basketball
The world of Basketball detailed by the voices of the unathletic. Discussing play, culture, and, of course, who's the best. Trust the Process.
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.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. As a member of the NBA Western Conference Pacific Division, the Suns compete in the National Basketball Association, and are the only non-California team in their division. The Suns play in their home For the remainder of the 1980s, despite unable to win a championship, the Suns would rebound around Walter Davis until Kevin Johnson was added in 1988. Under Johnson, and after trading for the perennial NBA All-Star Charles Barkley and combining with the success of Tom Chambers and Dan Majerle, the Suns reached the playoffs for thirteen consecutive franchise record appearances and remained a consistent title contender in the 1990s, reaching the NBA Finals in 1993. However, the team will fail to win a title again and by the early part of the 2000s entered another period of mediocrity. games at the Talking Stick Resort Arena. The franchise began playing as an expansion team in 1968 and their early years were shrouded in mediocrity, but their fortunes changed in the 1970s, when the Suns reached the 1976 NBA Finals after partnership with Paul Westphal, the long-term guard Dick Van Arsdale and Alvan Adams center, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in NBA history. The Suns acquired Steve Nash in 2004, and he soon returned to playoff contention. With Nash, Shawn Marion, and Amar'e Stoudemire, and head coach Mike D'Antoni, the Suns were renowned worldwide for their fast, explosive offense that led them to tie a franchise record in wins in the 2004–05 season. Two more top two placements followed for the Tournament, once again the Suns failed to attain an NBA championship and were forced to rebuild. The Suns own the NBA's seventh-best all-time winning percentage, and have the second-highest winning percentage of all players to have never won an NBA championship. Two Suns, Barkley and Nash, were named the NBA Most Valuable Player for playing for the club. For the first eleven seasons of their tenure in the NBA the Suns had no official mascot but this mascot was created a few years ago by accident. A courier for Eastern Onion, a singing telegram service, came to the Coliseum during a home-game dressed as a gorilla. When he left, Coliseum Security offered to hold a couple of dances under the basket during a break, and it was loved by the fans. So did the messenger, Henry Rojas, who kept coming to the games until they officially invited him to join the squad. An earlier effort was made at a mascot in a sunflower costume but it was never commented on. Later, the Suns Gorilla is one of the most celebrated mascots on the NBA. The Gorilla's followers, dubbed "Play," are acquainted with him at court tricks where he raises the Phoenix Suns flag, performs slam dunk routines, and feeds the audience. Go has a fictional background account of coming from the Republic of Bananas and graduating at Fur-man University. Before his debut with the Phoenix Suns, the Gorilla delivered singing telegrams, before stepping onto the Suns court during a game. His antics have been a success and the Gorilla has since become a fan of the Phoenix Light. The Gorilla was popular for slapstick humor during action, such as running the stadium stairs to the Rocky album, and the dunks performed before the fourth quarter. Every first weekend of October, the Suns played an annual basketball exhibition game, the NBA Outdoors, at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California near the city of Palm Springs from 2008 until 2010. However, the team started playing the Outdoor Preseason game before the 2011–12 NBA preseason. Following a recommendation from Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District Operations Chief Craig DeWitt, the NBA played its first outdoor exhibition basketball match on 11 October 2008. The stadium facility was constructed to hold up to 15,000 spectators, primarily for tennis and music concert tournaments. The Phoenix Suns lost the game to the Denver Nuggets. A second annual outdoor exhibition game was played on 10 October 2009, this time the Suns lost to the Golden State Warriors. On 9 October 2010, the Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks in the third annual outdoor game.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers is a professional American basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers are participating as a member of the National Basketball Association's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division league, and playing at the Wells Fargo Arena. Established in 1946, and originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest teams in the NBA and one of the 8 to survive the league's first decade. Having played for the team many of the greatest players in NBA history including Wilt Chamberlain, Dolph Schayes, Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley, and Allen Iverson, the 76ers have had a prominent experience. They won three NBA championships, with a first stint as the Syracuse Nationals in 1955. The 2nd title came in 1967, a team led by Chamberlain. The third title came in 1983 and was won by a team led by Erving and Malone. Since then the 76ers have returned only once to the NBA Finals: in 2001, where they were led by Iverson and lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five rounds. In 1946, a $5,000 check was sent by Italian immigrant Daniel Biasone to the National Basketball League headquarters in Chicago, and the Syracuse Nationals became the easternmost team of the primarily Midwest-based league, headquartered of Upstate New York City, Syracuse. In the same year, the Syracuse Nationals started playing in the NBL whose professional basketball