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Chicago Bulls
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.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedAtlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. As a member of the nba's Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference, the Hawks compete within the National Basketball Association. The squad plays at their home games at the State Farm Arena. The team's roots can be traced back to its establishment in 1946 in Buffalo, New York, of the Buffalo Bisons, a member of the National Basketball League founded by Ben Kerner and Leo Ferris. After 38 days at Buffalo, where they were named the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, the team moved to Moline, Illinois. They joined the NBA in 1949 as part of the merger between the NBL and the American Basketball Association, and for a short time they had Red Auerbach as coach. In 1951, Kerner moved the team to Milwaukee, where they changed their name to the Hawks. In 1955, Kerner and the players moved back to St. Louis, where they won their first NBA Championship in 1958 and in 1957, 1960 and 1961 qualified for the NBA Finals. On all four of their NBA Finals trips, the Hawks beat the Boston Celtics. The St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968, after Kerner sold the franchise to Georgia's former governor Thomas Cousins and Carl Sanders. The Hawks in turn own the second-longest drought with 60 seasons not to win an NBA title. The franchise's lone NBA title, as well as all four NBA Finals appearances, took place at the St. Louis based club. Meanwhile they have gone 48 years without advancing past the second round of the playoffs in either process, until finally breaking through in 2015. However, the Hawks are one of four NBA teams that emerged in the 21st century to play 10 straight seasons in the NBA playoffs. From 2008 till 2017 they accomplished this feat. The squad has endured numerous badge changes and modifications to the uniforms over the history of the team. On May 1, 2014, the team introduced a stylised version of the 'Pac-Man' logo that it used from 1972 to 1995. The 'Pac-Man' logo will become the franchise's signature symbol after the team finishes the 2014–15 season. On June 24, 2015, the team unveiled their new home, road and alternate jerseys as well as their updated logos and colours. Main colours: Torch Yellow, Volt Green, and Georgia Granite White. The players have unveiled their new socks and shoes, in line with the National Basketball Association contract with Stance's current official game footwear. Official socks for the game were generally either white or black, depending on the preference of a player. The club plans to wear green for home games, Georgia Granite Gray for road games and Torch Red as an alternate, custom shade. The Hawks hold the exclusive rights to the following unprotected draught picks who were played outside the NBA; A drafted player can sign with any non-NBA teams, either a foreign draftee or a college draftee who has not been signed by the team that drafted him. In this case, after a year after the non-NBA team's contract with the prospect has expired, the club owns the draught rights to the prospect in the NBA. The statement also includes the draught rights acquired from the transactions of other teams. The Celtics – Hawks rivalry is a rivalry that has persisted for over five decades in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association, though the two franchises have played together since the 1949–50 season, when the then-Tri-Cities Blackhawks joined the NBA as part of the National Basketball League and the American Basketball Association merger. However, the Blackhawks did not field a reliably productive roster after a four-year stopover at Milwaukee until they moved to St. Louis as the St. Louis Hawks. The two sides faced one another eleven times in the NBA playoffs, four times in the NBA Finals, with the Celtics winning ten out of twelve over the Hawks, and three out of four NBA Finals. While the Hawks have twice out of eleven games defeated the Celtics in the NBA Playoffs, they have always also managed to make their games with the Celtics unforgettable. The rivalry intensified in 2016 with Hawks All-Al Horford spurning the team and joining the Celtics.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedDetroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons is a professional basketball team based in Detroit, United States. As a member of the league's Central Division of the Eastern Conference, the Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association and play their home games at the Little Caesars Arena in Midtown. The team was founded in 1941 as Fort Wayne Pistons in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a member of the National Basketball League in which it won two NBL championships: in 1944 and 1945. The Pistons had entered the American Basketball League in earlier 1948. The NBL and BAA merged into the NBA in 1949, and the Pistons became a part of the new league. In 1957 the franchise was moved to Detroit. The Pistons won three NBA Championships: in 1989, 1990 and 2004. The Detroit Pistons franchise was known as the National Basketball League team Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Owner Fred Zollner's Zollner Company was a piston-making foundry, mainly for automobile, truck and locomotive engines. The Zollner Pistons had been part of the NBL from 1944 to 1945. They also won World Professional Basketball Championships in 1944, 1945, and 1946. The franchise became the Pistons of Fort Wayne in 1948, and competed in the American Basketball Association. In 1949 Fred Zollner brokered the creation of the National Basketball Association BAA and