The Story of the Washington Wizards

The Story of the Washington Wizards — page 3 — CASTING THE BULLETS THE U S CAPITOL’S DESIGN WAS INSPIRED BY GREEK AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE 8 CASTING THE BULLETS

The Story of the Washington Wizards — page 4 — EARL MONROE After winning independence from Great Britain in 1783 the new United States couldn’t agree on where the national capital should be located Southern states wanted it in their territory but the North refused and demanded that the capital be situated in one of its states Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton worked out a compromise in 1790 The new federal government would assume the Revolutionary War debts of the states the bulk of which were in the North In return Maryland and Virginia would each donate land along the Potomac River to build the capital This arrangement had considerable opposition from both sides and passed Congress by the narrowest of margins creating the District of Columbia The new city within its borders was named Washington to honor the nation’s first president Eventually Virginia would reclaim 9

The Story of the Washington Wizards — page 5 — SINCE 1997 THE TEAM HAS PLAYED AT WHAT IS NOW DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON’S VERIZON CENTER the territory it had originally ceded While Washington’s growth was slow at first today it is one of the most powerful cities in the world Many tourists flock there every year to see iconic structures such as the White House U S Capitol Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials and many others The Washington metropolitan area is also home to teams in all four major professional leagues baseball’s Nationals hockey’s Capitals football’s Redskins and since 1973 the National Basketball Association NBA s Wizards The Wizards were born in Chicago Illinois in 1961 as an NBA expansion franchise called the Packers The Packers who changed their name to Zephyrs a year later took the typical expansion team lumps going just 18 62 They proved a little more competitive in their second season going 25 55 Prompted by sagging fan support the team moved to Baltimore Maryland prior to the 1963 64 season and was renamed yet again A previous Baltimore NBA team which folded early in the 1954 55 season had been nicknamed the Bullets because of its proximity to an ammunition factory and the new franchise adopted the name The reborn Bullets struggled for wins in their first two seasons in Baltimore 10

The Story of the Washington Wizards — page 6 — GUS JOHNSON COURTSIDE STORIES Bullets Versus Knicks The Baltimore Bullets became a contender when they drafted guard Earl Monroe and center Wes Unseld Fans were treated to some memorable springtime moments from 1969 to 1974 when the Bullets and New York Knicks met in the playoffs for six consecutive years The Knicks won five of the six playoff series but that apparent domination does not tell the whole story The Bullets forced the Knicks to a Game 7 in the 1970 playoffs the season New York won its first NBA title The defending champs then got dethroned by the Bullets in Game 7 the following year Since the final game was in New York many fans assumed a Knicks victory Monroe and Unseld would have none of it though leading the Bullets through a nasty physical contest to a 93 91 win It was as good a moment as a player could have Monroe recalled We went into Madison Square Garden and we beat the NBA champions in the seventh game It was a close game but we were the better team 11 Bullets Versus Knicks

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