slowly acquired some popularity from America's rival Basketball League, based in major cities like New York and Philadelphia. While the Nationals posted a record of 21–23 in the NBL with teams composed mainly of small Midwestern cities, finishing in fourth place. The fellow upstate neighbor Rochester Royals will beat the Nationals in four rounds of the playoffs. With the NBA struggling financially and down to only 8 Nationals teams owner during the 1954–55 season, Biasone recommended that the league minimize the amount of time taken for a shot thereby speeding up a game that ended often with lengthy periods of teams having just the ball and playing keep away. Ferris, the Biasone and Nationals general manager, projected a 24-second shot clock allowing at least 30 shots per quarter to intensify the game and increase scoring. The Shot Clock was an instant success as high scoring was 14 points per game competition. The Nationals will take first place in the East in the shot clock's first season, with a 43–29 record. Following a first round bye, the Nationals must top the Celtics in four games to get to the NBA Finals for the second straight season. The Nationals will take home the first two games against the Fort Wayne Pistons to a fast start in the series, led by forward Schayes. However, when the series changed to Fort Wayne winning all three games to take a 3–2 series lead, the Pistons would burst back into life again. Still on the Nationals in Syracuse for Game 6, hopes of the championship were kept alive by smashing the 109–104 Pistons to force a seventh home game. Game 7 is going to be as close as the series as George King in the final seconds sunk off a free throw to send the Nationals a 92–91 lead. King would then block an inbound pass to secure the NBA Championship for the nationals. Charles Barkley arrived in Philadelphia for the 1984–85 season after a losing 1983–84 season that began in the first round of the playoffs with a five-game defeat to the upstart New Jersey Nets. Barkley has brought the Philadelphia fans happiness for the next eight seasons, due to his amusing and sometimes controversial ways. The Sixers qualified to the Eastern Conference Finals in Barkley's rookie season but lost to the Boston Celtics in 5 rounds. As it turns out they would never travel as much again during Barkley's time in Philadelphia. After the 1984–85 season, Matt Guokas had replaced Billy Cunningham as head trainer. Guokas led the 76ers to a record of 54–28, and the second round of playoffs in 1986 where they were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks in seven rounds.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Oklahoma City Thunder
A small, American basketball team located in Oklahoma City is the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder competes within the National Basketball Association as a member of the nba Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays their home games at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The team was first known as the Seattle SuperSonics, an expansion team which joined the NBA for the 1967–68 season. The SuperSonics moved in 2008 after a lawsuit that saw a settlement involving Clay Bennett's ownership firm and lawmakers in Seattle, Washington. The SuperSonics qualified 22 times for seattle's NBA playoffs, took their division six times, advanced to three NBA finals and claimed the 1979 NBA Championship. The Thunder had qualified for their first playoff berth in Oklahoma City during the 2009–10 season. They captured their first division title as the Thunder in the 2010–11 season, and their first Western Conference championship as the Thunder in the 2011–12 season, featuring in the NBA Finals for the fourth time in franchise history and for the first time since 1996, when the team was based in Seattle. The Chesapeake Energy Arena, which opened as the Ford Center on June 8, 2002, was built without lavish amenities but was designed to accommodate spacious "buildouts" should a professional sports team turn the Chesapeake Energy Arena into their home venue. It was completed at a loss of $89.2 million. In 2007 a plan was launched to improve this kind of build-out. It came in the aftermath of Oklahoma City-based ownership group purchasing the Seattle SuperSonics the previous October. A state ballot measure passed by a 62% vote on March 4, 2008, extended a 15-month old one-cent city sales tax to fund $101 million in budgeted arena upgrades and a proposed $20 million fitness facility for a relocated franchise. During the global crisis of 2008–10, a shortfall in sales tax-receipts delayed building work on the stadium. Revised plans raising the scale of a possible entry to the glass and abolished a court of action to resolve the shortage. Important construction work on arena expansion was also delayed from the summer of 2010 to the summer of 2011. The seating capacity for the arena is 18,203 for professional NBA Basketball games. Significant revisions have been made to plans for the Thunder's existing operational infrastructure, with a total cost savings of about $14 million. The construction date for the Thunder's practice center has been pushed back to around March 2011. Simmons indicated that the Oklahoma City bombing played a major part in the team environment, noting that Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has seen every single Thunder player at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and encourages players to look into the stands and understand that the event has deeply affected all the team supporters. He also admitted, however, that the fact that the Thunder is the only team in Oklahoma City in one of the nation's four major leagues contributes considerably to the dedication to the region. Thunder fans are also evidently much more likely to attend major home games than any other NBA fan bases. According