Washington, boasting the league's tallest player (Mureșan, whose height is 7 feet 7 inches or 231 centimetres), two very athletic forwards (Howard and Webber) and one of the league's top point guards (Rod Strickland), started the 1996–97 season at 22–24. Malone would lead the team in scoring with a 24.1 points per game as he would be joined by Jeff Malone who averaged 22.0 points per game. They played the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and won in four games, marking their first sweep in franchise history. Called the "Baltimore Pride" uniform, the uniform was intended to be worn for six select games during the Wizards' 2015–16 season. [74][75] The team also said it would immediately discontinue the use of the wizard/partial moon logo, which had been used since 1997. [33] Washington went 4–8 in the 12 games without him. WarnerMedia Privacy Center | The Wizards played the fifth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, defeating them in six games behind a 42-point game six performance from Wall and 31 from Beal; before losing to the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series. The Bullets drafted Tom Gugliotta with their sixth overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. On February 18, Eddie Jordan became the first Wizards/Bullets coach to coach in the NBA All-Star Game since Dick Motta in 1978–1979. Despite having only the 5th-best odds of obtaining the No. JTA — The Washington Wizards are all in on Deni Avdija content. Arenas and Jamison were both named to the 2005 Eastern Conference All-Star team, marking the first time Washington had two players in the All-Star game since Jeff Malone and Moses Malone represented the Bullets in the 1987 All-Star Game. In the 1999–2000 season, the Wizards finished with a 29–53 record. They would lose game 5 by 21 points. The next two years saw the Bullets continue to play mediocre basketball as they finished with losing records but they made the playoffs in the new expanded NBA Playoffs format that involved the 16 best teams to make the playoffs; the Bullets were eliminated in both years in the first round. NewsNow Washington Wizards is the world's most comprehensive Wizards news aggregator, bringing you the latest headlines from the cream of Wizards sites and other key national and regional sports sources. Every story from every site is brought to you automatically and continuously 24/7, within around 10 minutes of publication. In 1997, they rebranded themselves as the Wizards. Their only season as the Zephyrs boasted former Purdue star Terry Dischinger, who went on to win Rookie of the Year honors. In Game 5, despite the Wizards being down 107–100 with 1:18 to play, the team drove back and eventually tied the game on Butler's layup with 7.5 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, where James scored with 0.9 seconds left in overtime to send the Cavs to a 121–120 win. They posted a 25–57 record in the 1991–92 season. The Wizards replaced Jordan's managerial role with general manager Ernie Grunfeld. Their first-round match-up with Cleveland was widely seen as the most evenly matched series in the 2006 NBA Playoffs. [50], On February 3, 2014, the Wizards defeated the Portland Trail Blazers to improve to a 24–23 record. Highlights from Wizards-Celtics on Sunday night in Boston. Cleveland rebounded the ball, went downcourt and Damon Jones hit a 17-foot baseline jumper with 4.8 seconds remaining to give the Cavs the lead for good. A new logo was unveiled and the team colors were changed from the traditional red, white and blue to a lighter shade of blue, black and bronze, the same colors as the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL), also owned by Pollin. On April 13, 2016 the Wizards, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2012–13, fired head coach Randy Wittman. Price. On December 10, Washington acquired guards Javaris Crittenton and Mike James in a three-team deal that sent Antonio Daniels to New Orleans. In game one of the finals, the Bullets defeated the SuperSonics, 99–97, on two game-winning free throws. Tracy Murray averaged 15.1 ppg off the bench including a 50-point game against Golden State. Following a less than spectacular 1971–72 season, Baltimore acquired Elvin Hayes from the Houston Rockets and drafted Kevin Porter in the third round, out of St. Francis in Pennsylvania. [41] Leonsis has taken a fan-centric approach to running the franchise, by listening and responding to the concerns of Wizards supporters through his email and personal website. [35] Control of the franchise passed to his widow Irene, though minority owner Ted Leonsis was known to be preparing a takeover bid. [26] This playoff series victory ended the second longest streak with no post-season series wins in NBA history. Despite the signing of future All-Star point guard Gilbert Arenas, in a move that was ironically made possible by Jordan's prior cap-clearing maneuvers as a team executive, the team stumbled to a 25–57 record in the 2003–04 season. The Wizards have appeared in four NBA Finals, and won in 1978. Then on August 11, 2009, the Wizards signed Fabricio Oberto, many weeks after he committed to signing with the team. Your best source for quality Washington Wizards news, rumors, analysis, stats and scores