Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that the Chicago Bulls are actively seeking a new top basketball executive. In other words, Thank U John Paxson, NEXT! NBA Twitter is celebrating as only this snarky, schadenfreude-loving, maniacs can. As a Chicago Bulls fan myself, I am completely here for this, lapping up every nasty, flippant, insulting moment of it. Let’s go to the twitter pile-on of all twitter pile-ons.

The Portland Trail Blazers is a professional American basketball team based in Portland, Oregon, and is simply called the Blazers. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association, as a part of the NBA's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team played its home games in the Memorial Coliseum before moving to Moda Center in 1995. Between 1977 to 1995, the franchise sold out 814 straight home games, the longest such streak in all professional sports in America at the time, and only since the Boston Red Sox surpassed that, the club entered the league as an expansion team in 1970. The Trail Blazers became the last NBA team located in the bi-national Pacific Northwest, after the Vancouver Grizzlies relocated to Memphis and became the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001 and the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. Sports promoter Harry Glickman desired the National Basketball Association's Portland franchise as far back as 1955, where he suggested two new expansion teams, the other one located in Los Angeles. As the Coliseum Memorial opened in 1960, Glickman saw the potential it could bring as a professional basketball venue, but it wasn't until February 6, 1970, that the NBA's board of directors gave him the rights to a Portland franchise. Glickman partnered with the real estate magnates of New Jersey's Robert Schmertz, Los Angeles 'Larry Weinberg, and Seattle's Herman Sarkowsky to receive the $3.7 million entrance fee funds. Two weeks later, on 24 February, team members held a contest to select the project name and received more than 10,000 submissions. "Pioneers" was the most popular choice, but that name was omitted from the list because it was already used by the Lewis & Clark College in Portland for sports teams. The name "Trail Blazers" earned 172 entries and was ultimately chosen by the reviewing jury and revealed on March 13 at the Memorial Coliseum in the half-time of a SuperSonics contest. Driven by explorers constructing trails through the mountains through the trail burning process, Glickman named it a name that could "represent both the ruggedness of the Pacific Northwest and the beginning of a major league era in our community. In Portland, the name Trail Blazers became popular in the middle of the initial mixed reaction, often shortened to simply "Blazers." During the 1980s the team became a consistent presence in the NBA each season, failing to qualify for the playoffs alone in 1982. However, they never advanced beyond the semi-finals of the conference during the decade. During the decade, the Los Angeles Lakers dominated the NBA's Pacific Division, and only the Lakers and the Houston Rockets represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. Core players for the Blazers during the early 1980's included Mychal Thompson, Billy Ray Bates, Fat Lever, Darnell Valentine, Wayne Cooper, T. R. Dunn, Jim Paxson, and Calvin Natt. The Blazers finished the 2014 season with 21 more wins than the previous season, which led to the largest single-season improvement in franchise history. This involves a November run in which they played 11 straight games and 13–2 overall during the month that coach Terry Stotts took off the Coach Month honors. On 12 December 2013, Aldridge scored 31 points and pulled down 25 rebounds against the Rockets in a home game, the first time a Trail Blazers player posted a 30-point, 25-rebound result. On 14 December 2013, the Blazers made a franchise record 21 3-pointers against the Philadelphia 76ers. 19 days later, they tied the current record against the Charlotte Bobcats, becoming the first NBA player to score 20 or more three-pointers in a game more than once in a season. Lillard was named as a starter to his first All-Star game, joining Aldridge in representing Portland at the tournament. Portland had finished 54–28, securing a fifth seed in the playoffs against the Rockets. The squad also shot 81.5 percent at the free throw line, made 770 three-pointers, and played four positions in all 82 regular-season games, all franchise records.

