1. The origin of the name of the Houston Rockets:
In 1967, San Diego became the 12th member of the NBA. The city government called on citizens to name the team. After several selections, "Rocket", which reflected the rapidly developing space age industry in the area, became the name of the team.
Although the Rockets moved to Houston in 1971. But the Rockets' name also applies. Because the United States Aerospace Center NASA is located locally.
2. Dallas Mavericks
In 1979, Don Carter applied to the NBA to establish an NBA team in Dallas. Previously, Dallas once had a professional basketball team (the Jungle Team of the ABA League). But the team moved to San Antonio and later became the Spurs.
At the 1980 league meeting, NBA officials agreed to Carter's request. Approved for the Dallas team to participate in NBA league games starting from the 1980-81 season. In March 1980, WBAP radio station launched a recruitment campaign for new NBA players. Shortly thereafter, a list of more than 4,600 names was handed before the five-member arbitration panel. The arbitration panel singled out the Mavericks, Arguers and Express for team owner Donald Carter to choose. Eventually, Mavericks became the name of the team.
Mavericks should be interpreted as calves (horses) that were not branded in the old west or calves (horses) that left the team and became lost. Dallas is a city in Texas in the western United States. It was named Mavericks to commemorate the life of the local western cowboys. Similar to the local NFL team Dallas Cowboys
3. Memphis Grizzlies
Before the 1995-96 season, the NBA league expanded and the Grizzlies were in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. was born. The team's owners wanted to choose a name that would fit in with Vancouver and the British Columbia region.
After preliminary negotiations, the team chose MOUNTIES as the name of the team to express praise for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. However, it didn't take long for the team to decide to use the name Grizzlies instead. Because grizzly bears are endemic to British Columbia, they hold a special place not only in the culture of Northwest Canada, but in Canada as a whole.
However, when the team moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 2001, there was a desire to give the team a new name. In order to reflect some characteristics of the team's new home.
However, after team management discussed the issue with season ticket holders, fans and the business community, they said that although Tennessee does not have a history of grizzly bears, people still tend to maintain the Grizzlies. name.
Although the team's name has not changed, the team's logo has. The new logo embodies strength, ability, courage, character, perseverance and fearlessness. The background color of the team logo is blue.
4. New Orleans Hornets
Before Charlotte City (the city where the New Orleans Hornets were originally located) had an NBA team, the city’s basketball club was named Summer Lott Ghosts, but the name has always been opposed by Carolinas.
To this end, the club solicited team names among fans, and 6 names participated in the final competition. In the end, Bumblebee won. In 1988, the team officially adopted the name Hornets.
The bumblebee's name dates back to the Revolutionary War. At that time, British General Charles Cornwallis wrote in a letter to the King of England from Carolina: "Fighting in this place is like fighting in a honeycomb."
In the 2002-03 season, the team Moved to New Orleans, but still uses the Hornets name. During Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the team temporarily moved to Oklahoma City, but kept the Hornets name.
5. San Antonio Spurs
In 1967, the predecessor of the San Antonio Spurs, the Dallas Jungle of the ABA League, was established in Dallas. The team was named Jungle because when the owners decided to form the team, they were having dinner at an exclusive club called the Jungle Club.
In 1970, the team was renamed the Texas Grove, but its home court was still in Dallas.
In 1973, a group of San Antonio businessmen bought the Texas Jungle Team and moved the team to San Antonio, because San Antonio is also a Texas city. In order to commemorate the local cowboys, the team was named after the spurs on the heels of the cowboy's leather boots that were used to drive horses. In 1976, the Spurs joined the NBA with three other ABA teams - the New York Nets, Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers.
6. Denver Nuggets
This team was born out of the Denver Rockets who joined the ABA League in 1967. In the same year, the San Diego Rockets (now the Houston Rockets) joined the NBA.
Seven years later, Denver joined the NBA. But since there is already a Rockets team in the league. So Denver had to change its name. So to commemorate the gold rush that broke out in Colorado in the 19th century, the Denver Rockets became the Denver Nuggets. Of course, this is also to commemorate the "old Denver Nuggets" who played in the NBA for one year in the 1949-1950 season.
7. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves have not been in the NBA for a long time. This team only officially became a member of the league in 1989. The Timberwolves were chosen as the team's name because Minnesota is the main habitat of the Timberwolves in the United States.
This logo was also selected through the "Team Name Contest" activity. Fans*** cast 6,076 votes and provided 1,284 unique names. Among them, the Timberwolves, who were nominated 17 times, and the North Pole became the last two names to participate in the finals. The other 1282 entries also have their own characteristics, and even include some names that need to be looked up in the dictionary.