from the fan perspective. David Safren, Pat Sullivan, and Michael Glazer were the product designers for the new jerseys which include the Washington Monument as an alternate logo. Following the suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season, the Wizards were one of the 22 teams invited to the NBA Bubble to participate in the final eight games of the regular season,[68] where the Wizards went 1–7 and missed the playoffs. One of the few high points of the season came on February 27 when recently inaugurated President Barack Obama attended a Wizards game against the Chicago Bulls, sitting in a northeast court-side seat. Jones, despite having a career 62 percent winning percentage as the Bullets head coach. Marc Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers) with an and one vs the Washington Wizards, 02/22/2021. Mureşan dominated the middle and led the NBA in field goal percentage (.599). After starting the season 0–8 on the road, Washington rebounded to win 6 of 7 away from Verizon Center. They finished with a winning record, but in a highly competitive Atlantic Division they finished last and missed the playoffs. Other players injured included Mark Price (who only played in seven games) and Robert Pack (31 games played out of 82). After eight games, Arenas underwent surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in his left knee, as well as a microfracture surgery. In 1969, the club changed the colors to blue and orange. The Wizards blew a seven-point lead with just under 5 to play and needed Arenas to hit a 31-footer at the end of regulation to take the game to overtime. In doing so, Arenas violated both NBA rules against bringing firearms into an arena and D.C. They showed grit and determination as they staved off elimination with a 102–79 game five win. Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. In the 1978–79 season the Bullets moved to the Atlantic Division, capturing the title in their first season there. [80], Prior to the 2019–20 season, the navy "Statement" uniform received a minor tweak as the city name was replaced with "The District of Columbia" wordmark previously used on the team's "City" uniforms.[81]. The reasoning behind the name change was because Pollin did not want the team's name to continue to be associated with any violent connotations. They were behind most of game 6, but battled back to take the lead late in the game. Frederic and Capitals tough guy Tom Wilson fought during a game in Washington earlier this season. On November 12, 2014, the Wizards defeated the Detroit Pistons 107–103, extending their record to 6–2 for the first time since the 1975–76 season. The injury forced Arenas out for a total of 68 games. In a win-or-go-home game with the Cavaliers on the season's final day, the Bullets squeezed past Cleveland 85–81 to end the franchise's longest playoff drought. He helped the Bullets reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Bellamy was named the league Rookie of the Year, but the team finished with the NBA's worst record at 18–62. Strickland led the league in assists (10.5 apg) before suffering an injury near the end of the season. In the Eastern Conference finals, they beat the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in six games to advance to the NBA Finals. In the 2012 NBA Draft, the Wizards selected Bradley Beal and Tomáš Satoranský. The Wizards finished with a 30–52 record, once again occupying the Southeast Division cellar. For the 2017–18 season, The Wizards would play their next season in the newly named Capital One Arena. As a result, the Wizards would miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2015–16 season. [36] On January 1, 2010, it was reported that Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton had unloaded guns in the Wizards' locker room during a Christmas Eve argument regarding gambling debts resulting in Arenas's suspension. However, Indiana closed out the series with a 93–80 win. The 60–22 Bullets made it back to the 1975 NBA Playoffs. The 1983 Bullets continued to play with the same talent they had in the previous year. Bradley Beal, Moe Wagner and Davis Bertans met with the media after the Wizards' win over the Clippers on March 4, discussing the game-ending sequence, limiting turnovers, plans for the All-Star break and more. On April 2, the Wizards shut down the Cleveland Cavaliers, who came in with a record of 61–13, and ended Cleveland's franchise-best winning streak at 13. The preseason marked the return of Etan Thomas who had missed all of the 2007–2008 season while recovering from open heart surgery. [30] Despite having the second best chance at obtaining the number one overall pick in the 2009 draft, the Wizards were randomly chosen to pick fifth overall in the NBA Draft Lottery. The Wizards started the 2005–06 season at 5–1, but went on an 8–17 funk to go to 13–18 through 31 games. Coach Brooks spoke to the media after the Wizards' game against the Celtics, discussing the end of the game, Isaac Bonga's opportunity and more. [16] While the season started out with promise, a shoulder injury to Chris Webber (ironically against the Warriors) caused him to miss 19 games and the Bullets struggled through the rest of the season finishing a then franchise-worst (percentage wise) 21–61.