to a source in the ticket industry, just five per cent of tickets available for sale on secondary market websites like StubHub for the 2012 NBA conference finals were for Thunder home games, and 10 tickets for Heat home games were registered for each ticket sold for a Thunder home game in the 2012 NBA Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder unveiled its first logo on 3 September 2008. According to majority owner Clay Bennett, the team logo draws some of its characteristics from other Oklahoma sports teams including the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls The Uniform Definition was unveiled on 29 September 2008. A new uniform was launched on 8 November 2012 using only navy blue and white colours. The alternate wordmarks are written vertically, in contrast to their regular uniforms. A second alternative uniform was adopted on 1 March 2015. A white shirt with boots, in the center of the collar displays the small Thunder logo, and the shorts display bolts in light blue and sunset colours.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is an American professional basketball team, based in Orlando, Florida. The Wonder plays as a member of the Eastern Conference in the league's Southeast Division of the National Basketball Association. The franchise was established in 1989 as an expansion franchise, and such notable NBA stars as Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, Patrick Ewing, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Dominique Wilkins, and Hedo Türkoğlu played for the club in their early history. The franchise spent almost half of its history in the NBA playoffs as of 2019, and went twice, in 1995 and 2009, to the NBA Finals. Orlando was the second most successful of the four expansion teams brought into the league in 1988 and 1989 behind only the Miami Heat in terms of winning percentage. Orlando businessman Jim L. Hewitt told Philadelphia 76ers general manager Pat Williams in September 1985, when they met in Texas about his vision of bringing an NBA team to Orlando. Intrigued by the prospect of an NBA team located in Orlando, Williams was the front man of the investment company one year later, after he left the 76ers. On 19 June 1986 the two scheduled a press conference to announce their intention to seek an NBA franchise. In its first year, the Wonder went on to select Nick Anderson in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft, who had just won both the Mr. Basketball and the College Player of the Year awards. He was the squad's first Franchise star and highest scorer as a 10th selection for a decade. The very first game The Magic played on October 13, 1989 was an exhibition game against the then-reigning Detroit Pistons, won by the Magic. Anderson was quoted as saying that the atmosphere was like NBA Finals Game 7. In 1998–99, with the drafting of Michael Doleac and Matt Harpring in the 1998 draft with the 12th and 15th picks, and a healthy Penny Hardaway and Nick Anderson, the Magic tied to the Miami Heat in the lockout-shortened season, 33–17, for the best record in the Eastern League. Armstrong once again led the team effectively, winning NBA's Sixth-Man and Most Valuable Player honours. Orlando, along with Gerald's brother, had acquired great Dominique Wilkins from the NBA who had gone through their benefits but were still in use as NBA teams. The Penny Hardaway-led Magic was ranked number 3 in the playoffs thanks to tiebreakers, and played the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers, led in the first round by Allen Iverson, have upset the Magic 3–1. The players changed their uniforms for the first time ever too, switching from pinstripes to stars. During off-season weisbrod dissolved the squad completely. Although Davis stayed as a coach he shook the roster of players, keeping just a few players from last season. The most notable trade was in Tracy McGrady. Unhappy with the Magic, McGrady wanted to move on; Weisbrod accused McGrady of being "slacked off" and not attending classes. The Strong traded McGrady along with Reece Gaines, Tyronn Lue and Juwan Howard to the Houston Rockets for Steve Francis, Kelvin Cato and Cuttino Mobley. The Magic has received Cleveland Cavaliers 'Tony Battie center and two second-round draft picks in exchange for the draft rights of Drew Gooden, Steven Hunter and Anderson Varejão. Afterwards the Strong signed free agent Hedo Türkoğlu. With the number one draft selection, the Magic selected high school phenomenon and future All-Star and franchise champion Dwight Howard, and a draft day trade with the Denver Nuggets took point guard Jameer Nelson to them. The new tv announcing team for the Orlando Magic is play-by-play announcer David Steele and color analyst Jeff Turner. Turner played with the Magic from the 1989 inaugural season until 1996. Paul Kennedy and Dante Marchetelli serve as court commentators while Marchetelli, former coach Brian Hill and former magic player Nick Anderson present pre-game, half-time and post-game shows. In 2007–08, TV broadcasts were broken up between Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports. Broadcasts were transmitted in the intervening 18 years by Sun Sports and local TV stations, first WKCF and, later, WRBW.