Renaming NBA Franchises

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Cross posting from the Oakland A's thread.
The Kansas City Phillies would be even more silly than the Utah Jazz.
This has always bothered me. Charlotte recently reclaimed Hornets, as it was specific to the city. That righted one wrong.

New Orleans Pelicans : Should be New Orleans Jazz

Utah Jazz: Should have changed the name. Makes zero sense. Change it to Salt Lake Saints, Utah Pioneers etc. I'll take suggestions.

Sacramento Kings: Inherited from the Kansas City Kings, who were the Rochester Royals. Kings name should have been dropped. Better yet, move them and renew the Seattle Sonics. I'll take suggestions here too.

Los Angeles Lakers: Minneapolis Lakers should have been changed to something more suited to LA. Los Angeles Asshats of Anaheim, suggestions welcome.

Minnesota Timberwolves : Should be Minnesota Lakers

Memphis Grizzlies : Originally from Vancouver. You can actually take the Kings name and it fits better here for different reasons.

Team names that could use a rebrand: Washington Wizards (formerly Baltimore Bullets) , Brooklyn Nets (New Jersey)
 

JHS

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Aug 2, 2006
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I was down on this until you raised the possibility of the Memphis Kings.
 

Ale Xander

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Oct 31, 2013
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Memphis Meatsmokers

Utah Utahraptors (state dinosaur)

Toronto Sky

Washington Belts (play on Bullets and Beltway)

Brooklyn Burgs

Los Angeles Jackasses (Jacks for short)
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Indiana Speed

agree with NO Jazz

Cleveland Spidernets
 
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Bozo Texino

still hates Dave Kerpen
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The Memphis Express. They can change their colors to FedEx orange and purple.

"Kings" works for Memphis, Brooklyn, and Seattle.
 

SemperFidelisSox

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The Clippers need a complete rebrand when they move to Inglewood. Put the entire history of the Clippers behind you. New name, logo, uniforms.
 

Warning Track Speed

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astride the divide
The Memphis Express. They can change their colors to FedEx orange and purple.
They actually tried to do this upon the move from Vancouver, but the league nixed it:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/nba-rejects-memphis-express-moniker-1.278813

The NBA will not allow teams to be named for corporations, meaning the Vancouver Grizzlies will not become the Memphis Express if the league approves the move.

FedEx Corp. is ready to buy naming rights to a new arena if the NBA grants permission for the Grizzlies to relocate to Memphis. The company hoped to include a corporate nickname in the approximately $100-million deal.
More recently, the Memphis Express was the city's entry in the lone (2019) season of the Alliance of American Football. Coached by Mike Singletary.
 

benhogan

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Here is my pet peeve:
over 18yrs ago Syracuse University went from the Orangemen to the Orange (got rid of the Saltine Warrior 44 yrs ago)...Stanford University, St John's Red Storm, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, etc, etc have all made changes in regards to Native Americans

It's rather ironic that San Francisco, can't be bothered to change the name of the Golden State Warriors (originally the Philadelphia Warriors).
 
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Cellar-Door

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Is the word ‘warrior’ a specific Native American reference? Maybe it’s this kind of warrior:
yeah, it came with a super racist logo back in the day.

The answer on why it hasn't changed is that they got rid of the Native association in like 1970, and at some point re-branded it as a more generic warrior in the 90's. So they don't get much heat because you have to be very old to even remember it, or look it up.
 

benhogan

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yeah, it came with a super racist logo back in the day.

The answer on why it hasn't changed is that they got rid of the Native association in like 1970, and at some point re-branded it as a more generic warrior in the 90's. So they don't get much heat because you have to be very old to even remember it, or look it up.
Wow all it took was a re-branding to give them a pass, surprised the rest of those other places didn't think of that

BTW you're 100% correct. I just find it strange they still carry that name from Philadelphia. We've seen it become a hot-button topic with other sports franchises. They could easily adopt plenty of other "nicknames", other than Warrior, that would be more appropriate for the area.
 