NBL at his kitchen table. There are rumours that the Pistons players conspired with gamblers during the seasons of 1953–54 and 1954–55 to skim points and ruin various games. In fact there are reports that the team may have intentionally lost the Syracuse Nationals to the NBA Finals of 1955. Late in the second quarter of the decisive Game 7, the Pistons led 41–24, before the Nationals rallied to tie. With 12 seconds left in the game on a free throw from George King, the Nationals prevailed. The closing moments included a palming error with 18 seconds remaining by George Yardley of the Pistons, a foul by Frank Brian with 12 seconds left that helped King win free throw, and a miss by Andy Phillip of the Pistons in the final seconds that gave them a opportunity to attempt the game winning shot. The next season the Pistons made it back to the NBA Finals. But the Philadelphia Warriors will beat them in five days. While the Pistons enjoyed a strong local following, Fort Wayne's small size made it difficult for them to survive, particularly as other early NBA franchises in smaller towns were folding or moving to larger markets. After the 1956–57 season, Zollner decided Fort Wayne was too weak to sustain an NBA team, and announced the team should play elsewhere in the coming season. He eventually settled on Detroit. While it was the fifth biggest city in the United States at the time, over a decade, Detroit hadn't seen professional basketball. They defeated the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Gems of the NBL and Detroit Falcons of the BAA in 1947, and the Detroit Vagabond Kings of 1949, due to World War II. Zollner has opted to keep the name Pistons, feeling it makes sense to remember Detroit's status as the auto industry centre. George Yardley set the record for single-season NBA scoring with the Pistons in Detroit's first season, becoming the first player to score 2,000 points in one season. On 10 June 2008 the Pistons appointed Michael Curry as their new head coach. In November 2008 the Pistons traded key players including Allen Iverson, Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess to the Denver Nuggets. McDyess was waived later on November 10 and rejoined the Pistons on December 9. Regardless of the free agent status Iverson received at the end of the season, trading was marked as the beginning of a new rebuilding cycle. Despite the relocation from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Detroit in 1957, the Pistons 'jerseys remained essentially intact for two decades, showing the word "Pistons" in blue block lettering. In the 1978–79 season, the team wore a kit featuring lightning bolts on the sides and in the wordmark at the front of the jerseys. The team dissected the lightning bolt concept, switching to their conventional block lettering and flat side panel style in 1981, sticking with that look until 1996. That year the Pistons changed their colours to teal, purple, yellow, and gold, and unveiled a new logo with a horse's head and a flaming mane. This uniform scheme lasted until 2001, when the squad went back to the traditional red, white and blue colours in a generic pattern from the 1981–96 strings. The Horse's head and flaming mane logo lasted until 2005, when the company switched to a more conventional design theme.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedCleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers, also known as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball club based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers play within the National Basketball Association as a part of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The franchise began playing as an expansion team in 1970 with the Portland Trail Blazers and Buffalo Braves. Home games were first held at the Cleveland Arena from 1970 to 1974 followed by the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1994. The Cavs play home games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland since 1994 and are shared with the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. Since March 2005 the Squad is owned by Dan Gilbert. The Cavs started their first season losing their first 15 games and struggled in their early years, placing no more than sixth in the Eastern Conference in their first five seasons. The team captured its first Central Division championship in 1976, which also marked its first winning season and playoff appearance in franchise history, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. In 1980 Ted Stepien inherited the franchise. Stepien's tenure as owner was characterised by six ownership changes, contentious trades, drawn decisions and poor results resulting in $15 million in financial losses. During this time the Cavs went 66–180 and endured a 24-game losing streak between the 1981–82 and 1982–83 seasons. In 1983 George and Gordon Gund took over the franchise. The Cavs were a regular post-season competitor, led by players like Mark Price and Brad Daugherty in the second half of the 1980s and through much of the 1990s, progressing to the 1992 Eastern Conference Finals. Nonetheless, the Cavs have had six consecutive losing seasons without any post-season play since the team's postseason appearance in 1998. The 2003 draught provided the first overall selection for Cleveland, and they selected LeBron James. Behind James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the Cavs once again were a consistent playoff candidate by 2005. They captured the first Eastern Conference championship in franchise history and made their first appearance in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. James left the Miami Heat in 2010 after failing to qualify to the NBA Finals in the three seasons that followed. Consequently, the Cavaliers