The Strange and Clustered Timeline of NBA Franchises

the NBA has seen massive growth in the last seven decades pertaining to current NBA franchises this is what the landscape of the NBA looks like today 30 teams 28 cities six divisions and two conferences so when looking into NBA history it can be confusing to keep track of the movement of teams around the country you get emotional reminiscing about basketball in Seattle you remember there was actually an NBA team in Vancouver and also one in Omaha Nebraska anyways today we're going to dive into the strange and clustered timeline of NBA franchises the NBA recognizes its origins as the BAA founded in 1946 and started its first season with 11 teams some of them we can still recognize today the New York Knicks are one of the two teams from the inaugural baa season that still survive in the NBA today under the same name and in the same city the other one of those teams the Boston Celtics the third team from the inaugural season that still lives today were the eventual champions of the inaugural season the Philadelphia Warriors the Warriors state of Philly until the team was sold in 1962 and was shipped across the country to San Francisco there they played until 1971 until they eventually moved to Oakland where we have seen them play up until the last season however as we now know the Warriors are moving back to San Francisco starting next year the Washington Capitals the Providence steamrollers the Toronto Huskies Chicago stags st. Louis Bombers Cleveland rebels the Detroit Falcons and the Pittsburgh Armand all survived fewer than five seasons before folding so we're going to coach their timelines right away in its second season the Baltimore bullets joined the league to even the conference's and went bust in 1955 now I know that you might know that the Baltimore bullets played way into the 70s which is true just not this Baltimore bullets team that was a later Baltimore bullets team just bear with me in its third season four new teams abandoned the NBL and joined the BAA and the conference's were balanced for the first time six teams in each conference let me clarify here the NBL was the National Basketball League which was a rival league to the BAA which was the Basketball Association of America now that's the league that the NBA recognizes as its origin and its history not the NBL the teams have defected to the BAA were the Fort Wayne Pistons the Indianapolis Jets the Minneapolis Lakers and Rochester Royals and we're going to throw the Indianapolis Jets out right away as they ceased operations after one season the Pistons started out in Fort Wayne Indiana which isn't really a city big enough to host a professional basketball team therefore the owner moved the team to Detroit after the 1956-57 season where they still played today the Lakers were not the Hollywood Bright Lights Showtime franchise we know today when they started out they started out in Minneapolis but were struggling financially after the retirement of Center George Mikan after they were almost sold to a Kansas City investor in 1957 and considering relocations to Chicago and San Francisco they eventually moved to LA ahead of the 1961-62 season where they still played today the Rochester Royals won the championship in 1951 but were struggling financially in spite of this which eventually led to the owners moving the team to Cincinnati in 1957 after new owners took over and stars left the team the organization relocated to Kansas City in 1972 but divided home games between Kansas City and Omaha to try and win over both fan bases and call themselves the Kansas City - Omaha Kings it's a bit long-winded if you ask me the team abandoned the Omaha market in 1975 and became just the Kansas City Kings in the 80s the team was struggling financially again and was sold to Sacramento investors removed the team to Sacramento in 1985 become the Sacramento Kings that we know today in 1949 after three seasons the BAA merged with its rival league the NBL to become the NBA which we all know and love today the NBL teams which carried over to the new NBA for the Sheboygan Redskins the Anderson Packers no Anderson Park their full name was actually the chief Anderson meat packers um I'm being serious that was her name the Waterloo Hawks are not the Hawks we know today the Denver Nuggets not the Denver Nuggets team we know today it's another Denman Augustin it's confusing I know just again bear with me the Indianapolis Olympians the tri-cities Blackhawks and the Syracuse Nationals following what we're going to do first is throw the Redskins the Packers the Hawks and the Nuggets straight in the trash I say either folded or left League after one season and we're throwing the Olympians in the trash - as they only lasted four seasons so in its first season as the NBA there were 17 teams in the league and the next season there were only ten so there were only two MBL teams that lasted in the NBA the Blackhawks and the Nationals back Hawks were called the tri-cities Blackhawks as they played in an arena between Moline Illinois Rock Island Illinois and daven port Iowa this market was way too small for an NBA team and the move to Milwaukee in 1956 they only stayed in Milwaukee for three seasons before they moved to st. Louis to become the st. Louis Hawks in 1955 the Hawks were successful but they were sold to an Atlanta investor removed the team to Atlanta in 1968 and this is the Hawks that we know today the Syracuse Nationals were a successful team but again Syracuse was a small market not fit to have an NBA team so the team was sold to Philadelphia investors in 1963 you'd move the team there ahead of the 63-64 season and of course they still play there today the league is at peace for a few seasons without any franchises storming in until 1961 when the Chicago Packers joined the league as its first true expansion team now I don't know if you chose to name a Chicago team the Packers at the time but they must not have been from Chicago because the Green Bay Packers were better Bibles to the Chicago NFL team the Chicago Bears so that name was not well-received in Chicago therefore the team changed his name to the Chicago's nephews after one year all right no terrible the suckers only stuck around for one year before moving to Baltimore becoming the second incarnation of the Baltimore bullets the Baltimore bullets were actually good they had an MVP but decided to relocate to land over in DC and become the capital bullets which in my opinion is the greatest name in NBA history that only lasted a year for changing their name to the Washington Bullets the bullets were successful they won a championship but their name was a little inappropriate considering the rising gun violence in DC so in 1995 they changed her name to the Wizards who we all know today Chicago is the third largest city in the US and his void of a franchise after having two teams that either folded or relocated so in 1966 they were granted