From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia
| Washington Wizards |
|
|
| Conference |
Eastern
Conference |
| Division |
Southeast Division |
| Founded |
1961 |
| History |
Chicago Packers
(1961-1962)
Chicago Zephyrs
(1962-1963)
Baltimore Bullets
(1963-1972)
Capital Bullets
(1973-1974)
Washington Bullets
(1974-1997)
Washington Wizards
(1997-present) |
| Arena |
MCI
Center |
| City |
Washington,
D.C. |
| Team Colors |
Blue, White, Gold, and Black |
| Head Coach |
Eddie Jordan |
| Owner |
Abe
Pollin |
| Championships |
1 (1978) |
| Conference Titles |
NBA:
4 (1971,
1975,
1978,
1979) |
| Division Titles |
7 (1969,
1971,
1972,
1973,
1974,
1975,
1979) |
- "Washington Bullets" redirects here. For
the song by The
Clash, see Washington
Bullets (song).
The Washington Wizards are
a National
Basketball Association team based in Washington,
D.C..
Home arenas
- International
Ampitheatre (1961-1962)
- Chicago
Coliseum (1962-1963)
- Baltimore
Civic Center (1963-1973)
- USAir
Arena (1973-1997)
- MCI
Center(1997-present)
Franchise history
The team now known as the Wizards
started as the Chicago
Packers in the 1961-62
season. The next season, they changed their name
to the Zephyrs. And the season after that, they
moved to Baltimore,
Maryland and became the Baltimore Bullets, no
relation to the 1940s
Bullets franchise.
The Late 1960's And 1970's
In 1968
The Bullets got 2 future hall of famers Earl
Monroe and Wes Unseld, and instantly the team
improved dramaticlly, in the 1968-69 season, the
Bullets made the playoffs with high expectations
to go further, but they went back down to earth
as they were ellimnated by the Knicks that season
in the first round, the next season the two teams
met again in the first round, and although this
one went to 7 games, the Knicks barely advanced
to the next round.
In the 1970-71 season, the Bullets
again met the Knicks, this time though in the Eastern
Conference Finals. With the Knicks team captain
Willis
Reed hurting in the finals, the injury free
Bullets took advantage of the abscence of the Knicks
Captain, and in Game 7 at New York's Madison
Square Garden, the Bullets' Gus
Johnson made a critical basket late in the game
as the Bullets beat the Knicks 93-91 to advance
to their first NBA Finals in their franchise history.
Even wnen Monroe was traded, the
Bullets remained a playoff contender throughout
the 1970's, Ironically they would face the Knicks
with Monroe in the 1973 NBA
Playoffs, and the Bullets didn't had a chance
as the Knicks beat the Bullets and go on to win
a World Championship that year.
In 1973,
the team moved to Landover,
Maryland and became the Capital Bullets,
and they changed their name to the Washington
Bullets the next season. During the transition,
the Bullets also played home games at Cole
Field House, the home of the University
of Maryland Terrapins, while waiting for the
completion of their new arena in Landover, the Capital
Centre (later known as the USAir/US
Airways Arena.) Through the mid-1990s, the Bullets
still played a few games per season in Baltimore.
The Bullets made it back to the
1975 NBA Finals where they we're heavily favored
to become the NBA Champions, it didn't happen as
they we're shockingly swept by the Golden
State Warriors in 4 games, they lost game 4
at the Capital Centre.
The Miracle 1977-78 Season
Although they had future hall of
famers Elvin
Hayes and Wes
Unseld on the team, The Bullets finished the
season 44-38 and were a longshot to win the NBA
Championship, but coach Dick
Motta coined the famed phrase "It ain't over
'til the fat lady sings!" This became the rallying
cry for the Bullets as they finished a playoff run
that led to the NBA
Finals, defeating the Seattle
Supersonics in 7 games to bring a professional
sports championship to Washington D.C. for the first
time in 36 years. Washington would make the finals
again in 1978-79, but this time would lose to Seattle
in 5 games.
The 1980's
The 1979-80 Bullets made it back
to the NBA Playoffs, but they we're no match for
the Philadelphia
76ers as the Sixers swept the Bullets in 2 games.
The team was in transition, and it was evident as
the 1980-81 Bullets missed the playoffs for the
first time since 1968.
With Hayes and Unseld gone, the
team was now lead by Greg
Ballard and Jeff
Ruland and with a team with no pure superstars
the 1981-82 Bullets surprised the NBA
with a 43-39 record and making it back to the NBA
Playoffs. Gene
Shue was named NBA Coach of the Year for his
surprising Bullets. The team would lose in the NBA
Playoffs to the Boston
Celtics.
In the 1985-86 season, the Bullets
got a big man named Manute
Bol, whose specialty was blocking shots. That
year, he blocked 397 balls (a Bullets record), part
of a team that blocked 716 balls (a Bullets team
record), but as part of a team the Bullets had a
disappointing 39-43 record, and were eliminated
by the 76ers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
The Name Change
On May
15, 1997,
the Bullets officially unveiled their new name and
logo. They had changed it because the name Bullets
carried a violent overtone (Washington, D.C. regularly
ranks at or near the top US murder cities per capita).
The names Dragons, Seadogs, Express,
Mustangs, and Monuments were also
considered but rejected. Dragons was rejected
because of KKK overtones, but ironically Wizards
was not rejected for the same reason. Also that
year the Wizards moved to the MCI
Center located at 601 F Street in Northwest
Washington, D.C. in Chinatown. The MCI Center is
also home to the Washington
Capitals of the National
Hockey League and the Washington
Mystics of the WNBA.
Recent Resurgence
The 2004-2005 season saw the team
post its finest regular season record in 26 years
(45-37) and marked the first time the franchise
had ever made the playoffs as the Wizards. The last
time the team had made the postseason was in 1996-1997,
when it was still known as the Bullets. In Game
3 of the first
round against the Chicago
Bulls, the Wizards won their first playoff game
since 1988. In a Game 5 victory against Chicago
they took their first lead in a playoff series since
1986. In Game 6, the Wizards won their first playoff
series in 23 years, defeating the Chicago Bulls
94-91 and becoming only the ninth team in NBA history
to win a playoff series after being down 0-2.
In the second round, the Wizards
were swept by the Miami
Heat, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference
in the 2004-05 NBA Playoffs.
Players of note
Not to be forgotten
Retired numbers
- 11 - Elvin
Hayes, F, 1972-81 (1972-73 Baltimore)
- 25 - Gus
Johnson, F, 1963-72 (all in Baltimore)
- 41 - Wes
Unseld, C, 1968-81 (1968-73 Baltimore); Head
Coach, 1987-94
Media Information
All Wizards regular season games
can be seen on Comcast
SportsNet which is available in the Washington,
D.C. area and other local areas. Wizards games
are announced by Steve
Buckhantz and Phil
Chenier.
Other Facts
- They are the brother team to the WNBA's
Washington
Mystics.
- In 1991, the team would name Susan
O'Malley as its president, the first female
president of a franchise in the history of the
NBA.
External links
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