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Washington Wizards
Originally the Chicago Packers and Chicago Zephyrs they had moved to Baltimore and renamed themselves the Bullets however eventually they wound up in Washington as the Bullets and then as the Wizards. They play in the Eastern Conference. Here you can ask questions about the games, the team records, the players and anything else to do with the team.
55 Questions
Why did the Washington Bullets change the name to the Wizards?
That depends on whose story you want to believe. Abe Pollin, who bought the franchise in 1964 when they were the Baltimore Bullets, had always been fond of the nickname 'Wizards'. But it is difficult to change a nickname in any professional sport, mainly because of merchandise that has been made and manufactured years in advance. But in 1996, with the crime rate in D.C. at an alarming rate, Pollin announced that he was going to change the name of the team due to the 'negative connotation' associated with the word 'bullet'. A public contest to rename the team was held and, wouldn't you know it, the name 'Wizards' won overwhemingly.
The answerer has rooted unashamedly for the Bullets since he was a child. The names Gus Johnson and Wes Unseld and Earl Monroe bring back happy childhood/teenage memories. The Bullets' mascot was a dachshund named Tiny who pulled a miniature chuckwagon around the court during halftime and timeouts. Regardless of how I view it, the owner of a franchise has the absolute right to name it whatever he wants. And that goes double when said owner is the tenured owner in the League. But the Washington NBA franchise will always be the Bullets to this man and will always be referred to as the Bullets. Please understand, I mean no disrespect to Mr. Pollin. Old habits are sometimes hard to break.
Is Gilbert Arenas guilty of pulling a gun out on a team mate?
No.
Arenas brought several firearms into the locker room at Verizon Center in December, 2009. He insists he did that as a joke to a teammate that he had an argument with over a small card game debt.
Regardless, bringing firearms into an NBA arena is against NBA policy and transporting the firearms across state line into Washington, DC (Arenas lives in Virginia) is against DC law. Furthermore, none of the firearms were licensed. He was charged with, and plead guilty to, carrying an unlicensed firearm which is a felony in DC.
He remains free on bond, awaiting sentencing on March 26, 2010. As part of the plea deal between Arenas and the government, the U.S. attorney handling the case agreed to ask for a prison sentence of no more than 6 months.
Are Caron Butler and Rasual Butler related?
It's says nothing of any relation in their bio's on their individual NBA sites.
