The Washington Wizards have had a very complicated history in the NBA and have gone through a number of guises and names before their current franchise and have had some serious ups and downs when it comes to their overall NBA performance over the years.

The team started life as the Chicago Packers, and in 1961 they became the first-ever expansion team to join the league. They didn’t fare all that well, finishing their debut season with an atrocious 18-62 record.

By the following season, 1962-63, the team had been renamed the Chicago Zephyrs, and they changed their name again a year later when they relocated to Baltimore in 1963 and became the Baltimore Bullets.

In 1970-71 the team made it all the way through to the NBA Finals before they were easily overcome by the Milwaukee Bucks in four games.

New Name, New Home

In 1973-74 they changed their name to the Capital Bullets as they moved to Washington, D.C, and they subsequently changed their name again to the Washington Bullets the following season.

Maiden NBA Title

Under head coach Dick Motta, the team continued to improve on the good work done by his predecessor K.C. Jones. In his first season in charge, the team overcame their big rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the Houston Rockets in the Conference semifinals.

The following season, in 1977-78, they collected their first-ever NBA Championship title when they defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in a thrilling seven-game NBA Finals series.

Close to Repeating the Trick

They followed that up by finishing top of the Eastern Conference to set up another clash with the SuperSonics the following season but were edged out in five games.

In 2001, four years after they finally became the Washington Wizards, they lured Michael Jordan out of retirement but were not able to push onwards, and, in truth, the team hasn’t achieved a great deal over the past two decades.

Southeast Division Rivals

The Washington Wizards play in the Southeast Division, which means they battle the likes of the Miami Heat, the Atlanta Hawks, the Orlando Magic, and the Charlotte Hornets for divisional supremacy.

Capital One Arena Guide

The Washington Wizards play their home games at the Capital One Arena, which was previously known as the MCI Center and the Verizon Center.

It has been the team’s home since 1997 and has a capacity of 20,356.