8. Portland Trail Blazers
On February 10, 1970, the NBA officially approved Portland's formation of a professional basketball team to join the league. Two weeks later, the club's executive vice president Harry Glickman launched a "Team Name" campaign. "There were probably 10,000 pieces of mail," he recalled. The most popular of these was the Pioneers, but that name was already used by a team at Portland's Lewis-Clark College. So they decided to use Trail Blazers as the name of the team
"172 people named the team 'Trail Blazers', and the team committee finally decided it as the name of the team." Glickman explain.
"They decided to select one lucky winner among the 172 fans who named the team 'Trail Blazers' by drawing lots. The draw will be held on March 13 during the regular season game between Seattle and New York. proceed,” he said. Blackburn was the final winner and received two Blazers season tickets for that year.
9. Seattle SuperSonics
The name of this team that joined the NBA in 1967 comes from the Boeing aircraft that frequently take off and land in Seattle. A year before the team was formed, Boeing announced their plans to develop the Concorde jet as a supersonic transport.
Although the plan to develop a new concept of supersonic passenger aircraft did not materialize, supersonic speed left a deep impression on the public mind. So the name "Supersonics" won with an overwhelming advantage in the team naming activity.
10. Utah Jazz
In 1974, the city of New Orleans held a naming campaign for its professional basketball team. Citizens across the city provided more than 6,500 names to the event organizing committee. Eight names ended up entering the "retest phase": Jazz, Duke, Crescent, Aviator, Acadian, Blues, Delta and Knight. After some heated discussions, team officials announced on June 7, 1974 that the new team would be named the New Orleans Jazz.
Among the people who participated in the naming activity, three people proposed the name "Jazz". Therefore, team officials specially invited the 1974 Miss New Orleans to draw one lucky winner among the three. In the end, 27-year-old businessman Steve Brown emerged as the winner. The former New York player, who once played in the same basketball league as the famed "Dr. J," received two Jazz season tickets as a reward. The Jazz also invited him to watch the 1975 NBA All-Star game.
The "Jazz Capital" New Orleans is very fond of this name that can represent the characteristics of the team. Romantic blue, gold and dark green have become the main colors of the team logo.
For the next five years, New Orleans was the home of the Jazz. However, when the team ended the 1978-79 season with the worst regular season record in NBA history, the team management decided to move their home court to Salt Lake City, Utah. Although the team's new home had no "jazz" heritage, the name stuck.
11. Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors were one of the first 11 teams to join the NBA. While in Philadelphia in 1946, his owners decided to name the team after an old basketball team in Philadelphia, the Warriors. This team has been a member of the American Basketball Association as early as 1925.
The name of this team changes with the location of the team. In 1962, after the team moved to the West Coast, the team changed their name to the San Francisco Warriors, symbolizing that the team belonged to the entire state of California. In 1971, the team moved to Oakland and changed its name to the Golden State Warriors.
12. Los Angeles Clippers
In 1978, the coastal city of San Diego, California welcomed the Buffalo Warriors to settle in the city, because San Diego’s team, the Rockets, moved there 7 years ago. Went to Houston.
However, San Diego city sports officials believe that the name Warriors cannot represent the spirit of San Diego. To this end, a call for names was held in San Diego. In the end, the name Clipper was chosen because San Diego was known for the large ships that moved through the San Diego Bay. In 1984, the Clippers moved to Los Angeles but kept their original name.
13. Sacramento Kings
The predecessor of the Kings was the Rochester Royals who joined the NBL in 1947. The team moved to Cincinnati in 1957, but at that time the team's name was still the Royals.
In 1972 they moved to Kansas City. Since the name of the local baseball team in Kansas was the Royals, they changed their names to the Kansas City and Omaha Kings.
Three years later, they dropped the Omaha from their name. In 1985, the Kings moved to Sacramento, but this time they did not change their name.
14. Los Angeles Lakers
In 1947, the Minneapolis Lakers joined the NBL league. A year later, the team transferred to the BAA League, the predecessor of the NBA League.
The name of the Lakers comes from another name for Minneapolis - the land of a thousand lakes. Although there is no big lake in Los Angeles, when the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960, they did not change their original name.
15. Phoenix Suns
Team general manager Jerry Colangelo chose "Suns" among the works for the "Team Name Request" event attended by 28,000 people. as the name of the team. Later, a fan named Selinda, who played under the name "Suns", won a year's season tickets and $1,000 in cash.
16. Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics were born in 1946. The Basketball Association of America (BAA), the predecessor of the NBA, was also established that year.
Walter Brown, then the leader of the Boston Garden Corporation, wanted a new name for the team.
