They are Charlotte Hornets no more, even as the team will carry the name into at least two more playoff games.

Finally and officially, a three-year saga filled with twists and turns came to an end Friday around 1:30 p.m. when NBA owners voted almost unanimously to allow team owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge to move the franchise to New Orleans.

Following the lead of the league?s relocation committee a week earlier, the league?s 29 owners voted 28-1 to allow the Hornets to move to New Orleans.

The Associated Press reported that the Memphis Grizzlies attached conditions to their "yes" vote to keep the tally from being unanimous.

Some fans had held out hope the team would have to stay even with approval because it wouldn?t be able to pay the league?s relocation fee. The Gazette reported last fall that NBA sources felt the fee would be $100 million in hopes of discouraging a relocation bid by the Hornets.

But an NBA owner, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said Friday evening the Hornets will pay the same amount as Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley paid to move from Vancouver to Memphis last season. That figure was $30 million.

The Grizzlies have been allowed to pay their fee over a five-year period. It?s unclear how long the Hornets will be given to pay their fee.

Charlotte?s only official consolation is that current Hornets ownership will no longer be involved in the operation of the WNBA?s Charlotte Sting. The Sting, which won the Eastern Conference last year and feature Shelby?s Charlotte Smith, will stay in Charlotte under the management of the WNBA.

A little more than two hours after Friday?s vote, Shinn and Wooldridge paraded behind a brass band as they entered a news conference in their new city. A giant New Orleans Hornets jersey was unveiled at the news conference as champagne was uncorked and hundreds of purple-and-teal balloons were released.

Shinn, a Kannapolis native who owned the Gastonia Rangers minor-league baseball team from 1989-92, expressed some regrets about leaving North Carolina.

"It?s very difficult. I grew up there. I was educated there. My children were raised there," said Shinn, who brought the NBA to Charlotte in 1988 despite what most considered long odds. "I still have family and friends there. It?s hard to uproot, but we had no choice."

The move to Louisiana came after Shinn backed away once from putting up $13 million for an arena in Charlotte and after a Wooldridge-led arena campaign was soundly defeated last June in a Charlotte city referendum. It also came after the legions of fans that produced eight of the NBA?s top 12 attendance figures in league history soured on the franchise.

The team said as early as 1994 that it would need a new arena with more revenue streams like other NBA teams to remain fiscally competitive.

Opponents of giving the Hornets a new arena point to what they consider "poor faith" negotiating tactics.

Wooldridge was a lightning rod for much of the criticism. He had become a minority partner with Shinn in July 1999 after negotiations with Michael Jordan broke off. With Shinn?s sexual assault trial of 1999 causing him all sorts of public relations trouble, Shinn entrusted Wooldridge solely to negotiate a new arena deal in Charlotte.

But Wooldridge alienated fans perhaps worse than Shinn did. He contended up until last June that he had not and would not negotiate with other cities. It?s a contention he later admitted to be false when he told New Orleans media in January he?d been negotiating with that city for 2? years.

Wooldridge also discussed the possibility of relocation with at least eight other cities ? Anaheim, Cal.; Louisville, Ky.; Memphis, Tenn.; Nashville, Tenn.; Norfolk, Va.; Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh and St. Louis ? after applying to relocate to Memphis in March 2001. He later withdrew that application when the league gave Vancouver the first shot at what would be its eventual home. Wooldridge?s pursuit of other cities picked up speed after the referendum loss.

Wooldridge told media members at various times last fall that Louisville and Norfolk were the front-runners before New Orleans became the first choice after an unprecedented effort by city and Louisiana officials, members of Congress and civic leaders.

As the vote would indicate, they were successful in convincing NBA officials that the poverty-riddled state?s economic future is bright and the financially struggling city could support a second professional sports franchise in addition to the NFL?s Saints.

Despite missing self-imposed and league deadlines, New Orleans business leaders spearheaded an effort to sell season tickets and suites. Wooldridge has repeatedly said the effort exceeded the league?s goals, although league officials have not confirmed the numbers.

More importantly, Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster promised and delivered legislative approval of millions of dollars in incentive expenditures for the team: $10 million to upgrade the state-owned New Orleans Arena, plus several million more to be generated each year from the New Orleans area hotel tax.

"I?m happy for this to be called my home," Wooldridge said. "When I?m here, that?s how I feel at home."

Friday?s NBA vote officially made the Hornets lame ducks in Charlotte. Game 4 of the team?s best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series against New Jersey resumes Sunday in Charlotte at 12:30 p.m.

Players said they would continue to focus on their series against the Nets and not the impending move.

"There?s a lot going on right now that?s pretty important," said Hornets captain David Wesley. "Not to say this (the move) is not important. But we have a focus of trying to win a championship and trying to win the next game to get to that point."

Head coach Paul Silas and guard Baron Davis said they?d already resigned themselves to moving.

"Ray and George did an excellent job down there in New Orleans," Silas said. "It?s unfortunate what?s happened here in Charlotte. But you move on."

Added Davis: "It?s not going to affect us. We?ve all known for the past week or so that we?re moving."

Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory, who has been criticized recently by NBA commissioner David Stern, remained convinced his city negotiated the right way with the Hornets and the league. Even if it meant losing the team.

"It was expected news," McCrory said. "I continue to state that in the long run, the NBA?s made a bad decision, but in the long term Charlotte?s made a good economic decision because we weren?t going to get in a bidding war.

"I wanted the Hornets to stay in Charlotte. But the fact of the matter is we had an ownership team that made fans not want to come to ball games."