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, or more simply as the Knicks, are a professional American basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks play within the National Basketball Association as part of the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. The squad plays its home games at Madison Square Park, an arena that they share with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. They are one of two New York City-based NBA teams; the other the Brooklyn Nets. Besides the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of two original NBA teams left at their original venue. The team, formed in 1946 by Ned Irish, was one of the founding members of the American Basketball Association, which became the NBA after integrating with the current National Basketball League in 1949. The Knicks had been successful in their early years and were perennial playoff competitors under the franchise's first head coach, Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950 the Knicks made three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, all of them missed commitment. Lapchick left in 1956 and the team went on to falter afterwards. It wasn't until the late 1960s that the Knicks started to regain their old dominance, after Red Holzman was the head coach. Holzman successfully led the Knicks to two NBA championships, in 1970 and 1973. The Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success which included six playoff appearances; however, they did not compete in the NBA Finals. The Patrick Ewing Future Hall of Fame center led the 1990s playoff-level Knicks; this time was characterized by violent rivalries with the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat. During this time they were known for playing strong defense under the head coaches Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy, making two appearances at the 1994 and 1999 NBA Finals. They were, however, unable to win an NBA championship during this time. Since 2000 the Knicks have struggled to reclaim their previous victories but they won their first division title in 19 years in 2012–13, led by a nucleus of forward Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. In the Eastern Conference semifinals they were eventually defeated by the Indiana Pacers, and have failed to reach the playoffs ever since. In 1946, basketball, especially college basketball, became a growing, highly lucrative sport in New York City. At the time, hockey was another popular sport and generated considerable profits; however, the stadiums were not commonly used. The 1930s, after meeting Boston Garden owner Walter A. Brown, the sports editor at the Boston American was Max Kase, a New York sportswriter. Kase invented the idea of an amateur football league to highlight college talent after graduation, and felt it would become profitable if properly arranged. Brown, intrigued by the opportunity to collect additional cash when the hockey teams were either not playing or on the road, contacted some arena owners. On 6 June 1946, Kase and Brown, along with a group of seventeen others, met at the Commodore Hotel in New York City as the Basketball Association of America, where charter franchises were granted to major cities around the country. In 1964, franchise fortunes started to take a gradual turn. Willis Reed, who made an immediate impact on the floor with his efforts and was named NBA Rookie of the Year, has been drafted by The Knicks. Nevertheless the members of the team were still in action. In an attempt to reorganize the Knicks named former star Harry Gallatin as head coach, thus reassigning Donovan to the position of general manager. After a bad start in 1965, another retired Knick, Dick McGuire, replaced his retired Gallatin teammate at halfway through the season. The organization broke it into five new contracts in preparation for the 2019–20 season as a result of having a projected $74 million in cap space following the Porziis contract. The Knicks agreed terms with Wayne Ellington and Taj Gibson, former position players, and also signed forward Bobby Portis. The Squad then signed former lottery picks Elfrid Payton and Julius Randle. The Knicks fired Steve Mills on 4 February 2020 after seven seasons as tyrant with Scott Perry taking over on an temporary basis. On March 2nd Leon Rose was named Team Chief.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics is an American basketball league club based in Massachusetts. The Celtics play as a member of the nba, the NBA's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. The Celtics play their home games at TD Garden, which they share with the Boston Bruins National Hockey League, founded in 1946 as one of the league's first eight members. The Celtics are known to be the most successful basketball team in NBA history; with 17, the franchise has won the most League titles, and is currently holds the record for the most recorded victories by any NBA club. The Celtics are one of two BAA franchise franchises that continue to compete in their original city today. The Celtics are in famous competition with the Los Angeles Lakers who won 16 NBA titles, second behind the Celtics. The rivalry was heavily emphasised in the 1960s and 1980s. The team played the Lakers a record twelve times in the NBA Playoffs, nine times won by the Celtics. Four Celtics stars with a League record of 10 MVP awards in total earned the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Often a nod to the comparatively large Irish community in Boston are the acronym "Celtics" as well as their nickname "Lucky the Leprechaun" In the late 1950s, the Celtics 'rise to dominance began with the addition of the Bill Russell centre in 1956 in a draught day trade, which would become the foundation of the Celtics dynasty. The Celtics, led by Russell and iconic point guard Bob Cousy, captured their first NBA championship in 1957. Russell, along with a legendary support cast of the future Hall of Famers including John Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, Sam Jones, Satch Sanders and Bill Sharman, helped lead the Celtics to the finest time in franchise history, winning eight consecutive NBA titles in the 1960s. The Celtics began a rebuilding period after Russell's retirement in 1969. Led by JoJo White, Dave Cowens centre and point guard, the Celtics returned to championship status in 1974 and 1976 and won two NBA titles. The Celtics reclaimed dominance again in the 1980's. The Celtics won the Championships