finished last in the 2010–11 season league, enduring a 26-game losing streak that ranks the longest in NBA history for a single season and second overall as of 2017. Nevertheless, the team captured the first NBA lottery pick selected three times between 2010 and 2014, first when they picked Kyrie Irving in 2011 and again in 2013 and 2014. LeBron James returned to the Cavs in 2014 and led the franchise to four NBA Finals appearances in succession. In 2016, the Cavaliers won their 5th NBA Championship, becoming Cleveland's first major sports title to win since 1964. The victory over the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals was the first time a team has came back to win the series in the final's history after losing three games in one. The Cavs made 22 appearances in the playoffs, winning seven Central Division titles, five Eastern Conference championships, and one NBA championship. Wine and gold were the main colours on player jersey when the Cleveland Cavaliers debuted in the NBA in 1970. The first uniforms used for the feathered handling of letter C in Cavaliers. In 1974 they turned into the conventional block lettering and checkerboard design that became associated with the 1976 'Richfield Miracle' squa In 1980, the gold hue was changed from yellowish to black, and the uniforms removed the checkerboard pattern and put the lines above Cleveland and below the uniform number, the first time the town's name appeared on both home and away jerseys. The original logo was that of cavalier swashbuckling looking fine with a pointed blade, followed by the team's name and a net. A modernised Swashbuckling cavalier logo was later introduced by the Canton Charge, competitors of the Cavs 'NBA Development League.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedCharlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets is an American professional basketball franchise, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete as a member of the National Basketball Association's nba Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise is owned entirely by legendary NBA Hall-of-Fame Michael Jordan who bought a controlling interest in the club in 2010. The Hornets play at the Uptown Charlotte Spectrum Center, their home games. The original franchise of Hornets, owned by George Shinn, was founded in 1988 as an expansion team. In 2002, Shinn's franchise relocated to New Orleans, becoming the Hornets of New Orleans. In 2004, the NBA created the Charlotte Bobcats and was considered a new expansion franchise at the time. In 2013, the New Orleans franchise announced it would rebrand as the New Orleans Pelicans, ultimately restoring Charlotte with the logo, archives and official history of the Hornets. For the 2014–15 season the Charlotte Hornets is officially renamed as the Bobcats. In 1985 the NBA agreed to allow with three clubs for the 1988–1989 season, but then changed to require a total of four franchises for expansion. George Shinn, a Kannapolis billionaire, wanted to bring the Charlotte area to an NBA team and he put together a consortium of prominent local entrepreneurs to lead the prospective franchise. The Charlotte city has been a hotbed for college Basketball for a long time. Charlotte was once one of America's fastest-growing cities, and was once one of Carolina Cougars 'three major in-state homes at the American Basketball Association from 1969 to 1974. The Hornets 'second season was a struggle from start to finish. Unit members rebelled against Dick Harter's defence-oriented approach and are replaced by assistant Gene Littles at midway point after a start of 8–32 Following the move the team appeared to struggle and finished the season with a disappointing 19–63 record. It shortened season 1998–99. The season did not begin until April, as the lockout limited the regular season to just 50 games. For contrast, Glen Rice was traded to the Lakers for Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell, and Dave Cowens left midway through the season. He was replaced by former Celtics teammate Paul Silas, who has been named the franchise's fifth head coach. The team finished with a 26–24 record but did not qualify for playoffs. In the 2005 NBA draught the Bobcats picked Raymond Felton and Sean May from North Carolina. The Bobcats have already opened the Charlotte Bobcats Arena with an overtime victory over the Celtics in their second season. They managed to end the season with four consecutive wins and finish with a record of 26–56, an improvement of eight games from the previous season, after struggling for most of the year. The Bobcats announced during the season that the franchise had purchased a minority stake from NBA player and native Michael Jordan of North Carolina. As part of the deal he was the head of basketball operations while Bickerstaff remained general manager. The first Hornets logo was an anthropomorphic teal and purple hornet wearing white shoes and dribbling an orange basketball glove. The words 'Charlotte Hornets' were written, in teal, above and below the line. The unofficial logo, which was used solely for the 1988–89 season, used a large teal letter 'C' with 'Charlotte' bent upward in black letters below. There was a smaller white letter 'H' written in teal under 'C,' with a black spotted hornet holding a basketball from the birds-eye view in the centre. The 'H' part of the logo featured on the 'warm-ups and waistband' jerseys before the 1991–92 season. Since 2004 to 2012, the main logo of the Bobcats consisted of a snarling orange bobcat facing the indented word 'Bobcats' in red above, with 'Charlotte' floating above it in the same blue colour. A change to a less vivid orange and brown was made in 2007, though retaining the same look. Further colour changes in 2012 turned the bobcat dark, incorporating the blue background of the word 'Charlotte,' which shifted from orange brown. A blue map of Carolina was then used all over the logo. The Bobcats unveiled a new logo in 2007 consisting of a snarling bobcat head faced forward on one side and shaded orange and blue on the other.