After hearing the news, many Bostonians enthusiastically named the team, including the Cyclones, Olympians and Unicorns.
However, Brown chose the Celtics. In this regard, Brown explained that the Celtics originated from the traditional New York Celtics team from 1914 to 1939. Moreover, there are many people of Irish descent in Boston.
17. New Jersey Nets
In 1967, the New Jersey Americans became an emerging force in the ABA League. A year later, they moved to New York and changed their name to the New York Nets, after one of the most important components of the basketball court.
Of course, this name is also meant to make it easy for the people of New York to pronounce it.
At that time, in addition to the Major League Baseball Yankees, New York also had another professional baseball team, the Mets (METS), and a professional football team, the Jets (JETS). Team owner Brown listened to a reporter's suggestion that the pronunciation of Nets rhymed with the pronunciation of Mets and Jets, so he changed Americans to Nets.
With the NBA's annexation of the ABA in 1976, the New York Nets joined the NBA. Since the NBA already had a symbol like the New York Knicks at that time, it was difficult for the Nets to compete commercially with the Knicks in the same city. Therefore, they chose to move to New Jersey, 40 miles away from New York City and across a river, and changed their name to the New Jersey Nets. .
18. Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers, formerly known as the Syracuse Nationals, are one of the "founding fathers" of the NBA.
In the spring of 1963, Philadelphians Ive Kosloff and Ike Richmond purchased the Syracuse Nationals. The NBA approved this purchase on May 22.
On August 3, 1963, the team held a meeting to prepare to change the team name. Among 500 suggestions, the team selected the 76ers as the team name to commemorate the signing of the American Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776. Similar to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL, commemorating the era when gold mines were discovered in San Francisco.
Walter Steinberg, who came up with the name, also won himself a luxury trip to the West Coast of the United States by virtue of his small piece of paper and the only 25-word explanation of the team name. .
19. Toronto Raptors
On April 23, 1993, the NBA announced that they had received an application from the Canadian Professional Basketball Co., Ltd. The application stated that Canadian Professional Basketball Corporation hopes to become the owner of the new NBA team. On September 30 of the same year, the NBA League expanded meeting decided that the team formed by Canadian Professional Basketball Co., Ltd. will become the 28th team in the NBA League and can participate in NBA games starting from the 1995-96 season.
As a result, a nationwide naming campaign was launched vigorously in Canada. Most of the 10 finalists were named after animals: Beavers, Bobcats, Dragons, Grizzlies, Hogs (Toronto’s nickname is Hogtown), Raptors, Scorpions, T -Rex cats, Tarantulas, and Terriers.
In fact, the correct meaning of Raptors should refer to the fastest velociraptor among dinosaurs. On May 15, 1994, the Canadian Professional Basketball Team decided to use the name Athlon. The reason is that the popular movie "Jurassic Park" and dinosaur craze were both trends among young people at that time. The team colors are also set to be bright red, purple, black and silver.
20. Knicks
The name of the Knicks comes from the English "KNICKERBOCKER". This word refers to the descendants of Dutch immigrants, that is, the descendants of early Dutch immigrants in New York. The original meaning of the word refers to a kind of bloomers that are gathered and tied tightly below the knees. In the 17th century, early Dutch immigrants in New York often rolled up their trousers to around their knees to facilitate their work. Over time, this became synonymous with descendants of Dutch immigrants.
21. Chicago Bulls
The name of the Bulls expresses power and strength. Moreover, the name is closely associated with Chicago's meatpacking industry and bullrings. Moreover, the name of the Bulls and the names of other professional teams in Chicago all have one characteristic, that is, the main names of the teams are all one syllable in English, such as the Bears (BEARS), the White Sox (WHITE SOX), and the Cubs CUBS and BLACK HAWKS.
Klein said at the time: "We are the meat-eating capital of the world. At first, I considered using matador. But matador is at least three syllables. So I sat in the room and talked with me My wife and kids were talking about the names. My youngest son, Mark, said, 'Dad, there are a lot of Bulls!' .
"
22. Cleveland Cavaliers
In 1970, a newspaper in Cleveland called "THE PLAIN DEALER" held an event to collect names for the city's newly established basketball team.
The winner of the game, Jerry Tonk, wrote in his bid letter that the Cavaliers represented a team of bold, fearless men who never surrendered, never surrendered, no matter what. Victory or not.
However, the Cavaliers' English name CAVALIERS is often shortened to CAVS
23. Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons originated in Fordville. The city was founded in 1941 by local automobile piston magnate Fred Zollner. It was originally called the Ford Wien Zollner Pistons. The name was probably given by the owner for his own advertising.