in 1981, 1984 and 1986, led by the "Big Three" including Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. Since winning 16 championships in the 20th century, the Celtics soared again in 2008 to earn a championship with the help of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen in what was known as the new "Big Three" era after losing in the 1990's. The Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals in 2010 only to lose to the Lakers in a seven game series. By the outset of the 2013 season, neither of the "Big Three" were already signed — Ray Allen had already ended a season guiding the franchise into a new era. The team, with the aid of newly hired head coach Brad Stevens, started rebuilding. In his second season Stevens led the Celtics on a trip to the playoffs in 2015. During the next season, the Celtics clinched the top seed at the Eastern Conference but were beaten at the Conference Finals. That prompted an ambitious overhaul in 2017, during which the franchise signed All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Nonetheless, the pair struggled with suspensions during the 2017–18 season, and the team was vanquished again in the Eastern Conference Finals, despite pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven matches. NBC Sports Boston is the Boston Celtics 'official television partner, which has been broadcasting the games since 1981, when the network was PRISM New England branded. In 1983 it was rebranded as SportsChannel New England. As the other SportsChannel networks, after its owner Cablevision joined Liberty Radio and News Company in 1998 to form a alliance, the New England centre was rebranded as Fox Sports New England. In 2001, Comcast bought Cablevision's original network stake and acquired the remaining share in what was now FSN New England 2007, which rebranded the network to Comcast SportsNet New England. In 2017 all CSN networks were partnered as NBC Sports Regional Networks, a nod to Comcast's recent acquisition of NBCUniversal.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls is a professional American basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls play within the National Basketball Association as members of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. On 16 January 1966, the team was founded and played their first game during the 1966–67 NBA season. The Bulls are playing their home games at the United Center, a facility on Chicago's west side shared by Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. The Bulls achieved their biggest success in the 1990s as they played a significant role in popularising the worldwide NBA. We are known for becoming one of the NBA's greatest dynasties, winning six NBA titles between 1991 and 1998, and two tri-peats. All six of their Championship teams were led by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson. The Bulls were the first NBA franchise to win multiple titles in their history, while never losing an NBA Finals series. The Bulls won 72 games in the 1995–96 NBA season, setting an NBA record which stood until the Golden State Warriors played 73 NBA games in the 2015–16 season. The Bulls were the first team to win 70 or more games in a single season in NBA history, and the last NBA franchise to do so until the Warriors in 2015–16. Michael Jordan and Derrick Rose both won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award when they starred for the Bulls, for a total of six MVP awards. The Bulls are sharing rivalries with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat and The New York Knicks. Competition between the Bulls and the Pistons was heavily stressed during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Dick Klein wanted a name to represent Chicago's old meat packing business, and the similarities between the Chicago Stadium and the Union Stock Yards. Klein proposed names such as Matadors or Toreadors, but refused them, claiming, "If you think about it, no team with as many as three syllables in its nickname has ever had any success except one." Klein decided on Bulls after exploring alternate names with his father when his son Mark said, "Father, that's a lot of bulls!" The famous emblem is a red bull riding mask. The logo was designed by renowned American graphic artist Dean P. Wessel in 1966, and introduced. The Bulls had an alternate version to the same Bulls version at one time during the early 1970s, featuring a cloud that said "Windy City" behind the bull's nose. The Bulls now wear three different uniforms: a white uniform, a red uniform and a black replacement uniform. The original uniforms were aesthetically similar to what the Bulls wear today, with the shorts and block lettering around the Bulls logo getting the prominent diamond around. What distinguished the original uniforms was the black drop shadows, red or white side stripes with black borders and white lettering on the red uniforms. The red jerseys for the 1969–70 season were modified to incorporate the town name. The official mascot for the Chicago Bulls is Benny The Bull. This was first introduced in 1969. Benny is the no 1 holding pit bull. Benny is one of the oldest and most well recognised mascots in all professional sports. The Bulls also had a mascot which was nicknamed Da Bull. Benny's high-flying cousin, known for his dunking skills, was unveiled in 1995, and listed as being on the team website. In 2004 the man who was playing Da Bull was seized from his car for possession and selling of marijuana. The case Da Bull was shot shortly after. Although Benny has a family friendly look, Da Bull is built to be a more realistic animal. According to Benny Da Bull was diamond. There was also a cynical grin on his face, and he wore number 95. As of February 3, 2018, the team's games are broadcast on Entercom's WSCR. Between October 2015 and January 2018, games were broadcast on Cumulus Media's WLS in an deal which was expected to continue until the 2020-21 season, which was nullified in the middle of the 2017-18 season when Cumulus filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and annulled its major play-by-play and talent contracts.