The doors of New Orleans Arena didn't swing open in 1999 specifically for Baron Davis. But it's clear that now that he's here, the joint is going to be his house.

And the Hornets' All-Star guard knows how to toss a housewarming party.

On Wednesday night at the Arena, he was all that in a 100-75 Hornets victory over Utah. And if he can manage to be more -- and his breakout performance in the playoffs last season says he can -- he'll deserve all the love that was showered on him against the Jazz and then some.

"I just play, try to entertain the fans," Davis said after slicing Utah for game honors in scoring (21) and assists (10), to go with five rebounds and two steals in 38 minutes.

The Jazz's last exit from Louisiana was voluntary. This time, they were run out of the bayou by the new home team.
   
The New Orleans Hornets opened their new French Quarter era Wednesday by treating a sellout crowd to something New Orleans saw 249 times a couple of decades ago: a Jazz loss. Utah scored only 11 points in the fourth quarter and opened the 2002-03 season by falling to the Hornets, 100-75, in New Orleans Arena.
   
The Hornets retired Pete Maravich's jersey at halftime, but the Jazz were not inspired by the franchise's long-ago icon. Trailing by four points at the end of three quarters, they disintegrated under a flurry of turnovers and Courtney Alexander points, scoring only six points in the first nine minutes of the final quarter.

The celebration will be twofold tonight.

First, New Orleans will be marking the return of NBA basketball, courtesy of the Hornets. Then, there's the glee that will accompany the return of one of Louisiana's most famous sons, Summerfield native Karl Malone.

But the latter could be a one-and-done party.

The Mailman -- the former Louisiana Tech star who redefined the power forward position in the NBA -- is 39 and approaching the days of his final deliveries. This season could serve as his farewell tour.

Only Malone, a first-round pick (No. 13 overall) in 1985, knows. And he isn't saying whether his first visit to New Orleans Arena, the tip-off to his 18th NBA season, will be his last -- or just his last in a Utah Jazz uniform -- until after the season.

On October 24, 1974, there were toy trumpets in the hands, and the mouths, of most of the 6,450 fans at Municipal Auditorium.

There was Al Hirt on the floor, blowing his horn. And there was the Big Easy giving a noisy, if somewhat off-key, welcome to the NBA and its newest franchise.

After four losses on the road, the New Orleans Jazz was playing a home opener better remembered for Jumbo's artistry than for an expansion team that would lose, 102-89, to the Philadelphia 76ers, that would lose 11 straight before Pistol Pete Maravich nailed a buzzer-beating 20-footer, that would have a new coach a week later.

Ah yes. Aaron James remembers it well.

The Hornets are considered one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, and they have one of the toughest front lines with P.J. Brown, Jamaal Magloire and Jamal Mashburn.

The Jazz has two of the most productive stars in the league over the past 15 seasons, power forward Karl Malone and point guard John Stockton.

Stockton is the NBA all-time leader in assists (15,177) and steals (3,128). Malone, like Stockton, was chosen by the league as one of its top 50 players in history. Malone is the second-leading all-time scorer in the NBA with 34,707 points.

"I think everybody has been looking forward to this for a very long time," said Brown, who lives in Slidell and has purchased 30 tickets for friends and family tonight. "It's going to be a festive occasion."

A ceremony will be held to retire Pete Maravich's No. 7 jersey, and fans will receive a commemorative ticket. NBA commissioner David Stern will be among the crowd after arriving on a late-night flight from Los Angeles, where he attended the Lakers' opener Tuesday night to give them their championship rings.

The New Orleans Hornets will retire "Pistol" Pete Maravich's No. 7 during ceremonies tonight at New Orleans Arena.

Expected to be in attendance are former New Orleans Jazz players Aaron James, Rich Kelley and Truck Robinson, as well as Jackie Maravich, wife of the late Pete Maravich.

How's this for depth? The Jazz bench this season will feature four players who were starters in the NBA a year ago.

That's one reason they carry high hopes into tonight"s 2002-03 season opener in New Orleans, where the former Charlotte Hornets will debut in their new home.

Mainstays Karl Malone and John Stockton return for their 18th season together anchoring the Jazz attack, and they will be joined in the starting lineup by second-year forward Andrei Kirilenko - a big reason the Jazz allowed Donyell Marshall to depart in free agency .

Greg Ostertag has played well enough in the preseason to reclaim a starting job at center, and 21-year-old DeShawn Stevenson has earned a tryout at shooting guard.

The Utah Jazz rose from the French Quarter curb, playing in New Orleans for five seasons from 1974-79 before relocating, nickname and all, to the calm and quiet of Salt Lake City.
     
Wednesday night, the Jazz head home ? opening their 2002-2003 regular season on the road against the New Orleans Hornets, whose move from Charlotte to Cajun Country means the NBA is officially back in Louisiana for the first time since Pistol Pete Maravich and friends waved bye-bye.
     
Yet even as they do travel south, one native son returns with no emotional attachment to the history that precedes him.
     
Born and raised in Louisiana, Karl Malone has toiled 17 seasons, soon to be 18, for the franchise whose roots rest squarely in the home of hot beignets and Dixieland jazz.
     
For him, however, no ties bind.

The NBA returns to New Orleans on Wednesday night when the transplanted Hornets play Utah.
   
In the summer of 1979, however, team owner Sam Battistone wanted out.
   
He had had enough.
   
A lack of success on the court -- combined with the lack of a basketball-friendly facility -- was killing Battistone's aptly-named NBA team, the Jazz.
   
As a result, he sought and received league approval for a move to Utah, where the Jazz have spent the last 23 years floundering, improving, contending and falling back.
   
All the while, New Orleans had only memories.

They waived a future Hall of Famer the day after the franchise's inaugural game, fired the coach after a month, missed a chance to take Magic Johnson and once drafted a pregnant woman.
   
This is the tradition the New Orleans Jazz gave us.
   
No wonder my readers -- at least, the ones who wanted to win a pair of tickets in my contest -- are willing to give back the name.
   
Wednesday, more than 23 years after the pro basketball team forsook New Orleans for Salt Lake City, the Jazz are heading home. They will open the 2002-03 season in New Orleans against the former Charlotte Hornets.
   
Actually, the Jazz went home once before, amid less than considerable fanfare. In November 1984, they visited New Orleans, where the Atlanta Hawks were playing selected home games that season -- the same year the Jazz were phasing out their partial home schedule in Las Vegas.