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedDallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks is a basketball club based in American professional Dallas. I play in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Western Conference Southwest Division. The squad plays their home games in the American Airlines Arena, where they compete with the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars. The Mavericks, led by All-Stars Rolando Blackman and Mark Aguirre, had been a regular playoff team in the 1980s. The squad suffered in the 1990s and began a period of rebuilding. The franchise's fortunes would change significantly in 1998 with the arrival of Dirk Nowitzki, who will become the centre of franchise history's most successful era, leading the team to its first NBA title in 2011. Because of the 2017 season, the Mavericks have sold out 707 consecutive games since December 15, 2002, the longest consistently running sellout streak in North America's major league sports. In 1978, Californian businessman Garn Eckardt met Dallas lawyer Doug Adkins and revealed that he was seeking to raise money to bring an NBA team to the city. Asking for a possible match, Adkins recommended one of his clients, Don Carter, the Home Interiors and Gifts owner. Negotiations with Eckardt fell apart, but Carter stayed interested in the business as a gift to his wife Linda, who played basketball while at Duncanville High School. Buffalo Braves president and general manager Norm Sonju developed an interest in bringing the NBA down to Dallas at the same time as he investigated possible new locations for the ailing franchise. After the Braves headed to California as the San Diego Clippers, Sonju eventually returned to Texas and was met by Major Robert Folsom, one of the city's last major basketball team members and general president, the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association, who transferred to San Antonio in 1973 to form the San Antonio Spurs. Sonju and Carter intended to buy both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Kansas City Kings but the conflict over the move stalled the negotiations and forced them both to settle for an expansion franchise. Rolando Blackman led the Mavericks in the 1986 NBA All-Star Game Dallas hosted at Reunion Arena. The 1985–86 Mavericks were second in scoring at 115.3 points per game, winning their third straight playoff appearance. In the 1st round, they defeated Utah, three games to one. In the conference semi-finals, we ran into the Lakers once again, and L.A. Defeated at Houston, in six rounds. Yet four of those games were decided by four points or less, and Dallas won two of them, leaving Mavericks fans room to hope they could finally defeat the Lakers in the coming season. The Mavs drafted Michigan centre Roy Tarpley with the seventh overall pick, who would go on to become a very talented but troublesome member of the roster. With the Mavericks, the 1996–97 season was a year of transition as they basically re-designed their entire roster; for the Dallas franchise, 27 new teams saw action, setting an all-time NBA record. And by the time the season was over, rookie centre Samaki Walker was off the opening-day roster. The first big change came in December, when guards traded for the Phoenix Suns to Jason Kidd, Loren Meyer and Tony Dumas for Michael Finley and Sam Cassell, and forward A. C. Blue. By far the most notable of these signings was Finley, who, during his first half-season in Dallas, went on to average at or above 20 ppg for at least the next seven years of his Mavericks career. He made two visits to the NBA All-Star Game, and played in all of the Mavs 'games before the 2004–05 season. During the NBA season 2001–02, the Mavericks radically updated their logo and uniforms with a new midnight blue, royal blue, and Dallas Cowboys-inspired silver colour scheme. The new patches are a script called "Austin" on the home and on the road jerseys. "Dallas" is in dark blue on the home jersey around the chest and the numbers are in royal blue with silver trim while "Dallas" is in gold on the road jersey, with white trim in purple.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedDenver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team, based in Denver. The Nuggets play within the National Basketball Association as a part of the nba's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded in 1967 as the American Basketball Association's charter franchise as the Denver Larks, but had changed its name to Rockets before the first season. In 1974 it once again shortened its name to the Nuggets. After the name change, the Nuggets played in 1976 for the final ABA Championship title, losing to the New York Nets. The club has had some fruitful years, qualifying for all ABA playoff seasons from 1967 to the 1976 ABA playoffs where it lost in the final. Following the ABA – NBA merger, the franchise joined the NBA in 1976 and qualified in nine straight seasons and ten consecutive seasons between 2004 and 2013 for the NBA playoffs in the 1980s. Nevertheless, it hasn't made an appearance in a championship round since its last year in the ABA; as such, they're actually the only one of the four remaining actual ABA franchises to never reach the NBA Finals. The Nuggets play their home games at the Pepsi Center, which they compete with the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League and the Mammoth Rockies of the National Lacrosse