< p> When the team was founded, they joined the then NBL. In 1948, the Pistons jumped to the league's competitor, the BAA. In 1949, Fred Zollner brokered the "good things" between the NBL and the BAA and merged the two basketball leagues. It became the NBA. The Pistons became a member of the NBA Central Division.In 1957, the Pistons moved to Detroit and were renamed the Detroit Pistons.
24. Indiana Pacers
The name of this ABA league's "founding fathers" team was decided by a group of investors
Indiana lawyer Richard Ting. Tinkham explained the name this way. On the one hand, the walking horse represents the tradition of the state's harness racing and on the other hand, it also represents the tradition of the Indy 500.
According to Tinkham's memory. , the name of the Pacers was decided immediately when the name was discussed, and it was not the main point of the debate. There was a long debate about whether it should be called the Indiana Pacers or the Indianapolis Pacers.
In 1976. , when the team joined the NBA, they adopted this name
25. Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks entered the NBA in 1968. This name was 1400. The winner was R.D. Trebrix of Whitefish Bay, who also received a new car because his name for the team was chosen. Cars as prizes.
John Erickson, the Bucks' general manager at the time, said the judges chose the name that was closest to native Wisconsin life because of the deer's presence in the local wildlife. In 1946, the National Basketball League NBL approved the Bucks as the team name because of its numerical superiority.
26. Atlanta Hawks
A team was established in three cities: Moraine, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa.
Because of the Sauk leader Black Hawk. Active in Rock Island, and the Black Hawk War of 1831 was carried out in the nearby area, so the team was named the three-city Black Hawk (BLACKHAWK) team.
In 1949, the Blackhawks joined the NBA. In 1951, the Blackhawks settled in Milwaukee and the team name was changed to HAWK. In 1955, the team moved to St. Louis and was still known as the Eagles. In 1868, the team moved to Atlanta and was still called the Eagles.
27. Bobcats
The Bobcats are the youngest team in the NBA. The team's Bobcat logo depicts the spirit of this new team and also shows the team's aggressive spirit and aspirations.
The team's logo highlights the bobcat's two special ears, which also show the neat and smooth characteristics of the bobcat. At the same time, the bobcat's ears are erect and its teeth are exposed, as if it is preparing to launch an attack.
The Bobcats' logo maintains the image of the Bobcats. The rich orange color that is unique to the Bobcats has become the main color of the Bobcats logo. Meanwhile, bright blue, black and silver, along with Bobcat orange, make up the team's four colors.
Bobcats are native to the Carolinas in the eastern United States, but are often seen in other parts of the United States. The Bobcats are nocturnal, secretive, ferocious and quick, and often launch attacks with the ability to jump 10 feet, making them the most ideal representatives of Charlotte's new NBA team.
28. Miami Heat
In 1988, Miami had an NBA team. Team officials wanted the team's name to appeal to South Florida fans, so they decided to conduct a team name campaign.
Enthusiastic fans provided more than 5,000 names, including Shark, Palm Tree, Beach, Heat, Barracuda, Flamingo, Blackskin, Cyclone, and Floridian.
Team boss Buffman said: "We chose the name Heat. Because when you think of Miami, you first think of the Heat."
29. Orlando Magic
Orlando businessman Jim Hewitt and former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Pat Williams were the original sponsors of the team. They decided when they first formed the team that regardless of whether the NBA could agree to join the team, they must first give the team a resounding name.
So they called on the residents of the city to name the team, and then they selected 4 names from all 4296 names for consideration. These four names are - Heat, Theme, Juice and Magic.
Just when the arbitration panel was about to choose one of the four names, Pat Williams' 7-year-old daughter came to Orlando from Philadelphia to visit her father. When the little girl finished her trip and was about to say goodbye to the city. Pat Williams asked her at the airport what she thought of the city that houses Disneyland.
"I really like it here. It's like magic here."
The little girl's words made Pat Williams make up his mind. So eight months later, the NBA added a new team called the Orlando Magic.
30. Washington Wizards
The Wizards are the team with the most name changes in the NBA. In 1946, the NBA approved Baltimore to use a nearby arms foundry to form an NBA team, the Bullets. But the team announced its disbandment soon after.
After that, the Chicago Packers - later the Chicago Zephyrs - moved to Baltimore. In 1963, they changed the team's name to the Bullets. In 1974, the Baltimore Bullets moved to Washington and were renamed the Washington Bullets.
Due to later accusations that bullets had violent tendencies, in 1996 the team's owner Abe Paulin decided to adopt a name that did not symbolize violence. On May 15, 1997, after fan voting, "Wizards" won from the last three candidates.