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nolasoxfan

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yeah, it came with a super racist logo back in the day.

The answer on why it hasn't changed is that they got rid of the Native association in like 1970, and at some point re-branded it as a more generic warrior in the 90's. So they don't get much heat because you have to be very old to even remember it, or look it up.
Ouch. That I did not know. Seems like a good candidate for a change.
 

Buster Olney the Lonely

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I thought there was a real opportunity for a three-team name shuffle in 2013. New Orleans ceases to be the Hornets and reclaims the Jazz name. Charlotte takes back the Hornets moniker. And Utah rebrands as the Bobcats.

Or sticking with the entomology angle, Utah Buzz, Utah Stingers? It is the Beehive State after all.

Some of these others are hopeless. The Lakers are always going to be the LA team. The Kings are maybe my favorite name because of the irony of the situation.
 

NomarsFool

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It’s a shame the Lakers has such a strong history with LA as it’s pretty ridiculous for LA (although not as bad as Utah Jazz). Of course Memphis Grizzlies is also pretty ridiculous. Maybe we should have the Toronto Heat or the Kansas City Devil Rays? What would be some of the most absurd switches?
 

samuelLsamson

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Apr 27, 2006
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It’s a shame the Lakers has such a strong history with LA as it’s pretty ridiculous for LA (although not as bad as Utah Jazz). Of course Memphis Grizzlies is also pretty ridiculous. Maybe we should have the Toronto Heat or the Kansas City Devil Rays? What would be some of the most absurd switches?
Well if we're venturing into MLB teams, I'd enjoy a straight swap that creates the Miami Rockies and the Colorado Marlins.
 

NomarsFool

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Looking at the NBA teams with a somewhat clear regional link, no regional link, and maybe in-between:
Clear In-Between No regional link
Celtics Grizzlies Hawks
Nuggets Bucks Nets
Pistons Timberwolves Bulls
Rockets Thunder Cavaliers
Pacers Mavericks
Clippers Warriors
Lakers Magic
Heat Kings
Pelicans Raptors
Knicks Wizards
76ers
Suns
Trail Blazers
Spurs
Jazz
Hornets
 

NomarsFool

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Clear:
Celtics
Nuggets
Pistons
Rockets
Pacers
Clippers
Lakers
Heat
Pelicans
Knicks
76ers
Suns
Trail Blazers
Spurs
Jazz
Hornets
 

NomarsFool

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I didn't know until I looked it up the significance for Charlotte and the Hornets.

Timberwolves could probably move to the regional column, not sure.
 

NomarsFool

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No clear link (at least that I'm aware of)
Hawks
Nets
Bulls
Cavaliers
Mavericks
Warriors
Magic
Kings
Raptors
Wizards
 

BostonFanInCanesLand

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Pretty sure the Bulls link is the old Chicago stockyards. I’d say the Clippers are a San Diego sailing reference not as applicable to LA (yes, still coastal but not in the same way).
 

Smokey Joe

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A maverick is an unbranded calf or yearling cow. ie one that is apart from the herd.
I can guarantee that people in Dallas think the link is pretty clear even if most of them wouldn’t be able to identify one if they hit it with their pickup.
 

kazuneko

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Clear:
Celtics
Nuggets
Pistons
Rockets
Pacers
Clippers
Lakers
Heat
Pelicans
Knicks
76ers
Suns
Trail Blazers
Spurs
Jazz
Hornets
So you are counting regional links that no longer make sense because of a team relocating (Jazz/Lakers)? Why, those are clearly the least appropriate…
 

Humphrey

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Aug 3, 2010
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I thought there was a real opportunity for a three-team name shuffle in 2013. New Orleans ceases to be the Hornets and reclaims the Jazz name. Charlotte takes back the Hornets moniker. And Utah rebrands as the Bobcats.

Or sticking with the entomology angle, Utah Buzz, Utah Stingers? It is the Beehive State after all.

Some of these others are hopeless. The Lakers are always going to be the LA team. The Kings are maybe my favorite name because of the irony of the situation.
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