It’s Not the Worst, and At Least It Makes Sense

It’s official.  Come next season, the New Orleans Hornets will be known as the New Orleans Pelicans, and they’ll change their colors from teal and gold to navy and red.  The name and color scheme both sounded extremely stupid when owner Tom Benson proposed them a couple of months ago.  They still do.  But the logo is at least pretty solid…

And while the “Pelicans” name might be stupid, it at least makes sense.  The pelican is Louisiana’s state bird.  Of course, the original New Orleans basketball team was the “Jazz,” which is perfect for a team from that city.  But they took the name with them to Utah, where it makes about as much sense as the Los Angeles “Lakers.”  Although, that’s another case of a team taking its name with it when moving from a place where the name made perfect sense (Minneapolis) to somewhere it doesn’t make any (Los Angeles).  The Lakers aren’t the only basketball team in LA whose name makes no sense, though.  The Clippers got their name in San Diego, where you can go sailing off the coast.  LA’s not on the coast.  Western Canada is home to all kinds of animals like grizzly bears, so “Grizzlies” was a natural fit for a team from Vancouver.  Memphis?  Not so much.

Then there are the teams that moved to places where their existing nickname actually made more sense.  OK, there’s only one: the Houston Rockets.  They were named the “Rockets” when they were founded in San Diego because that’s where the booster rocket was developed.  Then they moved to Houston, which is the home of the space program.

The Rockets aren’t the only team whose name goes perfectly with the city where they play.  Boston’s got a large Irish population.  “Celtics” is a nod to that.  The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia in 1776.  Hence the Philadelphia 76ers.  Orlando is the home of Disney World, the “Magic Kingdom.”  Even though it’s a little cheesy, “Magic” is a really good name for a basketball team.  “Pistons” comes from Detroit’s place as home of the U.S. auto industry.  Even though they didn’t start out in Detroit, they might as well have, since that name makes perfect sense to me.  Dallas already had the Cowboys when they got a basketball team.  Why not piggyback on that and go with a type of cowboy, the “Maverick?”  The Denver “Nuggets?”  That goes back to Denver’s history with mining.  Minnesota is home to the largest population of timberwolves in the continental U.S.  And “Timberwolves” is a really cool name.

One of the best team names in NBA history, though, is Seattle “SuperSonics.”  The Sonics got their name because when Seattle was awarded an NBA franchise, nearby Boeing had just gotten the contract to start building its supersonic planes.  It went perfectly with the city.  Then they moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder (more on that in a moment).  The good news is, it looks like the Kings will be relocating to Seattle next season, where the Sonics will be reborn much like the Cleveland Browns and Winnipeg Jets before them.

Now that brings me to the former Sonics, the Oklahoma City Thunder.  As long as they’re in the league, they’re in contention for worst team name in pro sports.  I’m not really sure where the name “Thunder” came from other than Clay Bennett liking it.  And what’s the logo?  I don’t get the colors either.  None of it seems to go together.  (They also never should’ve left Seattle, which is automatic points against the Thunder in all areas.)

But, believe it or not, there’s one NBA team name that’s even dumber than “Pelicans” and “Thunder.”  That belongs to the franchise based in our nation’s capital.  I totally understand why they wanted to get away from the name “Bullets” in the mid-90s.  (It’s here where I point out the irony that this is the team Gilbert Arenas, who’s best known for bringing a gun into the locker room, once played for.)  But where did they get “Wizards” from?  The other options when they were changing the name weren’t much better (Dragons, Express, Stallions, Sea Dogs) weren’t much better, but they weren’t as bad as “Wizards” either.  Terrible name, terrible logo.  And just when you thought they couldn’t make it any worse, they unveiled new uniforms last season that were supposed to be a throwback to the old logo and colors.  Except, the Wizards are wearing uniforms based on the old color scheme of the Bullets.  So much for getting away from that “Bullets” name.

While I’ll miss the “Hornets,” the name “Pelicans” no longer seems as stupid to me as it did when I first heard it.  I’m still not a fan of the color scheme, just like I hate the Nets’ black and white, but maybe it’ll grow on me.  Besides, the colors seem to be the most likely thing to change after a few years anyway.  Regardless, since I’m not a Hornets fan, it makes no difference to me.  If they want to be called the “Pelicans” now, more power to ’em.