League. During their franchise history, the Nuggets displayed numerous colour schemes, logos and uniforms, including their days as the National Basketball Association's "Denver Rockets." On July 16, 2008, former NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Camby was traded by the Nuggets to the Los Angeles Clippers for a second-round draught pick at the close of NBA season 2007–08. This exchange was for the Nuggets to reduce the labour costs. With Carmelo Anthony averaging 22.8 points per game and Billups adding 6.4 assists in the 2008–09 NBA season the Nuggets accomplished a large number of franchise milestones. That record of 54–28 has been the most franchise wins since that incorporation in the NBA; their 27–14 start was also a winning mark in the first half of a season. This also marked the first time in league history that the team had back-to-back 50-win seasons. They are leading the Northwest division for much of the season, finally taking the championship and ranking # 2 in the Western Conference, moving closer to the highest the team has ever been ranked for playoffs. General Manager Mark Warkentien has received the NBA Executive of the Year Award for the Nuggets 'success. They won Game 1 of the playoffs in a blowout win over the New Orleans Hornets, they got a home-court edge for the first time since 1988 and even the 29-point triumph became the greatest achievement by any player in the first round of the 2009 Game 1 NBA Playoffs. Chauncey Billups set a Nuggets franchise record for the most three-pointers in a single game with 8 and his 19 three-pointers are also a Nuggets record for the threes made in a playoff series in general. We managed to smash the Hornets in 5, including a 58-point win in Game 4 that tied the most lopsided victory in NBA playoffs history. They then routed the sixth seed Dallas Mavericks in the Conference Semifinals with 4-to-1 games to make their first trip to the Western Conference Finals since 1985. This was also the first time the Nuggets had ever led 3–0 in a best-of-seven series. We held a three-point NBA playoffs-high and a 16-point cumulative margin of victory up to that point, the largest total margin of victory in the first 10 playoff games of NBA Playoff history. They lost the first Western Conference Finals game to the Los Angeles Lakers but won the second game to even out the series. Anthony joined the NBA in 1976 and became the first Denver player to score a total of 30 points in five consecutive playoff games. They lost the series 4–2, ending Denver's longest playoff run in team history.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedGolden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team, based in San Francisco. The Warriors play within the National Basketball Association as part of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Warriors, founded in Philadelphia in 1946, moved in 1962 to the San Francisco Bay Area and took on the name of the city, before changing their geographic moniker to Golden State in 1971. They play their home games in the Chase Center. The Kings, a founding member of the American Basketball League, became the Philadelphia Kings in 1946. We were the owners of Peter A. Tyrrell who once owned the Philadelphia Rockets in the American Hockey League. Tyrrell employed Eddie Gottlieb, a longtime proponent of basketball in the Philadelphia area, as coach and general manager. Unlike the Philadelphia Eagles, an old baseball club that took part in the American Basketball League in 1925, the owners signed up the franchise. The Warriors captured their second championship during the 1955–56 season, crushing the four-to - one Fort Wayne Pistons, during Philadelphia. The Warrior stars of this time included future Hall of Famers Paul Arizin, Tom Gola and Neil Johnston. Driven by early scoring phenomena Joe Fulks, the team won the inaugural championship league season in 1946–47 by crushing the Chicago Stags, four to one games. The NBA, established in 1949 by a merger, officially acknowledges that as its own first championship. Gottlieb bought the team in 1951. The franchise folded in the 1980s but became staples in the playoffs with stars Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin at the turn of the decade nicknamed "Run TMC." The team returned to title glory in 2015, led by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green; they again won in 2017 and 2018, with the help of former MVP Kevin Durant. The Fighters have used several different logo and uniform designs throughout their history, with the most recent change taking place in 2010. On June 12, 2019, the Warriors have announced small improvements to their signature logo, including a new, personalised font. The squad unveiled six new uniform designs incorporating the newly refurbished logo on 17 September 2019. While the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers played together after the Cavs joined the NBA in 1970, the competition between the two teams started to evolve during the 2014–15 season when they met in the first of four consecutive NBA finals. A group of teams have never played each other in more than two consecutive Seasons. The Warriors have won against the Cavaliers three of the four NBA finals, winning in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Bob Fitzgerald's play-by-play on tv, and the colour commentary by former Warriors swingman Kelenna Azubuike on the NBC Sports Bay Area with the Warriors, where they broadcast more than 70 Warrior games a year. We are also hosting Roundtable Live, a half hour pre-game show that leads to the televisioning of numerous Golden State home games, and also offers postgame commentary. Fitzgerald is the Warriors 'play-by-play man in his 23rd season, and is Azubuike's first colour analyst. The