Since entering the NBA in 2002, the New Orleans Pelicans franchise has undergone a few location and name changes.
The franchise was initially the New Orleans Hornets but the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina forced the team to play two years in Oklahoma City, where they were called the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets.
The franchise became the Pelicans in 2013 and hasn’t looked back.
Overall as an organization, the New Orleans group has a regular-season record of 671-771. They’ve made the playoffs seven times but have never played in the NBA Finals. Their two best players in franchise history requested trades out of town (Chris Paul, Anthony Davis).
The Pelicans/Hornets franchise has had just six coaches in its history. For this piece, we ranked the top four coaches to ever stroll the sidelines for the Pelicans/Hornets.
4. Paul Silas
Silas coached the 2002-03 New Orleans Hornets squad. The team went 47-35 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Detroit Pistons. At this time, the Hornets were in the Eastern Conference and not the West.
Silas only coached one season with the Hornets but he's got the fourth-most wins in franchise history. He also has the top winning percentage in the regular season, mostly because he only coached 82 games.
Silas was named Coach of the Month for the month of April during the 2002-03 season. After his one year, he coached LeBron James in Cleveland for two seasons.
3. Monty Williams
Under Williams' tutelage, the Pelicans went 173-221 in the regular season in five years. Monty racked up the third-most wins for a Pelicans coach.
Davis loved playing for Williams but the Pelicans were never able to win a playoff series during the Monty-Davis era. Williams only won two postseason games with the Pelicans. Monty also has the worst winning percentage for a Pelicans coach during the regular season but his record would have been better if the front office gave him more talent to work with other than Davis.
Williams is currently the head coach of the Phoenix Suns.
2. Alvin Gentry
After winning a championship with the Golden State Warriors as an assistant in 2015, Gentry was hired by the Pelicans. Alvin has 173 wins since coming to the Big Easy. That's good for second place on the Pelicans/Hornets' all-time coaching wins list.
The Pelicans are 5-4 in the playoffs under Gentry. They advanced to the second round of the postseason in 2018 when Davis and Co. swept Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round. That's the only playoff series Davis won during his tenure with the Pelicans.
Before the 2019-20 season was suspended due to COVID-19, Gentry had the Pelicans in 10th place in the Western Conference standings with a record of 28-36.
1. Byron Scott
Scott was at the helm from 2005-2010. He led the team to the playoffs twice and won a total of 203 games in the regular season. He's the winningest coach in Pelicans/Hornets franchise history.
Scott also won eight playoffs games, putting him in first place in that category as well. Byron's 2007-08 New Orleans Hornets team won a franchise-record 56 games. They wound up losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round of the playoffs in seven epic games.
The current Pelicans are one of the best young squads in the league. No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson was a monster for the team before the 2019-20 season was suspended due to COVID-19.
With Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday and JJ Redick leading the Pelicans moving forward for the next few years, the post-Davis era should see some New Orleans teams go on deep playoff runs.
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