Hornets facing home away from home year

OKLAHOMA CITY — With everything tucked inside one giant rental van, the Hornets left hurricane-ravaged New Orleans and headed for Oklahoma City. For now, at least, this is home.

The Hornets will play 35 of their home games this season in the Ford Center here, and another six in Baton Rouge, La., while repairs are made to their home city and the New Orleans Arena.

In a profession in which players get 48 hours to move from one city to another after they're traded, the transition is pretty much over. It's been two months since Katrina struck, and the Hornets will complete their fourth week in Oklahoma City when they open the season at home Tuesday.

"This definitely feels like home now," point guard Speedy Claxton said. "I thought it was going to feel like an 82 road-game schedule, but it doesn't. This definitely feels like home."

At first the players were living in a hotel, but many since have found their own places in town. Forward Chris Andersen has moved six of his cars to Oklahoma City. Claxton, an avid bowler, is more comfortable now that he's found an alley he likes.

It was getting here that took the most effort.

After Katrina hit, former general manager Allan Bristow and three others went to salvage what they could from the Hornets' practice facility.

"They went out and rented the biggest U-Haul they could get, and they loaded it up literally from one end to the other," equipment manager David Jovanovic said. "There was no more room."

For the most part, everything from the practice facility was unharmed. But anything at the arena — from gym shorts and shoes to washers and dryers — was lost. All told, Jovanovic lost about one-third of his equipment. About half of the training room supplies and 90 percent of the team's video equipment were destroyed.

Jovanovic took about 10 days to tend to his own family's home, which was "half-destroyed." The family cats were retrieved, the carpet pulled up, the walls torn down. Right now, he says he has a new roof "but I have no sides to my house."

After taking care of his family, he's been dealing with the Hornets full time. Once Oklahoma City was chosen as the new home, he was on the scene unpacking the truck and making arrangements to get the team ready to go.