The Toronto Raptors is a professional Canadian basketball team, based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball League, as a member of the nba's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games at Arena Scotiabank where they compete with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. The band was formed in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the expansion of the NBA into Canada. Since the 2001–02 season when the Grizzlies relocated from Vancouver to Memphis, Tennessee, the Raptors were the only Canadian-based team in the League. After Carter had resigned Chris Bosh emerged as Team Leader. Bryan Colangelo was named general manager for the 2006–07 season, and the Raptors qualified in five years for their first playoff berth to win the Atlantic Division title with a mix of Bosh, 2006 first overall draft picker Andrea Bargnani and a roster revamp. In the 2007–08 season they qualified for the playoffs but struggled to reach the post-season in each of the next 5 seasons. Colangelo overhauled the squad's roster for the 2009–10 season in an effort to persuade potential free agent Bosh to return, but Bosh left to sign with the Miami Heat in July 2010, starting another phase of rebuilding for the Raptors. Masai Ujiri succeeded Colangelo in 2013 and helped usher in a new growth era, headed by a backcourt pair, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. The Raptors returned to the playoffs the next year and were a consistent playoff team every year of Ujiri's tenure. Under Ujiri, the team won five Division championships, and recorded their most productive regular season in 2018. However, the team's failure to reach the NBA Finals resulted in Ujiri fire head coach Dwane Casey at the conclusion of the 2018 playoffs, and conduct the high-profile swap of DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green later that year, as well as acquiring Marc Gasol before the trade deadline. The Raptors won their first crown in the 2019 playoffs in the Eastern Division, and advanced to their first NBA finals where they earned their first NBA championship. Initially, the team's first logo portrayed an furious, red Velociraptor wearing white shoes and bare toe claws dribbling a basketball, inspired by the Jurassic Park film's popularity and the appeal of dinosaurs to younger audiences who would grow up as franchise fans. Orange, soft gold, black and "True Naismith" became the squad's original colors. The logo proved to be very popular with fans, as by the end of 1994 the Raptors were seventh in merchandise sales in the league. For the 2008−09 season, the franchise dropped the purple hue from the original logo, making bright red the primary hue of both the team's logo and jerseys. On December 19, 2014, the Toronto Raptors released a new primary logo, which the team described as "a triangular shield with a ball torn by an unmistakable assault by a Raptor" The Toronto Raptors used different court art throughout the history of the organization. The Raptors used the Huskies logo for retro games, so long as the Raptors are among the NBA's newest teams. The Raptors will use the Welcome Toronto logo in some titles beginning in early 2018, since the Raptors share strong relations with Toronto-based rapper Drake, as well as the 3D Raptors logo. Also printed on the courthouse are the name and logo of Scotiabank partner Tangerine Bank. The Raptors jerseys debuted during the 1995–96 season, and worn until 1999, had black and white tears as pinstripes, edgy asymmetric lettering, a raptor claw on one side of the pants, and a raptor on the other side biting the 'T' of the 'TR' franchise logo; and featured a red giant and aggressive Velociraptor dribbling a basketball in the middle of the shirt. The Raptors unveiled some new uniforms in 1999−2000, revealing a distinctive road jacket with a purple forehead and a black back. In 2003−04, the Raptors unveiled a solid red alternate which would become the main road jersey in 2006−07 when purple was dropped from the club's color scheme. From 2008−09 to 2014−15, the Raptors unveiled their alternate black road uniforms which were in turn worn as often as the original red ones.

The Utah Jazz is a Salt Lake City based amateur, American basketball team. The Jazz play as a part of the National Basketball Association's Western Conference, Northwest Division of the nba. Since 1991 the team has played their home games at the Vivint Smart Home Arena. The franchise started playing as an expansion team for New Orleans Jazz in 1974. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City in 1979. The Jazz has been one of the most successful teams in the League in their early years. Though ten seasons went by in 1984 before the Jazz qualified for their first playoff appearance, they did not miss the playoffs again until 2004. During the late 1980s, John Stockton and Karl Malone debuted as franchise stars of the organization, establishing one of NBA's most influential point guard – power forward duets. Driven by coach Jerry Sloan who took over from Frank Layden in 1988, they were one of the top teams of the 1990s, resulting in two NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998, where they both lost to the Chicago Bulls of Michael Jordan. Stockton and Malone both moved on in 2003. The Jazz came back to prominence under point guard Deron Williams on-court coaching, after skipping the playoffs for three consecutive seasons. But the Jazz started reconstruction partially during the 2010–11 season, after Sloan's retirement and Williams 'trade to the New Jersey Nets. Quin Snyder had been hired to become the head coach in June 2014. With Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert developing into All-Stars, the team is once again seen as a potential championship challenger. During the jazz age in New Orleans from 1974 to 1979 the home uniform was white with gold accents, a purple "Jazz" script and purple numbers. The road uniform was purple with gold trimming, white "Jazz" writing, and white numbers. The Franchise's original violet gold and green shades are the most associated with New Orleans 'Mardi Gras. When the band moved to Utah in 1979 the Jazz made small changes to the jerseys. The home jerseys stayed the same through the 1986–87 season, with the word "Utah" being added to the logo on the middle side. The road uniforms were changed to dark green with the aforementioned Jazz logo on the middle chest and gold numbers. For the 1984–85 season, they were changed back to violet, this time with gold numbers and white padding, along with the addition of the word 'Utah' on the logo. Such uniforms were worn up until the 1995–96 season. For the 1996–97 season, the Jazz radically revamped their uniforms and jerseys with a new palette of red, gold, and turquoise colors. Their new uniform kit featured a middle chest Wasatch Range silhouette, with a modern stylish Jazz script and violet and turquoise details. The white mountain range gradually transforms to violet just above the white numbers on the purple road top, with copper interior trim and teal outline. The house white jersey numbers are red, with white interior trim and teal outline. The Jazz took on these uniforms before the 2003–04 season. The Jazz also debuted a new black uniform in the 1998–99 season with the jazz script on the middle shoulder, but without the outline of the Wasatch Series. Both the jazz script and numbers on this jersey are white, with purple interior trim and copper border, and side panels in copper. The uniform was worn until the 2003–04 season. In the 2004–05 season, the Jazz redesigned their color scheme, badges, and uniforms again. The team's new paint scheme used until the end of the 2009–10 season consisted of dark blue, light blue, silver and purple but the latter colour was used primarily on the primary and secondary logos. The squad logo stayed essentially the same except for the new color change. The new home uniform consisted of a revamped "Jazz" script on the middle collar in navy blue, with marine numbers each featuring silver interior trim and powder blue outline. The new road uniform was navy blue, on the middle collar with a powder blue "Utah" script, and powder blue numbers, with silver outline and white interior trim.

