WASHINGTON WIZARDS HISTORY 

Washington Wizards, professional basketball team and one of seven teams in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Founded as the Chicago Packers, the team also played as the Chicago Zephyrs, Baltimore Bullets, and Washington Bullets before adopting its current name. The Wizards play in the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., and wear jerseys of red, white, and blue.  As the Washington Bullets, the team reached the NBA Finals four times in the 1970s. In 1978 they won the NBA title with a team that featured center Wes Unseld and forward Elvin Hayes.

The team entered the NBA in the 1961-62 season as the Chicago Packers, winning only 18 games in its first season. Despite the poor start, the team boasted talented rookie center Walt Bellamy, who averaged 31.6 points and 19 rebounds per game and won the league’s rookie of the year award. Forward Terry Dischinger won the award a year later. The franchise briefly changed its name to the Zephyrs for the 1962-63 season, but in March of that year the team moved to Baltimore and became the Bullets in honor of the area’s ammunition factories, which had produced bullets during World War II (1939-1945).

The Bullets then drafted Gus Johnson, who defined the modern power-forward position with tough rebounding and overwhelming slam dunks. In Baltimore the team improved, qualifying for the playoffs in 1965 and 1966. Two last-place finishes followed, but those years also featured the selections of guard Earl “The Pearl” Monroe and Wes Unseld in the NBA draft.

With new talent, the Bullets improved dramatically, registering the NBA’s best win-loss record for the 1968-69 season, at 57-25. The team qualified for the playoffs, and Bullets coach Gene Shue was named NBA coach of the year. That season Unseld won both the NBA most valuable player (MVP) and rookie of the year awards.

In 1970-71 the Bullets recorded a 42-40 win-loss record in the regular season to win its division. The team then defeated the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks to advance to the NBA Finals. There they were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks in four straight games. The Bullets’ success continued throughout the early 1970s, although they traded Monroe to the New York Knicks before the 1971-72 season. In the 1974-75 season the team began playing as the Washington Bullets, in Washington, D.C. That year, Unseld and Elvin Hayes, who was acquired from the San Diego Rockets, led the team to the division title as the Bullets put together a 60-22 record. They advanced to the NBA Finals, where they were swept by the Golden State Warriors.

Dick Motta, who had previously coached the Chicago Bulls, replaced Jones for the 1976-77 season. A year later, the club signed forward Bob Dandridge. In the 1978 playoffs the Bullets defeated the Atlanta Hawks, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Philadelphia 76ers to advance to the finals. There they played the Seattle SuperSonics, falling behind three games to two and then coming back to win the seven-game series and capture the 1978 NBA title.

After losing in the NBA Finals a year later to the SuperSonics, the Bullets began a period of decline. From 1979-80 through 1995-96, the team’s best single-season win total was 43 in 1981-82. The team’s best players during this time included guard Jeff Malone and forward Bernard King.

In the mid-1990s the Bullets acquired two talented young forwards, Chris Webber and Juwan Howard, who as teammates at the University of Michigan had twice led the school to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship game. Injuries, however, hampered the Bullets, and the club remained in the bottom half of its division until the 1996-97 season, when it made the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Concerned that the team’s name had too violent an implication, franchise officials changed the club’s name to the Washington Wizards for the 1997-98 season.

The Wizards missed the playoffs in 1997-98 and traded Webber to the Sacramento Kings after the season. Retired NBA superstar Michael Jordan joined the Washington front office and became part-owner of the team, but the Wizards continued to struggle in the ensuing years. Howard was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in a multi-player deal in the middle of the 2000-01 season. Washington drew the first overall pick in the June 2001 player draft and selected high-school center Kwame Brown from Georgia. Three months later the 38-year-old Jordan announced he would come out of retirement a second time, signing a two-year contract to play for the Wizards.

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