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    by admin in NBA | Comments Off on NBA Team Names: The Inspirations behind the Names

    Houston Rockets

    The team was founded in 1967 as San Diego Rockets. The nickname Rockets is quite relevant to the image of the city because this region is known for  spacecrafts, missile and rockets production and programming. The nickname Rockets remained attached with the team even when they moved to the Houston in 1971 because Houston is also famous for its space exploration actitvities.

    Indiana Pacers

    The nickname came out during a discussion between the investors of the Indiana Pacers. The name Pacers denote the history of Indianapolis harness racing industry (which includes races for both trotters and pacers) and also the pace cars which are used for racing in Indianapolis 500.

    Los Angeles Clippers

    Before 1978, Clippers used to play in New York under the name of Buffalo Braves. After moving to San Diego, team owners felt that the nickname Bravers is improper for the new site. So they decided to conduct a naming contest in which they found Clippers most appropriate option, referring to the ship sailing in the region of San Diego. They retained their name when they relocated to Los Angeles.

    Memphis Grizzlies

    The franchise was founded in 1994 inVancouver. They were nicknamed Grizzlies due to grizzly bears, a specie that is commonly found in this region. When they moved to the Memphis in 2002, they thought about changing their name to Express as Memphis based company FedEx was willing to rename the team but it did not happened though and team kept its original nickname.

    New Orleans Hornets

    In 1988, NBA granted an expansion franschise to the city of Charlotte. Owner George Shinn was willing to call it Charlotte Spirit, but fans completely rejected the name. So, name the team contest was conducted in which Hornets turn out to be the winning choice, easily beating Knights, Cougars, Spirit, Crowns, and Stars. The name stayed with the team when they moved to the New Orleans.

    Oklahoma City Thunder

    Formerly, the franchise was located in Seattle under the name Seattle SuperSonics. The inspiration behind this name was the Supersonic jets manufactured by the Boeing Company. Boeing has a large plant in the area of Seattle. When they moved to the Oklahoma in 2008, the owners changed its name to the Thunder as a reference to the powerfull storms in the area known as Tornado Alley.

    Orlando Magic

    Orlando Magic was founded in 1989 as an expansion franchise. The officials held a naming contest  in collaboration with Orlando Sentinel newspaper and asked the fans to suggest a nickname for the new franchise. Magic, alongwith Heat, Tropics and Juice were the finalist choices. A committee reviewed all the choices and picked Magic as the nickname for the team. The name was basically taken from the Magic Kingdom, a theme park in Walt Disney World Resort.

    Phoenix Suns

    Phoenix Suns were founded in 1968 under the ownership of a local businessmen group. In order to get a name for the team, they conducted a  contest and offered $1,000 and inaugural season tickets for the person whose option will be selected. After reviewing different suggestions, they selected the Suns as the nickname. Other suggestions that considered included the Scorpions, Rattlers, Thunderbirds, Wranglers, Mavericks, Mustangs and Cougars.

    Toronto Raptors

    Currently, Toronto Raptors are the only Canadian team playing in NBA.  The team was founded in 1993 under the ownership of a local businessman John Bitove.  Team owner organized a nationwide contest in order to get assistance regarding the name of the new franchise. He received more than 2,000 entries in which he chose Raptors as the team nickname. The name was influenced by the 1993 movie Jurassic Park. Other suggestions were the Beavers, Bobcats, Dragons, Grizzlies, Hogs, Raptors, Scorpions, T-Rex, Tarantulas, and Terriers.

    Washington Wizards

    This franchise has changed many names from the beginning until now.They were once the Chicago Packers, after that they became Chicago Zephyrs, then the Baltimore Bullet, the Capital Bullets and Washington Bullets repectively. In 1997 they changed their name to Washington Wizards. But the question is why did they left out such a name which has been attached with them for a long period of time. The reason is negative impact which is assocaited with this word and it is not appropriate especially for the city where crime rate is very high and who was once known as the murder capital of the United States. So they found Wizards more suitable for their franchise.




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