The Washington Wizards is an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. As a member of the Southeast Division of the league's Eastern Conference, the Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association. The squad plays their home games at Capital One Arena, in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The franchise was established as Chicago Packers based in Chicago, Illinois in 1961, and was renamed Chicago Zephyrs the following season. In 1963 they moved to Baltimore, Maryland and became the Baltimore Bullets, taking the same name from an earlier team. In 1973 the team changed its name to the Capital Bullets to reflect their move to the metropolitan city of Washington, and then to the Washington Bullets the next season. They were rebranded as the Wizards in 1997. The team now known as the Wizards started in 1961 as the Chicago Packers and was the first modern expansion franchise in the NBA's history, a move influenced by Abe Saperstein's American Basketball League. Rookie Walt Bellamy was the franchise leader, averaging 31.6 points per game, 19.0 assists per game, and leading the NBA in the number of goals in the field. Bellamy represented the team when scoring 23 points during the All-Star game and gathering 17 rebounds. Bellamy was named the league of the Year's Rookie but the team finished with the NBA's worst record at 18-62. In the late 1960s the Bullets picked two former members of the Hall of Fame: Earl Monroe, in the 1967 draft, number two overall, and Wes Unseld, in the 1968 draft, number two overall. The squad rose steadily from 36 previous season wins to 57 in the 1968–69 season, and both rookie the year and MVP honors were given to Unseld. The Bullets entered the semifinals, with high aspirations to go forward but were stopped by the New York Knicks in the first round. The two teams met again the next season in the first round, and although this one went through seven rounds, the Knicks once again emerged victorious. Owner Abe Pollin announced in November 1995 that he was changing the team's slogan because Bullets had acquired violent overtones that had made him increasingly uneasy over the years, particularly given the high homicide and crime rate in Washington, D.C. Via the early 1990s. Since retiring from the Chicago Bulls in early 1999, Michael Jordan became the Washington Wizards director of basketball operations, as well as a minority owner, in January 2000. In September 2001 Jordan returned from retirement at the age of 38 to play for Washington. Jordan said he was coming back "for the love of the game." Because of NBA rules, he had to deprive himself of all control of the franchise. Jordan was one of only two players to score more than 25 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals before the All-Star break as he led the Wizards to a record of 26–21. After the All-Star break, Jordan's knee couldn't bear the full-season workload and he started on the season's disabled list and the Wizards ended the season with a 37–45 record. Since relocating from Chicago in 1963 the then-Baltimore Bullets used red and navy colors as part of the team's logos and uniforms. In 1969 the club changed its colors to white and gold. The colors red, white, and blue returned as part of the franchise's signature uniforms beginning with the 1973–74 season, coinciding with the team's move to Landover, Maryland to become the Capital Bullets. Such uniforms also featured big horizontal bars on the collar of the shirts, and three stars on the side panels of the trousers. The uniforms were maintained until a year ago their positioning code was passed to the Washington Bullets. The Bullets maintained the "Stars and Stripes" look until 1987, but they made a small adjustment with new horizontal lines, the "Bullets" logo on the right side, and slim shorts that replaced the three triangles prior to the 1985–86 season. In 1987, the Bullets changed their logo and uniforms, going home down the lane with red uniforms, and white uniforms.

