There are all kinds of sports teams in Ireland that pronounce it "selltics" instead of "kelltics" too. Maybe it's something to do w/ Celt dialects/language/pronunciation.
it has always been synonymous with the pants that the dutch settlers wore- "knickers" or "knickerbockers" once Irving introduced his character "Father Knickerbocker", the term became synonymous with New York and New Yorkers in general. The Knickerbocker Toy Company and the New York Knicks are direct references to this localized name.
Fun facts about names: Did you know Milwaukee used to be called the Milwaukee Beer, but then they couldn't make much money so they called themselves the Bucks, hoping the subliminal word " buck " would generate them some cash flow and between 1972-1976, they were the highest gross earning team in the NBA? Did you know that the Nets were actually supposed to be the New York Mets, but then the baseball team sued them so they had to be changed back to the Nets? Did you know the Kings were originally from Las Vegas, called the Las Vegas Aces, until the league banned them from Las Vegas and they had to be called the Sacramento Kings? :smirks:
the Brooklyn Kings (swap with Sac after they go to Vegas and become the Gamblers, also a reference to Kings County) or the Brooklyn Knights ( play on the term Brooklynites) or just the New York Nets
the San Diego Clipper Ships moved to Los Angeles, I guess it still applies. (before moving to San Diego, they were the Buffalo Braves)
Nope, the Kings never played in Las Vegas, and they previously had the name "Royals" but when they arrived to Kansas City, the baseball team already had that nickname, so they changed to Kings. Here it is the history of the Franchise: Rochester Royals 1945-1957 Cincinnati Royals 1957-1972 Kansas City-Omaha Kings 1972-1975 Kansas City Kings 1975-1985 Sacramento Kings 1985-present
I still think the NBA should institute a rule where teams that relocate are forced to change their names as a way of preserving the 'historic' place of franchises like the Sonics.
Yeah, who would have thought San Diego would name their team "Rockets"? Moving to Houston was the most sensible thing for the franchise.
I agree about Utah changing their name. It should be the Utah Crackers or something along those lines. (yes, I'm white). They're the consistently the whitest team in the history of the NBA.
Utah Lakers (since they're actually in Salt Lake City) LA Brush Fires, or LA Traffic (Fakers is the most ironically appropriate name for that city) If there's a Dallas "Mavericks", Seattle moved to OK can be... The Oklahoma Icemen where they'll develop a heated rivarly
The first Houston pro basketball franchise was the Houston Mavs of the old ABA. The Spers started in Dallas as the Chapperels. We all know the astros were ogiginally the colt 45's but the gun company was ok with the name until the saw how much money the team was making on merchandising and wanted a cut thats when they changed the name to astros this also happened the year the dome opened so it worked out perfectly.
