Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The franchise was established in 1961 as the Chicago Packers based in Chicago, Illinois. In 1963, they relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, and became the Baltimore Bullets, taking the name from a previous team of the same name. In 1973, the team changed its name to the Capital Bullets to reflect their move to the Washington metropolitan area, and then to Washington Bullets in the following season. In 1997, they rebranded themselves as the Wizards. The Wizards have appeared in four NBA Finals, and won in 1978.

About Washington Wizards in brief

Summary Washington WizardsThe Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D. C. The franchise was established in 1961 as the Chicago Packers based in Chicago, Illinois. In 1963, they relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, and became the Baltimore Bullets, taking the name from a previous team of the same name. In 1973, the team changed its name to the Capital Bullets to reflect their move to the Washington metropolitan area, and then to Washington Bullets in the following season. In 1997, they rebranded themselves as the Wizards. The Wizards have appeared in four NBA Finals, and won in 1978. They have had a total of 28 playoff appearances, won four conference titles, and seven division titles. Their best season came in 1975 with a record of 60–22. Wes Unseld is the only player in franchise history to become the MVP, and win the Finals MVP award. Four players have won the Rookie of the Year award. The team’s original nickname was a nod to Chicago’s meatpacking industry; their home arena, the International Amphitheater, was next door to the Union Stock Yards. In the 1965 NBA Playoffs, the Bullets stunned the St. Louis Hawks 3–1, and advanced to the Western Conference finals. They were swept in four games by the powerful Milwaukee Bucks led by future Hall of Fame members Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. The Bullets remained a playoff contender throughout the 1970s, but were eliminated by the New York Knicks in the first round of the Eastern Conference finals in 1971.

In this year’s Eastern Conference Finals the Bullets took advantage of an injury-free Willis Reed to lift the Bullets over the Knicks 93–91 and advance to their first NBA Finals in 93-91 games. After this season, Baltimore acquired Elvin Hayes and Kevin Porter from the Houston Rockets and drafted Kevin Porter in the third round out of St. Francis Francis in Pennsylvania. This season the Bullets won their first Eastern Conference Southeast Division title with a win over the Philadelphia 76ers in the final game of the season. This was the Bullets’ first NBA championship since the 1968–69 season. The last NBA championship came in 1978, when the Bullets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 in the NBA Finals. They are the only team in NBA history to have won more than one division title in a single season, and the only one to do so more than three times in a row. The Washington Wizards won the NBA championship in 1978 and the NBA title in 1979. They also won the Southeast Division Championship in 1979 and 1980. The NBA Finals were the first time the Bullets have reached the Finals since the 1960s, when they were beaten by the Milwaukee Bucks 4-2 in game seven of the finals. The current Washington Wizards team is coached by Scottie Pippen and is based at the Capital One Arena in the Chinatown neighborhood of D.C. It is the first NBA franchise to play in the Washington area. The city has a population of more than 1.5 million.