The Phoenix Suns is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. As a member of the NBA Western Conference Pacific Division, the Suns compete in the National Basketball Association, and are the only non-California team in their division. The Suns play in their home For the remainder of the 1980s, despite unable to win a championship, the Suns would rebound around Walter Davis until Kevin Johnson was added in 1988. Under Johnson, and after trading for the perennial NBA All-Star Charles Barkley and combining with the success of Tom Chambers and Dan Majerle, the Suns reached the playoffs for thirteen consecutive franchise record appearances and remained a consistent title contender in the 1990s, reaching the NBA Finals in 1993. However, the team will fail to win a title again and by the early part of the 2000s entered another period of mediocrity. games at the Talking Stick Resort Arena. The franchise began playing as an expansion team in 1968 and their early years were shrouded in mediocrity, but their fortunes changed in the 1970s, when the Suns reached the 1976 NBA Finals after partnership with Paul Westphal, the long-term guard Dick Van Arsdale and Alvan Adams center, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in NBA history. The Suns acquired Steve Nash in 2004, and he soon returned to playoff contention. With Nash, Shawn Marion, and Amar'e Stoudemire, and head coach Mike D'Antoni, the Suns were renowned worldwide for their fast, explosive offense that led them to tie a franchise record in wins in the 2004–05 season. Two more top two placements followed for the Tournament, once again the Suns failed to attain an NBA championship and were forced to rebuild. The Suns own the NBA's seventh-best all-time winning percentage, and have the second-highest winning percentage of all players to have never won an NBA championship. Two Suns, Barkley and Nash, were named the NBA Most Valuable Player for playing for the club. For the first eleven seasons of their tenure in the NBA the Suns had no official mascot but this mascot was created a few years ago by accident. A courier for Eastern Onion, a singing telegram service, came to the Coliseum during a home-game dressed as a gorilla. When he left, Coliseum Security offered to hold a couple of dances under the basket during a break, and it was loved by the fans. So did the messenger, Henry Rojas, who kept coming to the games until they officially invited him to join the squad. An earlier effort was made at a mascot in a sunflower costume but it was never commented on. Later, the Suns Gorilla is one of the most celebrated mascots on the NBA. The Gorilla's followers, dubbed "Play," are acquainted with him at court tricks where he raises the Phoenix Suns flag, performs slam dunk routines, and feeds the audience. Go has a fictional background account of coming from the Republic of Bananas and graduating at Fur-man University. Before his debut with the Phoenix Suns, the Gorilla delivered singing telegrams, before stepping onto the Suns court during a game. His antics have been a success and the Gorilla has since become a fan of the Phoenix Light. The Gorilla was popular for slapstick humor during action, such as running the stadium stairs to the Rocky album, and the dunks performed before the fourth quarter. Every first weekend of October, the Suns played an annual basketball exhibition game, the NBA Outdoors, at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California near the city of Palm Springs from 2008 until 2010. However, the team started playing the Outdoor Preseason game before the 2011–12 NBA preseason. Following a recommendation from Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District Operations Chief Craig DeWitt, the NBA played its first outdoor exhibition basketball match on 11 October 2008. The stadium facility was constructed to hold up to 15,000 spectators, primarily for tennis and music concert tournaments. The Phoenix Suns lost the game to the Denver Nuggets. A second annual outdoor exhibition game was played on 10 October 2009, this time the Suns lost to the Golden State Warriors. On 9 October 2010, the Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks in the third annual outdoor game.

