WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- NBA officials plan to decide next Friday where the New Orleans Hornets will play their home games for the upcoming season in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

    The Hornets, the NBA's second-worst club at 18-64 last season, were set to play 41 home games at New Orleans Arena, adjacent to the Superdome stadium that suffered 100 million US dollars in damage because of the flooding and occupation by people fleeing floodwaters.

    The NBA season begins November 1, three days before the Hornets' scheduled home opener against Sacramento. The Hornets are not expected to be able to play in New Orleans until February at the earliest.

    NBA officials have looked at Louisiana State University's Maravich Center in Baton Rouge, which served as a relief center for evacuees. The 13,000-seat arena would be the nearest venue to New Orleans, 120km northwest of the city.

    Other arenas examined by NBA officials include Oklahoma City's Ford Center, with nearly 20,000 seats; a 13,500-seat facility in Shreveport, Louisiana; and Kansas City, Missouri's 19,000-seat Kemper Arena.

    A new arena in Kansas City will open in 2007 should the Hornetsneed to relocate, but such NBA-less rival cities as Nashville, Oklahoma City and even Las Vegas might enter the picture were thatto happen.

    However, Larry Hovick, Kemper Arena's general manager, told theKansas City Star. they had heard NBA want to stay closer to home, but they don't know.

    The Hornets were last in NBA attendance last season, averaging only 14,221 fans a game, 82.7 percent of arena capacity. Enditem