an expansion team the Bulls the Chicago Bulls have always been the Chicago Bulls and still play in the league today the year after in 1967 its expansion time again and the league is joined by the San Diego rockets and the Seattle SuperSonics the owner of the Rockets got cold feet after four pretty bad seasons and sold the team to Houston investors removed the team to Houston in 1971 where they played today the Seattle SuperSonics won the hearts of the city of Seattle before dumping them and breaking all their hearts by moving to Oklahoma in 2008 where they now play as the Oklahoma City Thunder another year another expansion in 1968 the league welcomes the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks easy enough as they both have remained the same franchises from the beginning the next offseason nothing happens but the offseason after that three new teams joined the league in 1970 the Cleveland Cavaliers joined who still remain the same organization same with Portland Trail Blazers the Buffalo Braves entered the league and played in Buffalo until 1978 when the Braves owner and the Celtics owner decided to swap franchises could you imagine that happening today if like Mark Cuban and Steven bomber just got drunk one night and just decided to swap franchises that'd be fun Braves new owner moves the franchise to San Diego but the team is not very successful and is sold to Oh Donald sterling in 1981 sterling moves the team up to LA in 1984 which he did not get permission from the NBA to do so the league find him two hundred and fifty million dollars to put that into perspective he bought the team for twelve and a half million that seems a little unfair even for a guy like sterling the fine was eventually reduced to six million and the Clippers remained in LA to this day there were a few years of quiet in the NBA until 1974 when the New Orleans Jazz were admitted to the league but jazz played five years in the city of jazz until moving to Salt Lake City to become the Utah Jazz then in 1976 the rival league to the NBA the ABA agrees to a merger with NBA so a little bit of context while all of what we have gone through so far has been going on the NBA has been competing with a rival league who whilst not being as profitable as the NBA pioneered in many ways such as holding the first-ever dunk competition and being the first pro league to introduce the 3-point line this absorbed four new teams into the league the New York Mets the Denver Nuggets the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs so do you remember the phony one-year nuggets from earlier this is the real Denver Nuggets franchise that's still playing the NBA today same with the Spurs and the Pacers the Nets were not given a warm welcome to New York by the Knicks and they were forced to pay four point eight million dollars to the Knicks for colonizing their fan base this may not seem like a big deal today but that fine meant they couldn't pay dr. Jay and his contract for sold to the Sixers the Nets did not find great success when they settled in Long Island so they moved to New Jersey in 1977 again the next played school bully and demanded another four million from the Nets for taking over the fan base in New Jersey which the Knicks had territorial rights to do so it's a pretty rough start in their new league for the Nets the team remained in New Jersey that eventually moved to Brooklyn in 2012 becoming the Brooklyn Nets a little fun fact due to negative publicity in the mid 90s the Nets decided to shed their bad image by changing their name to the New Jersey swamp dragons in 1994 yes luckily the decision was vetoed at the last minute by the co-owner of the team as the ABA teams were settling into their new league the league welcomed Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves into the league in 1980 actually Minnesota backed out and wouldn't get a team until a few years later and the Dallas Mavericks well they've always been the Mavericks in 1985 commissioner David Stern laid out a plan to expand the league by four teams within the next four years so in 1988 the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets commenced operations in the league the Miami Heat have been in South Beach ever since they started out the Charlotte Hornets played in Charlotte until 2002 when attendance had plummeted due to the owner being accused of kidnapping and sexual assault so the owner then moved the team to New Orleans this did not mean the end for basketball in Charlotte however the market in Charlotte was still good and the city was awarded an expansion franchise in 2004 where they played at the new Charlotte Bobcats back in New Orleans the Hornets play in their new city until Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and operations had to be moved to Oklahoma where they played at the New Orleans Oklahoma City Hornets in 2005 to 2007 after returning to New Orleans they changed her name to the pelicans in 2013 which they're known as today now let's go back to Charlotte for a second the team in the city was originally known as the Hornets but that name was taken as the Hornets were playing in New Orleans but when the Hornets name became vacant in the 2013-14 season owner Michael Jordan changed the name of the franchise back to its old name the Charlotte Hornets rewind the clock back to 1989 and two new teams are added as part of the four team expansion the Orlando Magic a mini Annapolis finally decided they wanted the team and got the Minnesota Timberwolves both of these franchises have been the same since the beginning the lady MBA expansion came in 1995 when the league decided it was moving to Canada with the birth of the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies Toronto proved to be a profitable market and the team remains there today currently as reigning NBA champions Vancouver not so much and the team eventually moved out of Canada to Memphis Tennessee and became the Memphis Grizzlies and that's it that's basically a brief story of the clustered history of NBA franchises and who knows when the next expansion is going to be the Commissioner has entertained the thought of moving into Mexico and also into Europe so I guess we will have to wait and see thanks for watching if you enjoyed it leave a like and a comment below and if you enjoy the NBA in its history subscribe for more content [Music]

Channel: League Stories

Views: 361,288

Keywords: nba, basketball, michael jordan, michael jordan (celebrity), michael jordan thompson, jordan david thompson, david thompson nba, michael jordan role model, nba basketball, david thompson mix, david thompson denver, david thompson skywalker, david thompson highlights, david thompson north carolina, nba thompson dunk contest, baseball, basketball (interest), naismith memorial basketball hall of fame, basketball hall of fame enshrinement

Id: GTEN9ID4S58

Length: 14min 13sec (853 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 30 2019