The Philadelphia 76ers is a professional American basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers are participating as a member of the National Basketball Association's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division league, and playing at the Wells Fargo Arena. Established in 1946, and originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest teams in the NBA and one of the 8 to survive the league's first decade. Having played for the team many of the greatest players in NBA history including Wilt Chamberlain, Dolph Schayes, Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley, and Allen Iverson, the 76ers have had a prominent experience. They won three NBA championships, with a first stint as the Syracuse Nationals in 1955. The 2nd title came in 1967, a team led by Chamberlain. The third title came in 1983 and was won by a team led by Erving and Malone. Since then the 76ers have returned only once to the NBA Finals: in 2001, where they were led by Iverson and lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five rounds. In 1946, a $5,000 check was sent by Italian immigrant Daniel Biasone to the National Basketball League headquarters in Chicago, and the Syracuse Nationals became the easternmost team of the primarily Midwest-based league, headquartered of Upstate New York City, Syracuse. In the same year, the Syracuse Nationals started playing in the NBL whose professional basketball slowly acquired some popularity from America's rival Basketball League, based in major cities like New York and Philadelphia. While the Nationals posted a record of 21–23 in the NBL with teams composed mainly of small Midwestern cities, finishing in fourth place. The fellow upstate neighbor Rochester Royals will beat the Nationals in four rounds of the playoffs. With the NBA struggling financially and down to only 8 Nationals teams owner during the 1954–55 season, Biasone recommended that the league minimize the amount of time taken for a shot thereby speeding up a game that ended often with lengthy periods of teams having just the ball and playing keep away. Ferris, the Biasone and Nationals general manager, projected a 24-second shot clock allowing at least 30 shots per quarter to intensify the game and increase scoring. The Shot Clock was an instant success as high scoring was 14 points per game competition. The Nationals will take first place in the East in the shot clock's first season, with a 43–29 record. Following a first round bye, the Nationals must top the Celtics in four games to get to the NBA Finals for the second straight season. The Nationals will take home the first two games against the Fort Wayne Pistons to a fast start in the series, led by forward Schayes. However, when the series changed to Fort Wayne winning all three games to take a 3–2 series lead, the Pistons would burst back into life again. Still on the Nationals in Syracuse for Game 6, hopes of the championship were kept alive by smashing the 109–104 Pistons to force a seventh home game. Game 7 is going to be as close as the series as George King in the final seconds sunk off a free throw to send the Nationals a 92–91 lead. King would then block an inbound pass to secure the NBA Championship for the nationals. Charles Barkley arrived in Philadelphia for the 1984–85 season after a losing 1983–84 season that began in the first round of the playoffs with a five-game defeat to the upstart New Jersey Nets. Barkley has brought the Philadelphia fans happiness for the next eight seasons, due to his amusing and sometimes controversial ways. The Sixers qualified to the Eastern Conference Finals in Barkley's rookie season but lost to the Boston Celtics in 5 rounds. As it turns out they would never travel as much again during Barkley's time in Philadelphia. After the 1984–85 season, Matt Guokas had replaced Billy Cunningham as head trainer. Guokas led the 76ers to a record of 54–28, and the second round of playoffs in 1986 where they were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks in seven rounds.

A small, American basketball team located in Oklahoma City is the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder competes within the National Basketball Association as a member of the nba Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays their home games at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The team was first known as the Seattle SuperSonics, an expansion team which joined the NBA for the 1967–68 season. The SuperSonics moved in 2008 after a lawsuit that saw a settlement involving Clay Bennett's ownership firm and lawmakers in Seattle, Washington. The SuperSonics qualified 22 times for seattle's NBA playoffs, took their division six times, advanced to three NBA finals and claimed the 1979 NBA Championship. The Thunder had qualified for their first playoff berth in Oklahoma City during the 2009–10 season. They captured their first division title as the Thunder in the 2010–11 season, and their first Western Conference championship as the Thunder in the 2011–12 season, featuring in the NBA Finals for the fourth time in franchise history and for the first time since 1996, when the team was based in Seattle. The Chesapeake Energy Arena, which opened as the Ford Center on June 8, 2002, was built without lavish amenities but was designed to accommodate spacious "buildouts" should a professional sports team turn the Chesapeake Energy Arena into their home venue. It was completed at a loss of $89.2 million. In 2007 a plan was launched to improve this kind of build-out. It came in the aftermath of Oklahoma City-based ownership group purchasing the Seattle SuperSonics the previous October. A state ballot measure passed by a 62% vote on March 4, 2008, extended a 15-month old one-cent city sales tax to fund $101 million in budgeted arena upgrades and a proposed $20 million fitness facility for a relocated franchise. During the global crisis of 2008–10, a shortfall in sales tax-receipts delayed building work on the stadium. Revised plans raising the scale of a possible entry to the glass and abolished a court of action to resolve the shortage. Important construction work on arena expansion was also delayed from the summer of 2010 to the summer of 2011. The seating capacity for the arena is 18,203 for professional NBA Basketball games. Significant revisions have been made to plans for the Thunder's existing operational infrastructure, with a total cost savings of about $14 million. The construction date for the Thunder's practice center has been pushed back to around March 2011. Simmons indicated that the Oklahoma City bombing played a major part in the team environment, noting that Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has seen every single Thunder player at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and encourages players to look into the stands and understand that the event has deeply affected all the team supporters. He also admitted, however, that the fact that the Thunder is the only team in Oklahoma City in one of the nation's four major leagues contributes considerably to the dedication to the region. Thunder fans are also evidently much more likely to attend major home games than any other NBA fan bases. According to a source in the ticket industry, just five per cent of tickets available for sale on secondary market websites like StubHub for the 2012 NBA conference finals were for Thunder home games, and 10 tickets for Heat home games were registered for each ticket sold for a Thunder home game in the 2012 NBA Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder unveiled its first logo on 3 September 2008. According to majority owner Clay Bennett, the team logo draws some of its characteristics from other Oklahoma sports teams including the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls The Uniform Definition was unveiled on 29 September 2008. A new uniform was launched on 8 November 2012 using only navy blue and white colours. The alternate wordmarks are written vertically, in contrast to their regular uniforms. A second alternative uniform was adopted on 1 March 2015. A white shirt with boots, in the center of the collar displays the small Thunder logo, and the shorts display bolts in light blue and sunset colours.

