NBA team naming basis (details):
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
On the morning of September 3, 2008, with the Oklahoma City Thunder Homer's original Sonics team held a press conference and announced their new team name - Thunder. The newest NBA team was finally born, which also represented the end of the SuperSonics. The Thunder's predecessor, the Supersonics, was named because Seattle is the headquarters of Boeing.
2. Toronto Raptors
Among NBA teams, the Raptors are a relatively young team. In the 1990s, the image of dinosaurs was accepted by many young people. When the club asked fans to vote for a team name, "Raptors" instantly won the hearts of young fans. On May 15, 1994, the club announced the team's name as "Raptors".
3. Utah Jazz
In 1974, NBA headquarters approved the city of New Orleans to build a new team. The team moved to Salt Lake City in 1979, but they still retained their original name.
4. Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies were born in 1995 as part of the NBA's overseas expansion plan. Their home stadium was located in Vancouver, Canada, and they were very famous in Western Canada. The representative animal "Grizzly Bear" named the team, symbolizing the power of basketball. In 2001, the Grizzlies moved back to Memphis, Tennessee, USA and changed their name to the Memphis Grizzlies.
5. Washington Wizards
In 1946, a basketball team called the "Bullets" was established in Baltimore. In 1996, club owner Paulin decided to change the violent team name, and finally decided to use "Wizards", which symbolizes infinite energy and super power. This is also Paulin's hope for the team, hoping that A team with intelligence and magic.
6. Atlanta Hawks
In 1946, the NBL League began to build a basketball team in the three cities along the Mississippi River: Molina, Rock Island, and Davenport. .
7. Boston Celtics
The team was founded in 1946. Owner Walt Brown founded the Boston Garden area major company and named the team himself. Brown picked the "Celtics" at a glance because there was a famous basketball team in New York from 1914 to 1939, called the Celtic Aboriginals. There are many Irish immigrants in Boston, and the Irish are proud of their pure Celtic ancestry. Green, clover, St. Patrick's Day, these are all Celtic elements.
8. New Orleans Hornets
Before the team joined the NBA, the basketball team was originally called the "Charlotte Spirit". But North Carolinians have never been very accepting of this name. In 1988, the club held a call for team names among fans, and "Wasps" was finally selected. The name dates back to the Revolutionary War, when a British general named Charles Cornwallis wrote in his war front report to the British royal family: The war here was fierce, just like "a swarm of bees fighting in a honeycomb." ". The Hornets have a very beautiful LOGO, shaped like a flower. In fact, the outline is from the LOGO of the local NFL team the Saints. It is said that the shape is an iris, which is a representative of the French royal family.
9. Chicago Bulls
After the Bulls joined the NBA in 1966, Dick Clay, the club's first owner, personally decided on this name. Clay said: "The Bulls are unyielding and fearless in the face of danger. What is more valuable than this spirit on the basketball court?!" So the Bulls became the name of the team and it has been used for half a century.
10. Cleveland Cavaliers
In 1970, Cleveland established a new basketball team. During the naming prize event held in the newspaper, Jerry Tottenham Mko's "Knight" emerged as the winner. When explaining his inspiration, he said: "The Cavaliers represent a group of brave and fearless people. No matter what the final fate is, they never surrender."
11. Dallas Mavericks
This name was also born from the fans’ naming prize event.
In 1980, after a debate at Dallas' WBAP radio station, the club's executive committee finally decided to use "Mavericks" because it best matched the image of the Texas Cowboys. In fact, as many JRS said, Maveric here refers to a small animal, and its extended meaning is a maverick, so although it is translated as a calf, the LOGO looks like a horse.
12. Denver Nuggets
In 1967, when the team was still a member of the ABA League, the team was named the Denver Rockets. In the same year, the San Diego Rockets (now the Houston Rockets) were born in the NBA.
13. Detroit Pistons
Originally this was a team located in the Windwinner area and belonged to the NBL (National Basketball League). The team moved to Detroit in 1957. Detroit is known as the automobile capital in the United States, so the word "piston" still applies, but the place name and the name of the piston factory owner have disappeared.
14. Golden State Warriors
In 1946, Philadelphia was preparing to establish an NBA team. The owner named the new team after an old team. In 1925, the ABL Philadelphia basketball team was named "Warriors" ". After the team moved west in 1962, the team was renamed the San Francisco Warriors, and then renamed again to the Golden State Warriors, which meant that it was a team representing all of California. In 1971 the team moved to Oakland. I’d like to correct everyone’s mistake here. The Warriors’ logo is really not the Golden Gate Bridge, but the newly built Bay Bridge. There was indeed a time when the Warriors’ logo was the Golden Gate Bridge. That was when Mullin was playing, and they were retro in the past few seasons. The night still passes.
15. Houston Rockets
The Rockets were originally in San Diego. In 1967, the San Diego Rockets became the 12th member of the NBA. In view of the growing aviation industry in the San Diego area, fans finally voted to name it "Rocket". After the team moved to Houston in 1971, the name miraculously still applied, showing its super predictability, because the most famous aerospace center in the United States is in Houston.
