Washington Wizards

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.