Heres's a list of Teams which they're nick names make absolutely no sense whatsoever. 1. Cleveland Cavaliers Dictionary.com's defnition-n. A gallant or chivalrous man, especially one serving as escort to a woman of high social position; a gentleman. A mounted soldier; a knight. adj. Showing arrogant or offhand disregard; dismissive: a cavalier attitude toward the suffering of others. Carefree and nonchalant; jaunty. Cavalier Of or relating to a group of 17th-century English poets associated with the court of Charles I. Seems to match the personalities of the players on that team, but Not really what you want ur name to be called. 2. Utah Jazz- There is no Jazz whatsoever in Utah. 3. L.A. Lakers- Shoudln't they changed their names to the "Oceaners" 4. Dallas Mavericks- Maverick, doesn't that mean a rogue or someone who is extremely independent. 5. NY Knickerbockers-whats a knickerbocker? Dutch Settlers 6. Memphis Grizzlies-No Grizzies found in the South. 7. Toronto Raptors-Is toronot where a lot of Raptor fossils where found? I dunno 8. Washington Wizards-Just doesn't make sense. For the magic I can understand cause Disney World is there. Thats all i can think of. Feel free to correct me on my assumptions.
Houston Rockets - What in the world does a Rocket have to do with Houston. They should be called Houston Ranchers. Or Houston Humidifiers. But a Rocket? Come on. We arent located in space. We are located in Texas.
Maybe I have franchises mixed up but I believe the Rockets were originally in San Diego and then moved to Houston. Given that the Johnson Space Center is located in Houston I'm sure the team name remained the same because of that.
A mounted soldier; a knight. I'm sure Cleveland means this def. Cleveland Knights wasn't alliteration though.
I think the Jazz were originaly in New Orleans and haven't changed name(weren't they suppose to give/sell the name back to NO?! ). The Lakers I think were from a city around the Great lakes. The Mavs is for the associaotion to a Cowboy. The Cavaliers, I have no idea! Same question for the Knicks: What the hell is a Knickerbocker?! For Grizz and Raptors I think it's because the name sounded itimidating! The only magic the Wizards are going to make is not being in the loto! How about the Bulls?!Are there any Bulls in Chicago?! The Clippers?!WTF is a Clipper?!(Most Pathetic name of the NBA IMO!) Why Supersonics in Seattle? Why 76ers? ALA
Utah Jazz- There is no Jazz whatsoever in Utah...there was in New Orleans, where they originated. L.A. Lakers- Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota...the Land of 1000 Lakes. Dallas Mavericks- Maverick, doesn't that mean a rogue or someone who is extremely independent...or a horse, like in their logo...horse...cowboy...Texas. NY Knickerbockers-whats a knickerbocker? Dutch Settlers...exactly the Dutch originally settled New York. Memphis Grizzlies-No Grizzies found in the South...but there are in Vancouver where the team originated. Washington Wizards-Just doesn't make sense. For the magic I can understand cause Disney World is there...I think Abe Polin wanted to name the Bullets something completely different after the assasination of the Isreali Prime Minister. Houston Rockets...What in the world does a Rocket have to do with Houston...Really, does NASA ring a bell? Seattle Supersonics...former home of Boeing Aviation, they made planes. Philadelphia 76ers? Does 1776 sound familiar? Liberty Bell...The Constitution? How about the Bulls?!Are there any Bulls in Chicago?! Yes, the Bull Market...Chicago is a large center for trading and commodities.