retired Warrior guard Jim Barnett was the TV colour analyst from 1985 to 2019, and is now the full-time colour man on the network. Other telecast crew members include Greg Papa and Garry St. Jean, mid-pregame expert, mid-game, half-time and post-game reporting, while Kerith Burke serves as the sideline reporter. Tim Roye did the radio play-by-play for Warrior sports after 1995. Also for home games former warriors join Tom Tolbert in the pit. He will now be replaced by full-time Jim Barnett beginning in 2019, who will report on all road and home games in colour, and has also been in the booth for national coverage and post-season matchups. On August 25, 2016, the Warriors announced they were leaving long-term KNBR station and will air all their games on KGMZ's 95.7 The Game. Roye, Fitzgerald and Barnett sit down together for the post-game radio commentary following each game and a preview of next season.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedIndiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers is an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete inside the National Basketball Association as a part of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were originally founded in 1967 as a member of the American Basketball Association, then became a member of the NBA as part of the 1976 ABA – NBA merger. They play their home games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The team takes its name from Indiana's association of the pace cars of the Indianapolis 500 and the racing harness industry. In early 1967 a group of six investors pooled their resources in buying a team in the nascent American Basketball League. During their first 7 years, they played at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum. In 1974, they relocated to the new, luxurious Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis where they were performing for 25 years. New Indiana Hoosiers excelled Bob "Slick" Leonard became the franchise's head coach with the Pacers early in the second season, succeeding Larry Staverman. Leonard was soon to become a Pacers juggernaut. His squads have been buoyed by the good play of superstars such as Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Rick Climb, Freddie Lewis and Roger Brown The Pacers have become-and have been-the most successful franchise in ABA's history, winning three ABA Championships in four years. In total they played in the ABA Finals, which was an ABA record, five times in the league's nine-year history. By the 1993–94 season, Larry Brown was brought along as Pacers 'coordinator, and Pacers' general manager Donnie Walsh made a then highly contested deal when he sent Schrempf to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for a little known Derrick McKey and Gerald Paddio. Yet finishing off with an NBA-era franchise-high 47 wins the Pacers played their season's last eight games. They charged for winning their first NBA playoff series victory in a first-round sweep past Shaquille O'Neal and the Orlando Magic and pulled off an upset by upsetting the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the semifinals of the tournament. In 2006, despite the absence of Reggie Miller, the Artest saga and other critical injuries, the Pacers made the playoffs for the 14th time in 15 years. We were also the first road team to win a playoff series for the first round in Game 1. However, New Jersey took Game 2 to bring Indiana back to the series at 1–1. In Game 3, Jermaine O'Neal tallied 37 points, as the Pacers took a 2–1 lead in the series. Nonetheless, the Nets took four and five games in the 3–2 series to take a lead. Anthony Johnson scored 40 points in Game 6 but with the Nets leading 96–90, the Pacers season ended. The Pacers finished the 2006–07 season as one of the worst seasons in franchise history. For the Pacers, who finished with a 35–47 record, nearly anything that could have gone wrong did. The tipping point of the season will be an 11-game losing streak that started round off the all-star break. The key reasons for the team's defeats were injuries to Jermaine O'Neal and Marquis Daniels, lack of a capable back-up point guard, divisive trade halfway through the season that threatened team morale, poor defensive efforts and becoming the NBA's worst offensive team. The April 15 loss to the New Jersey Nets put the Pacers out of the playoffs for the first time since the 1996–97 season. Following a good off season in 2019, the Pacers have named four new starters on the opening night. Holdover Myles Turner was joined by Domantas Sabonis, a reserve-turned starter, and recent arrivals including Malcolm Brogdon, T.J. Warren, and Jeremy Lamb who are expected to become a top backup as all-star guard Victor Oladipo returns from injury. Despite a 0–3 start to the season the Pacers had a 26–15 record halfway through the season and ranked them fifth in the Eastern League. Sabonis was later named All-Star of the NBA for the first time in his career.