Sam Smith

Everyone knows what it's like to come home from a long vacation or business trip, perhaps a hospital stay or sabbatical. Friends and neighbors, family is there to greet you. Perhaps there's a welcome home party and additional attention about where you were and how wonderful it is to have you back. After awhile that diminishes as everyone goes back to their normal life and you are left there to manage yours.

And so it is with the New Orleans Hornets.

They returned home after two years playing in Oklahoma City because of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and despite it being one of America's great party cities — if they do anything else I am not quite aware of it — there was no party and little welcome back.

In what should be the best of times, the Hornets are last in the NBA in attendance with an official average of barely above 11,000, which in itself is inflated because the NBA counts tickets sold. Vast sections of the lower bowl remain empty for most Hornets' home games and attendance counts of 8,000 have not been infrequent. A recent game against Minnesota drew 8,393, more reminiscent of NBA totals from the 1970's, and that wasn't even the lowest for the season. Barely 10,000 (and fewer in the building) were there Wednesday night for a good Pistons team.

So what's supposed to happen after the thrill of their return wears off?

If a basketball swishes through a basket and no one is there to hear it, does it count?

That's what perhaps is most unfortunate in all this since this Hornets team, supported well in Oklahoma City despite injuries that took it out of playoff contention, is a very good team with a superstar defensive player, as coach Byron Scott says, in center Tyson Chandler, an All-Star guard in Chris Paul, a former All-Star returning to form in Peja Stojakovic and solid young pros like David West, who averages close to 20 points per game.

It's no surprise, really, going into this week the Hornets were 4-5 at home and 8-2 on the road, the latter figure second best in the NBA. The general formula in the NBA for 50 wins is to play .500 ball on the road and then win three of four at home, which good teams do. The NBA has the biggest home field/court advantage in team sports. There are various theories, though one reason is momentum and fan enthusiasm play a bigger role in basketball than football or baseball because of the game played indoors in smaller venues. In the up-and-down nature of the NBA, where four- and five-game weeks are not uncommon, that boost from a loud home crowd can carry a team through periods of fatigue. And perhaps influence an official's call or two.

It doesn't look like this will happen for the Hornets, who deserve better.

Team officials say it takes time to create fan momentum and for citizens to fully realize the team is back to stay. Or does it?

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The general consensus around the NBA is the return experiment will fail and the Hornets will be bound for Oklahoma City or Seattle before long, perhaps a swap of franchises with the unhappy new Supersonics owner, who is petitioning to leave.

It seems inevitable, and probably the sooner the better for the basketball fate of the Hornets.

The NBA has this charity program called NBA Cares. It features players doing various forms of charity work, though at times it seems disingenuous as player contracts require a certain number of such appearances every season.

Truly, the program should be David Cares.

NBA commissioner David Stern does care.

It's the main reason the Hornets are back in New Orleans. He wants to play a role in the redevelopment of the city, and NBA players have been generous in their help for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast states without prompting. But it's Stern with the slam dunk social conscience.

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There would be no WNBA if not for Stern. He wants to find a place for women in basketball. He introduced women officials to the NBA. He's taken the NBA all over the world. NBA summer programs in Africa have raised millions of dollars for needy people. But this desire to help New Orleans with the NBA All-Star game there in February as well is misguided.

It most hurts the Hornets.

To be fair, it's not close to the same city and never truly was a basketball city.

New Orleans lost the Jazz to Salt Lake City after only five seasons in New Orleans in the late 1970's. And that was with Pete Maravich, who was the ultimate jazzman of basketball.

When the Hornets first arrived, attendance never got out of the bottom of the league. In its final season in New Orleans before the storm, the Hornets averaged 14,221, which was the lowest attendance in the NBA. Their percentage of capacity at the limited New Orleans Arena was barely better, fourth from the bottom, according to figures from the NBA Guide.

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