[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

My cousin was asking me where do certain teams get their names.  He asked about the Lakers and I told him it’s because they were from Minneapolis where there are many lakes.  Then the Celtics because of Boston’s high population of Irish people.  He asked about the Wizards and I told him there are a lot of magicians in Washington, which is a lie hahahahaaha.  And I told him in Charlotte, there are many bobcats roaming the streets and that when he realized I was just messing with him.

 

But where do teams get their names? 

[Tha_PrinceParticipant]

 The land where the Air Canada Centre was built had prehistoric fossils found there believed to be from the velociraptor. 

[Tha_PrinceParticipant]

I just totally made that up but it sounds legit lol, but all kidding aside names usually stem from the location of the team ex. Phoenix suns ( sunny in Arizona), Minnesota Timberwolves (Wolf population in minnesota) and some are just marketing strategies to get people buy into an organization with a cool name ex. Oklahoma City Thunder

[McDunkin]

I wanted to make a joke sooo bad…but this is 2011 McDunkin

http://nbahoopsonline.com/Articles/2007-08/teamnames.html

One might not know it from just a casual glance, but history has played a big part in the naming of most of the NBA franchises. Many of the NBA franchises get their names for the cities historical past, or from a city in which the team first originated in. This is especially true with the teams who entered the League after 1949, but even those teams have some history behind their names.

Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks were first called the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. Tri-Cities(Molina and Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa) is located in the midwest, in lands which once belonged to the Kickapoo,Sauk, and Fox indians. The three tribes fought a long war against the United Stated called the Blackhawk war after their chief Blackhawk. The Teams name was shorted to just Hawks after the team moved to Milwaukee.

 

Boston Celtics

The name Celtics refers to Boston’s Irish American population Many Irish believe they are ancestors of the ancient druid people called the Celts. The teams logo and mascot also reflect the Irish connections as it’s a traditional symbol of Ireland; the Leprichan.

 

Charlotte Bobcats

The Bobcats is one of the few generic names in the NBA with no historical meaning to the city of Charlotte.

 

Chicago Bulls

On the surface the name Bulls may seem very generic, but it’s not. Chicago was the hub of the meat packing industry during the late 19th and early 20h century. Texas longhorns would be taken by rail from Abilene and Dodge City to Chicago for slaughter and then distribution around the country. For a long time the city boasted the largest stockyard in the world.

 

Cleveland Cavaliers.

The team Cavalier refers to someone who supported the royalist during the English civil war. . The most likely derivitive for the name of the team may be a corruption of the word Chivalier, which is a French Cavalryman. One very famous Cavalryman was a George A Custer, leader of the massicred 7th cavalry at the little bighorn. Custer was born in Ohio.

 

Dallas Mavericks

Despite popular belief a Maverick is not a horse. The team was first given to stubborn longhorns, but then was quickly applied to those who wrangled the beasts. Texas has a long important history of cattle drives and this is where the Mavericks get their name from; The lone cowboy on the prarie.

 

Denver Nuggets

Before the Modern team there was an original NBA team called the Nuggets. Both teams take their name from the Colorado Gold rush of 1859.

 

Detroit Pistons.

Originally the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, the teams name comes from team owner Frank Zollners piston manufacturing company. Though, by some strange twist of fate the name still greatly applies to the team as Detroit is one of the leading manufacture of automobles in the world.

 

Golden State Warriors.

Previously known as the San Francisco and Philadelphia Warriors the teams name is likely just a generic name. But it may have a historically connection with the Delaware Indians who inhabited the area before British Colonist displaced them.

 

Houston Rockets.

One of the most ironic name twist in sports history belongs to the Rockets. The Rockets were originally the San Deigo Rockets, which was just a generic name. But the team got a new twist on its name when it moved to Houston; home of NASA’s Mission control.

 

Indiana Pacers.

Not many people know what a Pacer is, but the name is very important in the history of Indianapolis. A Pacer is the car which comes out and sets the pace during a red flag in the Indy 500.

 

Los Angeles Clippers.

A Clipper is a long sailing ship from the 19th century. The team got its named after it moved to San Diego from Buffalo in 1979. San Diego is a very important port city and has been for centuries. Many Clipper ships from South America docked in San Diego and other California ports during the 1849 gold rush.

 

Los Angeles Lakers.