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedLos Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are a smaller US basketball team located in Los Angeles, as compared to the other larger team representing the city, Los Angeles Lakers. The Clippers play as a member of the Pacific Division of the National Basketball Association all over the nba Western Conference. The Clippers play their home games at the Staples Center, an arena that they share with NBA's Los Angeles Lakers sister team, Women's National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Sparks, and National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings. The franchise became known as the Buffalo Braves in 1970, and along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers, it was one of three expansion franchises to join the NBA that year. The Braves had some improvement and three times they made the postseason, led by Bob McAdoo, the Most Valuable Player Team. Conflicts over the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and lease transactions with the Canisius Golden Griffins led to their relocation from Buffalo, New York, to San Diego, California. After the move to be known as the San Diego Clippers, in 1978 the franchise was rebranded in reference to the San Diego Bay sailing ships which can be found there. With the arrival in San Diego of the Bill Walton Star Center, who lost almost three complete seasons due to injuries since his retirement, the franchise has made no strides in the area in its six years. In 1981 Donald Sterling, a Los Angeles-based real estate developer, bought the franchise. In 1984, with no NBA consent, Sterling controversially moved the franchise to Los Angeles. Facing fines and a lawsuit brought against NBA league officials attempting to move the league to San Diego, the team eventually prevailed when they remained in Los Angeles where no major regular season or playoff results were made. In American professional athletics, we have also been seen as icons of a chronic disappointment, making false parallels with their previously successful city-rivals, the Lakers. The franchise expanded between 2008 and 2017 by adding stars such as Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul to it. This lineup has led the Clippers as a perennial playoff franchise nicknamed "Lob City." The club won its first Division title during the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons. They played seven times in the playoffs throughout 2012 and 2019, matching the total of franchise appearances from 1970 to 2011. The Los Angeles Clippers announced a new corporate identity on 18 June 2015. The club's signature logo features a compass-shaped basketball, with the "LAC" ring centre monogram. Below is the wordmark emblem of the club in black, with the two angled lines under the wordmark symbolising the ocean floor, which the club claims applies to its nautical patrimony. The squad revealed their new home and away uniforms that had the theme pattern from previous uniforms preserved. The home white jersey features a black wordmark pattern over the front of the shirt. The away red shirt features a monogram of "LAC" across the right breast of the club, with the player's jersey number across the left breast. On 6 November 2015, the Clippers unveiled a sleek black theme commemorating downtown Los Angeles. The uniform retains the pattern style of the previous uniform but without the wordmark incorporating the club's core logo. On 11 August 2017 the Clippers unveiled their latest branding designs and for the Adidas Project and the Branding. The designations for home and road were dropped, and the team replaced their road red uniform with a new blue "ring" uniform matching the uniform of the white "Association" which was not substituted. Also the mask had remained intact.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedNew Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans is an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete as a part of the National Basketball Association's nba Western Conference Southwest Division. The band is practising for their home games at the Smoothie King Arena. During the 2002–03 season the Pelicans became branded as the New Orleans Hornets, after the then owner of Charlotte Hornets, George Shinn, moved the club to New Orleans. The franchise relocated temporarily to Oklahoma City, where they played two seasons collectively known as the New Orleans / Oklahoma City Hornets prior to Hurricane Katrina's damage in 2005. The franchise returned to New Orleans fulltime for the 2007–08 season. On 24 January 2013, the team announced that it would rename itself the Pelicans shortly after the 2012–13 season had concluded. The Charlotte Hornets branding, history, and records from 1988 to 2002 were returned to their original city to be used by the then Charlotte Bobcats franchise, which finally became the Charlotte Hornets, starting on May 20, 2014. The Louisiana franchise posted a combined regular season record of 610–686 in 16 play seasons after the original team relocated from North Carolina, and qualified seven times for playoffs. The accomplishments include two championship series titles, and one division crown. However when the Charlotte Hornets put a good team on the field in the 1990s, the team's attendance continued to decrease dramatically. Many attributed the downturn in popularity to the team's owner, George Shinn, who was overwhelmingly disliked by people in the community. A Charlotte woman alleged she had been assaulted by Shinn in 1997, and his reputation in town was severely tarnished by the ensuing trial. The consensus was that while Charlotte was a place of play, at Shinn, backers on the squad let out their disappointment. Shinn was also dissatisfied with the Charlotte Coliseum, which was considered state-of - the-art when it opened but then became obsolete owing to a limited number of luxury suites. On March 26, 2001, both the Hornets and the Vancouver Grizzlies sued for relocation to Memphis, Tennessee, where ultimately the Grizzlies prevailed. Shinn then issued an ultimatum that the Hornets would leave town, unless the town constructed a new arena for him at no expense. The community originally refused, which led Shinn to consider either moving the team to Norfolk, Louisville or St. Louis. Of the rival cities, only St. Louis had an already operational NBA arena, the Savvis Arena, and a larger media footprint than Charlotte at the time; it was also the only one of the four that had previously hosted an NBA franchise — the St. Louis Hawks, who moved to Atlanta in 1968. During the 2011–12 season, the Hornets were exploring trading offers with Chris Paul when he requested an arrangement with the New York Knicks. The Hornets considered other franchises as bargaining allies, including the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors, but Paul had declared that he wished to be traded to New York or Los Angeles. A three-team contract was negotiated between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets, but the offer was denied by Commissioner David Stern.