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. As a member of the nba's Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference, the Hawks compete within the National Basketball Association. The squad plays at their home games at the State Farm Arena. The team's roots can be traced back to its establishment in 1946 in Buffalo, New York, of the Buffalo Bisons, a member of the National Basketball League founded by Ben Kerner and Leo Ferris. After 38 days at Buffalo, where they were named the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, the team moved to Moline, Illinois. They joined the NBA in 1949 as part of the merger between the NBL and the American Basketball Association, and for a short time they had Red Auerbach as coach. In 1951, Kerner moved the team to Milwaukee, where they changed their name to the Hawks. In 1955, Kerner and the players moved back to St. Louis, where they won their first NBA Championship in 1958 and in 1957, 1960 and 1961 qualified for the NBA Finals. On all four of their NBA Finals trips, the Hawks beat the Boston Celtics. The St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968, after Kerner sold the franchise to Georgia's former governor Thomas Cousins and Carl Sanders. The Hawks in turn own the second-longest drought with 60 seasons not to win an NBA title. The franchise's lone NBA title, as well as all four NBA Finals appearances, took place at the St. Louis based club. Meanwhile they have gone 48 years without advancing past the second round of the playoffs in either process, until finally breaking through in 2015. However, the Hawks are one of four NBA teams that emerged in the 21st century to play 10 straight seasons in the NBA playoffs. From 2008 till 2017 they accomplished this feat. The squad has endured numerous badge changes and modifications to the uniforms over the history of the team. On May 1, 2014, the team introduced a stylised version of the 'Pac-Man' logo that it used from 1972 to 1995. The 'Pac-Man' logo will become the franchise's signature symbol after the team finishes the 2014–15 season. On June 24, 2015, the team unveiled their new home, road and alternate jerseys as well as their updated logos and colours. Main colours: Torch Yellow, Volt Green, and Georgia Granite White. The players have unveiled their new socks and shoes, in line with the National Basketball Association contract with Stance's current official game footwear. Official socks for the game were generally either white or black, depending on the preference of a player. The club plans to wear green for home games, Georgia Granite Gray for road games and Torch Red as an alternate, custom shade. The Hawks hold the exclusive rights to the following unprotected draught picks who were played outside the NBA; A drafted player can sign with any non-NBA teams, either a foreign draftee or a college draftee who has not been signed by the team that drafted him. In this case, after a year after the non-NBA team's contract with the prospect has expired, the club owns the draught rights to the prospect in the NBA. The statement also includes the draught rights acquired from the transactions of other teams. The Celtics – Hawks rivalry is a rivalry that has persisted for over five decades in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association, though the two franchises have played together since the 1949–50 season, when the then-Tri-Cities Blackhawks joined the NBA as part of the National Basketball League and the American Basketball Association merger. However, the Blackhawks did not field a reliably productive roster after a four-year stopover at Milwaukee until they moved to St. Louis as the St. Louis Hawks. The two sides faced one another eleven times in the NBA playoffs, four times in the NBA Finals, with the Celtics winning ten out of twelve over the Hawks, and three out of four NBA Finals. While the Hawks have twice out of eleven games defeated the Celtics in the NBA Playoffs, they have always also managed to make their games with the Celtics unforgettable. The rivalry intensified in 2016 with Hawks All-Al Horford spurning the team and joining the Celtics.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons is a professional basketball team based in Detroit, United States. As a member of the league's Central Division of the Eastern Conference, the Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association and play their home games at the Little Caesars Arena in Midtown. The team was founded in 1941 as Fort Wayne Pistons in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a member of the National Basketball League in which it won two NBL championships: in 1944 and 1945. The Pistons had entered the American Basketball League in earlier 1948. The NBL and BAA merged into the NBA in 1949, and the Pistons became a part of the new league. In 1957 the franchise was moved to Detroit. The Pistons won three NBA Championships: in 1989, 1990 and 2004. The Detroit Pistons franchise was known as the National Basketball League team Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Owner Fred Zollner's Zollner Company was a piston-making foundry, mainly for automobile, truck and locomotive engines. The Zollner Pistons had been part of the NBL from 1944 to 1945. They also won World Professional Basketball Championships in 1944, 1945, and 1946. The franchise became the Pistons of Fort Wayne in 1948, and competed in the American Basketball Association. In 1949 Fred Zollner brokered the creation of the National Basketball Association BAA and NBL at his kitchen table. There are rumours that the