To the casual fan this name makes absolutely no sense. But once you realize the team originally played in Minneapolis it starts making a lot more sense. Lakers are large ships found on the Great Lakes. Minnesota has a coast line with Lake Superior. Another variation of the name may be from Minnesota being known as the land of 10,000 lakes.

 

Memphis Grizzlies.

Mostly a generic left over from when the team moved from Vancouver. But the pacific northwest was a popular place for bear hunting in the past.

 

Miami Heat.

A generic name referring to the warm tempatures of the South Florida region.

 

Milwaukee Bucks.

A generic name with little historical significants

 

Minnesota Timberwolves.

Wolf hunting was a popular sport in the early 20th century but this name appears to be mostly generic.

 

New Orleans Hornets.

The team originated in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Carolinas were invaded by the British in the Revolutionary war, and during one such invasion the British stepped into a trap laid by the Americans and the British general said it was like a Hornets nest. The name Hornets won out of a contest held to name the team in 1987.

 

New Jersey Nets.

A generic basketball term

 

New York Knicks.

Not many people know what Knicks really means. Knicks is a shortening of the work Knickerbockers; which where a type of pants worn by Dutch immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

 

Orlando Magic

The Magic got its name after the Disney world theme part located in Orlando.

 

Philadelphia 76ers.

Named in honor of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia.

Phoenix Suns.

 A generic name referring to hot tempatures of Arizona.

Portland Trailblazers.

Portland was the end of the Oregon trail, a trial which brought millions of people into the American west. A Trailblazer was someone who opened up the route for the wagons to travel upon. This name was usually a former fur trapper who knew the area well.

 

Sacramento Kings

A generic term referring to a monarch, but no real American historical connections.

 

San Antonio Spurs.

Spurs are sharp objects worn on boots to control horses. While it doesn’t have any historical connection to San Antonio and is mostly generic it does have a connection back to Texas cattle days of the 1860s, 70s and 80s.

 

Seattle Supersonics.

Named so because of the large Boeing aircraft plant in the area.

 

Toronto Raptors.

Named after the Dinosaur in the Jurassic Park movies. No historical connection at all.

 

Utah Jazz

The name Jazz stuck with the team when it moved from New Orleans. New Orleans is the jazz capitol of the world. Most is not all great jazz musicians begin their careers in New Orleans.

 

Washington Wizards.

Wizards is a generic term picked after public pressure forced the team to change its name from Bullets to Wizards. Bullets had no historical meaning either.

 

 

[WizardofOzParticipant]

The Washington Wizards got their name from when a contest. Former deceased Wizards owner be Pollin wanted to change the name from Bullets because their was a lot of gun violence in D.C. and he thought that it was giving the city a bad reputation. FINE! But if you’re going to change the name from Bullets (the coolest NBA franchise name ever), at least come up with a better name then WIZARDS. When the name was changed, a contest was held to choose a new name and the choices were narrowed to the Dragons, Express, Stallions, Sea Dogs, or Wizards The Washington SEA DOGS! LMAO! All those choices were horrible.

The name’s not the only bad thing. The color scheme and logo are both HORRIBLE too. I hate the teal, dark blue, black and gold, and the logo looks like something that can be Tinkerbell’s husband. Just TERRIBLE. And I’m not the only Wizards fan that feels this way. I’m really glad new Wizards owner Ted Leonsis is changing the colors back to red/white/blue next season. There were some rumors that he would also change the name back to the Bullets, but the Wizards fan base was to split and he said that it would cause millions to rebrand. That’s dissapointing to hear, but at least the regular colors are coming back.:=)

[llperez]

Charlotte bobcats was chosen becasue the owner at the time was named bob johnson and they kinda made the name after him.

[PlatypusParticipant]

The Wizards need to go back to being the Bullets

[NashyMingParticipant]

Interesting read.  Thanks, McDunkin.

I think the Bullets change to Wizards happened because ex-owner Pollin’s friend was killed by gunshot.  After the incident, Pollin decided to change the name and ended up with Wizards.

 

[bigblackNbeautifulParticipant]

 I was just thinking this after playing the bobcats on 2k11 and the annoucer stating the origin of the name. But I think some name changes should be made in the future, I always thought it made sense to switch jazz and hornets. Based off of the facts that utah is the beeehive state and new orleans the jazz capital of the world. But I also am not a fan of warriors, bobcats, wizards, or the nets(especially when they go to ny…. all the second tier ny teams would rhyme then…. nets, jets, mets…) but also way cool bout the color scheme off the wizards are they changing the logo.

[Author]

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