16. Indiana Pacers
Originally the team belonged to the ABA league, and a group of investors gave the team this name. Indiana lawyer Richard Tinkham said the name was chosen mainly because Indiana has the most famous racing venue in the world. The Pacers joined the NBA in 1976 and continued to use their name.
17. Portland Trail Blazers
In 1970, the Portland basketball team was named after the "Trail Blazers". Club founder Glickman believed that the name not only reflected the winding terrain features of the northwest United States and the Pacific Coast, but also marked the establishment of the state's first professional team.
18. Los Angeles Clippers
In 1978, the Buffalo Braves moved to San Diego. Seven years ago, San Diego, one of the NBA cities, lost a team: the Rockets moved to Houston. But Santiago didn't like the name "Braves", so "Clippers" replaced it. The new team name comes from the picturesque San Diego area, especially known for its cruise ships in the Bay Area.
19. Los Angeles Lakers
In the 1947-1948 season, the Minneapolis Lakers were a member of the National Basketball League (NBL). Later, the team transferred to the American Basketball Association (ABA) ), the predecessor of the NBA. The word "Lakers" comes from a common saying in Minnesota, saying that it is a "land of ten thousand lakes." The team moved in 1960. Although there is not much lake water in Los Angeles, the team name is still the same
20. Miami Heatwave
In 1988, Miami became one of the NBA cities. Club General Manager Buffman said "heat wave" is the most vivid image, because when it comes to Miami, the first thing you feel is the heat wave hitting your face.
21. San Antonio Spurs
Joined the NBA in 1976. The team was originally founded in Dallas as the Chabalas. Three years later, when the team moved to San Antonio, the club wanted to change its name. "Spurs" contained a strong flavor of the American West, and was eventually chosen.
Anyone who has watched Western movies knows that there is always a thorn on the back of the shoes worn by cowboys. This thorn is the "spur", which is used by the cowboy to spur the horse to speed up when riding, so spur also means "motivation".
22. Milwaukee Bucks
In 1968, "Bucks" became the name of this new NBA team. The fan who came up with the name won the grand prize: a beautiful sports car. In Wisconsin, native bucks are often seen.
23. Minnesota Timberwolves
In 1989, the Timberwolves joined the NBA, and a naming competition started among fans. Among the two popular names, "Timberwolves" and "Northern Lights", the club chose The former. Besides Alaska, Minnesota is the only place in the United States where wolves roam. Most importantly, no professional team has ever used this name. Minneapolis is the real "Lakers"...
24. New Jersey Nets
In 1967, there was a team in the ABA League called the New Jersey Americans. The following year, the team moved to Cormac, New York, and was renamed the New York Nets. The Nets have always been an indispensable part of the basketball game. When the Nets joined the NBA in 1976, the location of the game was changed, but the name remained the same. The Nets were in New York when they founded the team, and at that time there was already an NFL team, the Jets, and an MLB team, the Mets, so they came up with the rhyming name Nets. I don’t know if it was the reason for the name. These three teams The team has been weak...
25. New York Knicks
The Knicks junk dealers refer to the Dutch people who lived in New York. Long decades have passed, and this ancient name has been retained, except that "Knicks junk dealer" was shortened to "Knicks".
26. Philadelphia 76ers
Entered the NBA in 1949. After a new ownership in 1963, it moved to Philadelphia. The team's name was also changed to the 76ers, in order to commemorate the Declaration of Independence drafted in Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. Let me complain about the translation again. As we all know, in English, ~er not only means people, but also things, so the name 76er is actually more suitable to be translated as 76 years. The same goes for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.
27. Phoenix Suns
In 1968, more than 28,000 fans participated in the event to name the team. The club hopes the team's name will highlight Arizona's year-round sunshine. In the end, "The Sun" proposed by Selinda was chosen for its clear meaning and direct expression.
28. Sacramento Kings
The team was first established in 1945 and was a member of the National Basketball League (NBL). The team's original name was the "Rochester Royals." The team moved to Cincinnati in 1957 and was renamed the Kansas Kings in 1972 to avoid having the same name as a baseball team in Kansas. The "Kings" name was retained when the team moved to Sacramento in 1985. The NHL team in Los Angeles is also called the Kings, and this year it created a miracle of winning eight championships. However, the Los Angeles media made their own mistake and mistook the Los Angeles Kings' logo for the Sacramento Kings. In addition, when Nash moved to the Lakers, Canadians thought Rick Nash went to the Los Angeles Kings... From this, we can also see that the United States and Canada have different tastes in sports...
29 , Orlando Magic
When Orlando, Florida was soliciting names for the team in the late 1980s, most fans preferred the names Magic and Juice. In 1989, the team was finally named the Magic. The name was used because Orlando is a tourist destination, and locals believe that coming to Orlando is to come to the land of dreams. Everyone knows it because of Disneyland.
30. Charlotte Bobcats
The Bobcats are the new NBA team. This may be because the Bobcats are very tenacious animals and have very sharp claws, which symbolizes that although they are new players, they have With their lynx-like claws, no one else dares to look down upon them.