The Orlando Magic is an American professional basketball team, based in Orlando, Florida. The Wonder plays as a member of the Eastern Conference in the league's Southeast Division of the National Basketball Association. The franchise was established in 1989 as an expansion franchise, and such notable NBA stars as Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, Patrick Ewing, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Dominique Wilkins, and Hedo Türkoğlu played for the club in their early history. The franchise spent almost half of its history in the NBA playoffs as of 2019, and went twice, in 1995 and 2009, to the NBA Finals. Orlando was the second most successful of the four expansion teams brought into the league in 1988 and 1989 behind only the Miami Heat in terms of winning percentage. Orlando businessman Jim L. Hewitt told Philadelphia 76ers general manager Pat Williams in September 1985, when they met in Texas about his vision of bringing an NBA team to Orlando. Intrigued by the prospect of an NBA team located in Orlando, Williams was the front man of the investment company one year later, after he left the 76ers. On 19 June 1986 the two scheduled a press conference to announce their intention to seek an NBA franchise. In its first year, the Wonder went on to select Nick Anderson in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft, who had just won both the Mr. Basketball and the College Player of the Year awards. He was the squad's first Franchise star and highest scorer as a 10th selection for a decade. The very first game The Magic played on October 13, 1989 was an exhibition game against the then-reigning Detroit Pistons, won by the Magic. Anderson was quoted as saying that the atmosphere was like NBA Finals Game 7. In 1998–99, with the drafting of Michael Doleac and Matt Harpring in the 1998 draft with the 12th and 15th picks, and a healthy Penny Hardaway and Nick Anderson, the Magic tied to the Miami Heat in the lockout-shortened season, 33–17, for the best record in the Eastern League. Armstrong once again led the team effectively, winning NBA's Sixth-Man and Most Valuable Player honours. Orlando, along with Gerald's brother, had acquired great Dominique Wilkins from the NBA who had gone through their benefits but were still in use as NBA teams. The Penny Hardaway-led Magic was ranked number 3 in the playoffs thanks to tiebreakers, and played the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers, led in the first round by Allen Iverson, have upset the Magic 3–1. The players changed their uniforms for the first time ever too, switching from pinstripes to stars. During off-season weisbrod dissolved the squad completely. Although Davis stayed as a coach he shook the roster of players, keeping just a few players from last season. The most notable trade was in Tracy McGrady. Unhappy with the Magic, McGrady wanted to move on; Weisbrod accused McGrady of being "slacked off" and not attending classes. The Strong traded McGrady along with Reece Gaines, Tyronn Lue and Juwan Howard to the Houston Rockets for Steve Francis, Kelvin Cato and Cuttino Mobley. The Magic has received Cleveland Cavaliers 'Tony Battie center and two second-round draft picks in exchange for the draft rights of Drew Gooden, Steven Hunter and Anderson Varejão. Afterwards the Strong signed free agent Hedo Türkoğlu. With the number one draft selection, the Magic selected high school phenomenon and future All-Star and franchise champion Dwight Howard, and a draft day trade with the Denver Nuggets took point guard Jameer Nelson to them. The new tv announcing team for the Orlando Magic is play-by-play announcer David Steele and color analyst Jeff Turner. Turner played with the Magic from the 1989 inaugural season until 1996. Paul Kennedy and Dante Marchetelli serve as court commentators while Marchetelli, former coach Brian Hill and former magic player Nick Anderson present pre-game, half-time and post-game shows. In 2007–08, TV broadcasts were broken up between Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports. Broadcasts were transmitted in the intervening 18 years by Sun Sports and local TV stations, first WKCF and, later, WRBW.