1) The Jazz franchise originated in New Orleans. To add to the marketing of the team, one of their first draft picks was Pistol Pete Maravich who had played at LSU. 2) The "Lakers" originated where the TWolves are today - Minneapolis. Those were the days of George Mikan. Minnestoa bills itself as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes"...hence "Lakers". 3) By definition "Knickerbockers" are : (n. pl.) The name for a style of short breeches; smallclothes. Since the city of New York was originally inhabited by the British and the Dutch...both colonial world powers, I suspect a "Knickerbocker" was an article of clothing associated with a certain type of person or lifestyle. BTW - the word "Yankees" is actually derived from this period as well. Since the Dutch didn't like the Brits, they referred to them as "John Cheese". Most of Europe pronounces J's like the English Y, so John Cheese in Dutch was roughly pronounced - Yawn - Kays...which became Yankees! 4) The Bulls are so named because of the connection to the stockyards and the Chicago Board of Trade - the commodities market which exists in Chi-town and has cattle as one it's many "commodities". If I'm not mistaken, in the old days all of the Texas cattle went to Chicago to be slaughtered and distributed eastwardly. 5) Super Sonics because of the Boeing presence in the Seattle area. Much like Fed Ex wanted some naming rights for the Grizz. Didn't they want to re-name the team the Memphis Express? IMO, that has a nice ring but the league turned thumbs down. 6) "76'ers" as in 1776 - when Philadelphia was the home of the Continental Congress. This predates Washington, DC as our nations capital. I am pretty sure that is the inference. 7) Originally, a "Clipper" was associated with a certain type of tall sailing vessel. (Is the Elyssa" still in Galveston?). Not sure of the connection but I believe the franchise originated in San Diego so perhaps that is the connection - to some locally known ship or ships like the Elyssa. Or perhaps just SD being a port city. Personally, I like the name. I an not 100% positive, but feel most of this is "NBA ready".
Teams should always switch names cause most of them just don't make sense when you move. I understand that a lot of these teams have moved around, but you gotta customize ur team do wherever your are currently located. This also the point. This thread is also just for kicks.
One correction (I think): weren't the San Diego Clippers originally the Buffalo Braves? Buffalo Braves > San Diego Clippers > LA Clippers On another note, Houston Rockets makes perfect sense; will somebody explain San Diego Rockets though?
giddyup - You are correct...it happened in 1978...and aren't we all glad of that? The San Diego Braves? The Los Angeles Braves? Yuck! Here is something from a Clippers fan website: "In the 1978-79 season the Braves moved to San Diego and became the San Diego Clippers. The city picked the name Clippers because of the many clipper ships in San Diego. The Clippers had a strong roster with many popular players like Bill Walton, World B. Free, and Swen Nater. Their first season in San Diego they went 43-39 but fell just short of a playoff spot. Because of little fan support in San Diego the Clippers had to move again." The SAC Kings have an interesting "genealogy" as well... 1948 ABL Rochester (NY) Royals > 1957 Cincinnatti (OH) Royals > 1972 KC- Omaha Kings > 1975 KC Kings > 1985 SAC Kings Here's more: Philadelphia Warriors > San Francisco Warriors > 1971 moved to Oakland and became the Golden State Warriors Syracuse Nationals > 1963 Philadelphia 76'ers Regarding our beloved Rox: The team was founded in San Diego, California, on January 11, 1967, when Robert Breitbard, the club's first president, received the original franchise for the team, the association's twelfth member. The name "Rockets," a result of the association of San Diego with space-age industry, won a contest among fans. In 1971 a group of Houston investors known as Texas Sports Investments, Incorporated, bought the franchise and moved it to Houston. (Re-printed from "The Handbook of Texas Online" w/o permission). Here's a summary of changes by team by year: http://quinnell.us/sports/nba/fran/history.html Sorry to overload everybody...I just got carried away...
Oops, looks like I got here a little late, but as you can see, all of those names make perfect sense. Teams shouldn't change their name just because they move, especially after they have existed for a while under their current name. If you keep changing names, pretty soon you are gonna start calling your team stupid crap like the local highschool teams or like the Bobcats.
Washington used to be the Bullets, but changed their name to be more PC. Not sure why the picked the Wizards as the name, maybe for the alliteration.
Etymology: Samuel A. Maverick died 1870 American pioneer who did not brand his calves Date: 1867 1 : an unbranded range animal; especially : a motherless calf 2 : an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party Maverick was also a Texan.
Doesn't look like the Lakers or the Clippers will be changing their names anytime soon. As incongruous as it is to the city of LA, both teams are named after sailing vessels. Gee, what a nice theme they have going.