Pistons players conspired with gamblers during the seasons of 1953–54 and 1954–55 to skim points and ruin various games. In fact there are reports that the team may have intentionally lost the Syracuse Nationals to the NBA Finals of 1955. Late in the second quarter of the decisive Game 7, the Pistons led 41–24, before the Nationals rallied to tie. With 12 seconds left in the game on a free throw from George King, the Nationals prevailed. The closing moments included a palming error with 18 seconds remaining by George Yardley of the Pistons, a foul by Frank Brian with 12 seconds left that helped King win free throw, and a miss by Andy Phillip of the Pistons in the final seconds that gave them a opportunity to attempt the game winning shot. The next season the Pistons made it back to the NBA Finals. But the Philadelphia Warriors will beat them in five days. While the Pistons enjoyed a strong local following, Fort Wayne's small size made it difficult for them to survive, particularly as other early NBA franchises in smaller towns were folding or moving to larger markets. After the 1956–57 season, Zollner decided Fort Wayne was too weak to sustain an NBA team, and announced the team should play elsewhere in the coming season. He eventually settled on Detroit. While it was the fifth biggest city in the United States at the time, over a decade, Detroit hadn't seen professional basketball. They defeated the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Gems of the NBL and Detroit Falcons of the BAA in 1947, and the Detroit Vagabond Kings of 1949, due to World War II. Zollner has opted to keep the name Pistons, feeling it makes sense to remember Detroit's status as the auto industry centre. George Yardley set the record for single-season NBA scoring with the Pistons in Detroit's first season, becoming the first player to score 2,000 points in one season. On 10 June 2008 the Pistons appointed Michael Curry as their new head coach. In November 2008 the Pistons traded key players including Allen Iverson, Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess to the Denver Nuggets. McDyess was waived later on November 10 and rejoined the Pistons on December 9. Regardless of the free agent status Iverson received at the end of the season, trading was marked as the beginning of a new rebuilding cycle. Despite the relocation from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Detroit in 1957, the Pistons 'jerseys remained essentially intact for two decades, showing the word "Pistons" in blue block lettering. In the 1978–79 season, the team wore a kit featuring lightning bolts on the sides and in the wordmark at the front of the jerseys. The team dissected the lightning bolt concept, switching to their conventional block lettering and flat side panel style in 1981, sticking with that look until 1996. That year the Pistons changed their colours to teal, purple, yellow, and gold, and unveiled a new logo with a horse's head and a flaming mane. This uniform scheme lasted until 2001, when the squad went back to the traditional red, white and blue colours in a generic pattern from the 1981–96 strings. The Horse's head and flaming mane logo lasted until 2005, when the company switched to a more conventional design theme.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers, also known as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball club based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers play within the National Basketball Association as a part of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The franchise began playing as an expansion team in 1970 with the Portland Trail Blazers and Buffalo Braves. Home games were first held at the Cleveland Arena from 1970 to 1974 followed by the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1994. The Cavs play home games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland since 1994 and are shared with the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. Since March 2005 the Squad is owned by Dan Gilbert. The Cavs started their first season losing their first 15 games and struggled in their early years, placing no more than sixth in the Eastern Conference in their first five seasons. The team captured its first Central Division championship in 1976, which also marked its first winning season and playoff appearance in franchise history, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. In 1980 Ted Stepien inherited the franchise. Stepien's tenure as owner was characterised by six ownership changes, contentious trades, drawn decisions and poor results resulting in $15 million in financial losses. During this time the Cavs went 66–180 and endured a 24-game losing streak between the 1981–82 and 1982–83 seasons. In 1983 George and Gordon Gund took over the franchise. The Cavs were a regular post-season competitor, led by players like Mark Price and Brad Daugherty in the second half of the 1980s and through much of the 1990s, progressing to the 1992 Eastern Conference Finals. Nonetheless, the Cavs have had six consecutive losing seasons without any post-season play since the team's postseason appearance in 1998. The 2003 draught provided the first overall selection for Cleveland, and they selected LeBron James. Behind James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the Cavs once again were a consistent playoff candidate by 2005. They captured the first Eastern Conference championship in franchise history and made their first appearance in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. James left the Miami Heat in 2010 after failing to qualify to the NBA Finals in the three seasons that followed. Consequently, the Cavaliers finished last in the 2010–11 season league, enduring a 26-game losing streak that ranks the longest in NBA history for a single season and second overall as of 2017. Nevertheless, the team captured the