The New York Knickerbockers, or more simply as the Knicks, are a professional American basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks play within the National Basketball Association as part of the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. The squad plays its home games at Madison Square Park, an arena that they share with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. They are one of two New York City-based NBA teams; the other the Brooklyn Nets. Besides the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of two original NBA teams left at their original venue. The team, formed in 1946 by Ned Irish, was one of the founding members of the American Basketball Association, which became the NBA after integrating with the current National Basketball League in 1949. The Knicks had been successful in their early years and were perennial playoff competitors under the franchise's first head coach, Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950 the Knicks made three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, all of them missed commitment. Lapchick left in 1956 and the team went on to falter afterwards. It wasn't until the late 1960s that the Knicks started to regain their old dominance, after Red Holzman was the head coach. Holzman successfully led the Knicks to two NBA championships, in 1970 and 1973. The Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success which included six playoff appearances; however, they did not compete in the NBA Finals. The Patrick Ewing Future Hall of Fame center led the 1990s playoff-level Knicks; this time was characterized by violent rivalries with the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat. During this time they were known for playing strong defense under the head coaches Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy, making two appearances at the 1994 and 1999 NBA Finals. They were, however, unable to win an NBA championship during this time. Since 2000 the Knicks have struggled to reclaim their previous victories but they won their first division title in 19 years in 2012–13, led by a nucleus of forward Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. In the Eastern Conference semifinals they were eventually defeated by the Indiana Pacers, and have failed to reach the playoffs ever since. In 1946, basketball, especially college basketball, became a growing, highly lucrative sport in New York City. At the time, hockey was another popular sport and generated considerable profits; however, the stadiums were not commonly used. The 1930s, after meeting Boston Garden owner Walter A. Brown, the sports editor at the Boston American was Max Kase, a New York sportswriter. Kase invented the idea of an amateur football league to highlight college talent after graduation, and felt it would become profitable if properly arranged. Brown, intrigued by the opportunity to collect additional cash when the hockey teams were either not playing or on the road, contacted some arena owners. On 6 June 1946, Kase and Brown, along with a group of seventeen others, met at the Commodore Hotel in New York City as the Basketball Association of America, where charter franchises were granted to major cities around the country. In 1964, franchise fortunes started to take a gradual turn. Willis Reed, who made an immediate impact on the floor with his efforts and was named NBA Rookie of the Year, has been drafted by The Knicks. Nevertheless the members of the team were still in action. In an attempt to reorganize the Knicks named former star Harry Gallatin as head coach, thus reassigning Donovan to the position of general manager. After a bad start in 1965, another retired Knick, Dick McGuire, replaced his retired Gallatin teammate at halfway through the season. The organization broke it into five new contracts in preparation for the 2019–20 season as a result of having a projected $74 million in cap space following the Porziis contract. The Knicks agreed terms with Wayne Ellington and Taj Gibson, former position players, and also signed forward Bobby Portis. The Squad then signed former lottery picks Elfrid Payton and Julius Randle. The Knicks fired Steve Mills on 4 February 2020 after seven seasons as tyrant with Scott Perry taking over on an temporary basis. On March 2nd Leon Rose was named Team Chief.

The Boston Celtics is an American basketball league club based in Massachusetts. The Celtics play as a member of the nba, the NBA's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. The Celtics play their home games at TD Garden, which they share with the Boston Bruins National Hockey League, founded in 1946 as one of the league's first eight members. The Celtics are known to be the most successful basketball team in NBA history; with 17, the franchise has won the most League titles, and is currently holds the record for the most recorded victories by any NBA club. The Celtics are one of two BAA franchise franchises that continue to compete in their original city today. The Celtics are in famous competition with the Los Angeles Lakers who won 16 NBA titles, second behind the Celtics. The rivalry was heavily emphasised in the 1960s and 1980s. The team played the Lakers a record twelve times in the NBA Playoffs, nine times won by the Celtics. Four Celtics stars with a League record of 10 MVP awards in total earned the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Often a nod to the comparatively large Irish community in Boston are the acronym "Celtics" as well as their nickname "Lucky the Leprechaun" In the late 1950s, the Celtics 'rise to dominance began with the addition of the Bill Russell centre in 1956 in a draught day trade, which would become the foundation of the Celtics dynasty. The Celtics, led by Russell and iconic point guard Bob Cousy, captured their first NBA championship in 1957. Russell, along with a legendary support cast of the future Hall of Famers including John Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, Sam Jones, Satch Sanders and Bill Sharman, helped lead the Celtics to the finest time in franchise history, winning eight consecutive NBA titles in the 1960s. The Celtics began a rebuilding period after Russell's retirement in 1969. Led by JoJo White, Dave Cowens centre and point guard, the