[20] On 14 December 2011, the Hornets signed an agreement with the Los Angeles Clippers to send Paul to Los Angeles in exchange for Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and a first-round draught pick acquired by the Clippers from a Minn swap. In January 2019, Davis applied for a franchise contract and was fined for falsely revealing the bid. The Pelicans received the first overall pick at the 2019 NBA draught draught NBA lottery on May 14, 2019, with just a six percent chance of winning it. The Pelicans have decided on 15 June 2019 to trade Davis with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers agreed to send Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks, including the fourth overall pick in the 2019 NBA draught, to the Pelicans in exchange. The Pelicans have agreed to trade draught rights to the Atlanta Hawks for the fourth overall NBA draught option in 2019, winning the draught rights to the 8th, 17th and 35th NBA draught picks in 2019.
MBPublished 4 years ago in UnbalancedLos Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers is an American professional basketball franchise, based in Los Angeles. The Lakers play in the Pacific Division of the National Basketball Association as a member of the league's Western Conference. The Lakers play their home games at the Staples Center, an venue shared with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. The Lakers are one of history's most prolific NBA franchises, winning 16 NBA trophies, second behind the Boston Celtics. The franchise started in 1947 with the purchase of a disbanded team, the Detroit Diamonds of the National Basketball League. The new team started playing in Minneapolis, and the Minneapolis Lakers were renamed themselves. Initially an NBL team, the Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the Basketball Association of America, where they would win five of the next six titles, led by star George Mikan. They transferred to Los Angeles before the season of 1960–61, with Mikan's retirement in the late 1950s having struggled financially. Six times in the 1960s, led by Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Hall of Famers, Los Angeles reached the NBA Finals, but lost each game to the Celtics, beginning a long, storied rivalry. In 1968, the Lakers drafted four-time NBA Most Valuable Player Wilt Chamberlain and won their sixth NBA title — the first in Los Angeles — in 1972, led by new head coach Bill Sharman. Upon West and Chamberlain's retirement, the team drafted Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who also received multiple MVP awards but were unable to finalise in the late 1970s. The 1980s Lakers were dubbed "Showtime," due to their fast break-offense led by Magic Johnson. The team won five titles in a nine-year stretch, with Hall of Famers Jordan, Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, and was led by Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley. Since Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson retired, the franchise struggled in the early 1990's, before adding Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in 1996. Around 2000 and 2002, the team won three consecutive championships with the duo, led by another Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, giving the franchise its second "three-peat," adding two more trophies in 2009 and 2010 while failing to regain its former dominance in the decade that followed. The Lakers hold record set for NBA's longest winning streak, 33 straight games, during the 1971–72 season. Twenty-six Hall of Famers, including four coaching the franchise, starred for Los Angeles. The eight-time NBA MVP Award is won by four Lakers — Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan, O'Neal and Bryant. The nickname Laker comes from Minnesota state being a country of 10,000 Lakes. The squad colours are lilac, purple, and white. The Lakers logo consists of the franchise name, "Los Angeles Lakers," which is written in purple on top of a gold hoop. The player usually wears white jersey for Sunday and Holiday home games. At Staples Center, in L.A., the Lakers play their home games. Function in centre in Los Angeles. The stadium opens in the fall of 1999, with seats increased to 18,997 for the Lakers play. Executed and owned by AEG and L.A. Stadium Management, the stadium now houses the NHL's Los Angeles Clippers, the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and Los Angeles Kings. The Lakers have been playing their home games for 32 seasons before moving to Staples Center at The Forum in Inglewood, California located about 10 miles southwest of the current site for the franchise. During the 1999 pre-season, the Lakers played their home games at the Forum before moving permanently to the Staples Center and staging a pre-season game against the Golden State Warriors on October 9, 2009, this time in Los Angeles to mark the team's 50th anniversary season. In the first seven years in Los Angeles, the franchise has played her home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, south of Downtown Los Angeles. The club played its home games at the Minneapolis Auditorium from 1947 to 1960 when the team played in Minneapolis.
MBPublished 4 years ago in Unbalanced