The 2003âÂÂ04 NBA season was the Hornets' second season in the National Basketball Association. Originally reckoned as the 16th season of the franchise, the second incarnation of the Charlotte Hornets' reclaiming the heritage of the original Hornets has since retroactively deemed this season as the 2nd season for the franchise that would eventually become the Pelicans. During the offseason, the Hornets signed free agent Steve Smith. Despite losing Jamal Mashburn for the first 44 games due to a knee injury, the Hornets got off to a solid 17âÂÂ7 start to the season under new head coach Tim Floyd. However, they would struggle posting a losing record in January, and only managed to play .500 ball in February. Mashburn would return to play just 19 games averaging 20.8 points per game, but then re-injured his knee sitting out the rest of the season. The Hornets struggled losing 11 of their 16 games in March, but would rebound in April winning 4 of 7 games.
Despite posting an average record of 41âÂÂ41, the Hornets finished fifth in the Eastern Conference, and qualified for their fifth straight playoff appearance. This was also the team's final season in the NBA's Eastern Conference. Baron Davis was again hampered by injuries and he played just 67 games. Despite another injury-plagued season, Davis and teammate Jamaal Magloire both represented the Eastern Conference at the 2004 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
In the playoffs, they faced the Miami Heat in the first round, but lost in seven games. Following the season, the Hornets moved to the new Southwest Division of the NBA's Western Conference. Also following the season, Floyd was fired as coach after just one season, Smith left in the 2004 NBA expansion draft, Stacey Augmon signed as a free agent with the Orlando Magic, and Robert Traylor re-signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The team entered the draft with one first-round pick and one second-round pick, marking their first selections as the New Orleans Hornets. While the team debuted in New Orleans the previous year after relocating from Charlotte, they had entered that year's draft without any picks due to previous trades. Under the 2014 franchise agreement, which returned all pre-2002 records to Charlotte, this year officially stands as the first year with draft selections in the history of the franchise that would become the Pelicans.
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 18 | @ Miami | L 79âÂÂ81 | Baron Davis (17) | Brown, Magloire (11) | Augmon, Davis (4) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,102 | 0âÂÂ1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 21 | @ Miami | L 63âÂÂ93 | Baron Davis (13) | Jamaal Magloire (10) | Baron Davis (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,189 | 0âÂÂ2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 24 | Miami | W 77âÂÂ71 | Baron Davis (21) | Brown, Lynch (11) | Baron Davis (5) | New Orleans Arena<br>14,251 | 1âÂÂ2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | April 27 | Miami | W 96âÂÂ85 | Baron Davis (23) | Brown, West (7) | Baron Davis (10) | New Orleans Arena<br>16,009 | 2âÂÂ2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | April 30 | @ Miami | L 83âÂÂ87 | Baron Davis (33) | P. J. Brown (13) | Baron Davis (7) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,147 | 2âÂÂ3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 6 | May 2 | Miami | W 89âÂÂ83 | Brown, Lynch (16) | Brown, Magloire (9) | Baron Davis (12) | New Orleans Arena<br>17,297 | 3âÂÂ3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 7 | May 4 | @ Miami | L 77âÂÂ85 | Steve Smith (25) | Jamaal Magloire (10) | Davis, Williams (4) | American Airlines Arena<br>20,286 | 3âÂÂ4 |-