first NBA lottery pick selected three times between 2010 and 2014, first when they picked Kyrie Irving in 2011 and again in 2013 and 2014. LeBron James returned to the Cavs in 2014 and led the franchise to four NBA Finals appearances in succession. In 2016, the Cavaliers won their 5th NBA Championship, becoming Cleveland's first major sports title to win since 1964. The victory over the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals was the first time a team has came back to win the series in the final's history after losing three games in one. The Cavs made 22 appearances in the playoffs, winning seven Central Division titles, five Eastern Conference championships, and one NBA championship. Wine and gold were the main colours on player jersey when the Cleveland Cavaliers debuted in the NBA in 1970. The first uniforms used for the feathered handling of letter C in Cavaliers. In 1974 they turned into the conventional block lettering and checkerboard design that became associated with the 1976 'Richfield Miracle' squa In 1980, the gold hue was changed from yellowish to black, and the uniforms removed the checkerboard pattern and put the lines above Cleveland and below the uniform number, the first time the town's name appeared on both home and away jerseys. The original logo was that of cavalier swashbuckling looking fine with a pointed blade, followed by the team's name and a net. A modernised Swashbuckling cavalier logo was later introduced by the Canton Charge, competitors of the Cavs 'NBA Development League.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets is an American professional basketball franchise, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete as a member of the National Basketball Association's nba Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise is owned entirely by legendary NBA Hall-of-Fame Michael Jordan who bought a controlling interest in the club in 2010. The Hornets play at the Uptown Charlotte Spectrum Center, their home games. The original franchise of Hornets, owned by George Shinn, was founded in 1988 as an expansion team. In 2002, Shinn's franchise relocated to New Orleans, becoming the Hornets of New Orleans. In 2004, the NBA created the Charlotte Bobcats and was considered a new expansion franchise at the time. In 2013, the New Orleans franchise announced it would rebrand as the New Orleans Pelicans, ultimately restoring Charlotte with the logo, archives and official history of the Hornets. For the 2014–15 season the Charlotte Hornets is officially renamed as the Bobcats. In 1985 the NBA agreed to allow with three clubs for the 1988–1989 season, but then changed to require a total of four franchises for expansion. George Shinn, a Kannapolis billionaire, wanted to bring the Charlotte area to an NBA team and he put together a consortium of prominent local entrepreneurs to lead the prospective franchise. The Charlotte city has been a hotbed for college Basketball for a long time. Charlotte was once one of America's fastest-growing cities, and was once one of Carolina Cougars 'three major in-state homes at the American Basketball Association from 1969 to 1974. The Hornets 'second season was a struggle from start to finish. Unit members rebelled against Dick Harter's defence-oriented approach and are replaced by assistant Gene Littles at midway point after a start of 8–32 Following the move the team appeared to struggle and finished the season with a disappointing 19–63 record. It shortened season 1998–99. The season did not begin until April, as the lockout limited the regular season to just 50 games. For contrast, Glen Rice was traded to the Lakers for Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell, and Dave Cowens left midway through the season. He was replaced by former Celtics teammate Paul Silas, who has been named the franchise's fifth head coach. The team finished with a 26–24 record but did not qualify for playoffs. In the 2005 NBA draught the Bobcats picked Raymond Felton and Sean May from North Carolina. The Bobcats have already opened the Charlotte Bobcats Arena with an overtime victory over the Celtics in their second season. They managed to end the season with four consecutive wins and finish with a record of 26–56, an improvement of eight games from the previous season, after struggling for most of the year. The Bobcats announced during the season that the franchise had purchased a minority stake from NBA player and native Michael Jordan of North Carolina. As part of the deal he was the head of basketball operations while Bickerstaff remained general manager. The first Hornets logo was an anthropomorphic teal and purple hornet wearing white shoes and dribbling an orange basketball glove. The words 'Charlotte Hornets' were written, in teal, above and below the line. The unofficial logo, which was used solely for the 1988–89 season, used a large teal letter 'C' with 'Charlotte' bent upward in black letters below. There was a smaller white letter 'H' written in teal under 'C,' with a black spotted hornet holding a basketball from the birds-eye view in the centre. The 'H' part of the logo featured on the 'warm-ups and waistband' jerseys before the 1991–92 season. Since 2004 to 2012, the main logo of the Bobcats consisted of a snarling orange bobcat facing the indented word 'Bobcats' in red above, with 'Charlotte' floating above it in the same blue colour. A change to a less vivid orange and brown was made in 2007, though retaining the same look. Further colour changes in 2012 turned the bobcat dark, incorporating the blue background of the word 'Charlotte,' which shifted from orange brown. A blue map of Carolina was then used all over the logo. The Bobcats unveiled a new logo in 2007 consisting of a snarling bobcat head faced forward on one side and shaded orange and blue on the other.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