Celtics returned to championship status in 1974 and 1976 and won two NBA titles. The Celtics reclaimed dominance again in the 1980's. The Celtics won the Championships in 1981, 1984 and 1986, led by the "Big Three" including Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. Since winning 16 championships in the 20th century, the Celtics soared again in 2008 to earn a championship with the help of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen in what was known as the new "Big Three" era after losing in the 1990's. The Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals in 2010 only to lose to the Lakers in a seven game series. By the outset of the 2013 season, neither of the "Big Three" were already signed — Ray Allen had already ended a season guiding the franchise into a new era. The team, with the aid of newly hired head coach Brad Stevens, started rebuilding. In his second season Stevens led the Celtics on a trip to the playoffs in 2015. During the next season, the Celtics clinched the top seed at the Eastern Conference but were beaten at the Conference Finals. That prompted an ambitious overhaul in 2017, during which the franchise signed All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Nonetheless, the pair struggled with suspensions during the 2017–18 season, and the team was vanquished again in the Eastern Conference Finals, despite pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven matches. NBC Sports Boston is the Boston Celtics 'official television partner, which has been broadcasting the games since 1981, when the network was PRISM New England branded. In 1983 it was rebranded as SportsChannel New England. As the other SportsChannel networks, after its owner Cablevision joined Liberty Radio and News Company in 1998 to form a alliance, the New England centre was rebranded as Fox Sports New England. In 2001, Comcast bought Cablevision's original network stake and acquired the remaining share in what was now FSN New England 2007, which rebranded the network to Comcast SportsNet New England. In 2017 all CSN networks were partnered as NBC Sports Regional Networks, a nod to Comcast's recent acquisition of NBCUniversal.

The Chicago Bulls is a professional American basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls play within the National Basketball Association as members of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. On 16 January 1966, the team was founded and played their first game during the 1966–67 NBA season. The Bulls are playing their home games at the United Center, a facility on Chicago's west side shared by Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. The Bulls achieved their biggest success in the 1990s as they played a significant role in popularising the worldwide NBA. We are known for becoming one of the NBA's greatest dynasties, winning six NBA titles between 1991 and 1998, and two tri-peats. All six of their Championship teams were led by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson. The Bulls were the first NBA franchise to win multiple titles in their history, while never losing an NBA Finals series. The Bulls won 72 games in the 1995–96 NBA season, setting an NBA record which stood until the Golden State Warriors played 73 NBA games in the 2015–16 season. The Bulls were the first team to win 70 or more games in a single season in NBA history, and the last NBA franchise to do so until the Warriors in 2015–16. Michael Jordan and Derrick Rose both won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award when they starred for the Bulls, for a total of six MVP awards. The Bulls are sharing rivalries with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat and The New York Knicks. Competition between the Bulls and the Pistons was heavily stressed during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Dick Klein wanted a name to represent Chicago's old meat packing business, and the similarities between the Chicago Stadium and the Union Stock Yards. Klein proposed names such as Matadors or Toreadors, but refused them, claiming, "If you think about it, no team with as many as three syllables in its nickname has ever had any success except one." Klein decided on Bulls after exploring alternate names with his father when his son Mark said, "Father, that's a lot of bulls!" The famous emblem is a red bull riding mask. The logo was designed by renowned American graphic artist Dean P. Wessel in 1966, and introduced. The Bulls had an alternate version to the same Bulls version at one time during the early 1970s, featuring a cloud that said "Windy City" behind the bull's nose. The Bulls now wear three different uniforms: a white uniform, a red uniform and a black replacement uniform. The original uniforms were aesthetically similar to what the Bulls wear today, with the shorts and block lettering around the Bulls logo getting the prominent diamond around. What distinguished the original uniforms was the black drop shadows, red or white side stripes with black borders and white lettering on the red uniforms. The red jerseys for the 1969–70 season were modified to incorporate the town name. The official mascot for the Chicago Bulls is Benny The Bull. This was first introduced in 1969. Benny is the no 1 holding pit bull. Benny is one of the oldest and most well recognised mascots in all professional sports. The Bulls also had a mascot which was nicknamed Da Bull. Benny's high-flying cousin, known for his dunking skills, was unveiled in 1995, and listed as being on the team website. In 2004 the man who was playing Da Bull was seized from his car for possession and selling of marijuana. The case Da Bull was shot shortly after. Although Benny has a family friendly look, Da Bull is built to be a more realistic animal. According to Benny Da Bull was diamond. There was also a cynical grin on his face, and he wore number 95. As of February 3, 2018, the team's games are broadcast on Entercom's WSCR. Between October 2015 and January 2018, games were broadcast on Cumulus Media's WLS in an deal which was expected to continue until the 2020-21 season, which was nullified in the middle of the 2017-18 season when Cumulus filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and annulled its major play-by-play and talent contracts.