets:
“Pelican’s like a big bird that hangs on your shoulder, isn’t it? I like hawks and eagles and stuff like that. Pelican’s not a bird of prey, is it?” asked McHale, who was clearly enjoying poking fun at the team.
It sure seems like most people have the same perception of a pelican and don’t realize how vicious they are. We don’t mind the nickname and actually think the organization did a nice job with the team logo:
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