“Our objective is not to abandon ship here or to get out of dodge, ... Our plan is to hope and pray New Orleans rebuilds. And I think it will with everyone's support and the federal money that's coming in there. I think it will be stronger.”
“The thing everybody's got to remember is our goal is simple. We want to play in New Orleans. That's our home. But we can't. We can't come back even if the facility was clean because there's nobody else there. The city will come back. We don't know how long it will take, therefore we've got to find a temporary home.”
“I haven't heard from Louisville, ... Lots of cities have made contact through the league. I know we're taking a look and listening to a few. But we're trying to get something close to Louisiana.”
“When we come back and what we do is a real good question. We're looking at Oklahoma City and here in Baton Rouge. Playing in the Arena has good and bad possibilities. If we could do it in a way that we'd have a full crowd, it would be ecstatic. If we have 1,500 people, it would be horrible. That might send a signal there was no hope there.”
“This hire will help us become a premiere franchise in the National Basketball Association. Paul's remarkable experience in professional sports and the leadership skills he has exhibited throughout his career as an executive, an educator and a coach will help us enhance the position of our organization both locally and nationally. I believe I hired the best coach in Byron Scott, and now I've added the best front office man in Paul Mott.”
“[The Hornets will also have the option to play in Oklahoma City next season. Hornets owner George Shinn visited New Orleans last week and said he couldn't predict when the Hornets could return.] It's not just about if the arena is in playing condition, ... Will there be any fans? I don't know how many fans will come back, or how quickly they'll come back. I'm convinced New Orleans will rebuild. I can see maybe even being stronger. But how long it's going to take, I'm not going to touch that. This option was just a cushion, just to make sure if it got to this point.”
