Former Teams: The Eastern Conference currently has 15 teams. All of which are headquartered east of the Mississippi and virtually on the East Coast, with Toronto, Canada. They serve as the only team not based in the United States. The fifteen teams separated into three 5-team divisions since the 2003-04 season: the Atlantic, Central, and Southeast Divisions.
Baltimore Bullets (1948-1954)
NBA Former Teams. The Baltimore Bullets were a professional basketball club based in Baltimore, Maryland. They played in the American Basketball League (1944–47), the Basketball Association of America (1947–49) and the National Basketball Association.
The Bullets dissolved on November 27, 1954, with a 3–11 record. It makes them the last NBA franchise to collapse as of 2018. The Bullets were the only defunct NBA team to win a title. Also, having been a part of the league for the duration. Therefore, the Phoenix Shot Tower was the inspiration for the Baltimore Bullets’ name. After moving to Landover, Maryland, in 1973. They were known as the Capital Bullets for a season. Before they were named Washington Bullets in year 1974.
Buffalo Braves (now LA Clippers) (1970-1972)
The Buffalo Braves were an NBA basketball team headquartered in Buffalo, New York. From 1970 to 1978, the Braves were a member of the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division of the NBA. The Braves traded to Irv Levin, owner of the Boston Celtics, in 1978. They relocated the franchise to San Diego and also renamed it the Clippers. In 1984, the team relocated to Los Angeles and renamed the Los Angeles Clippers.
In the 1970–71 NBA season, the Braves is one of three new teams. They made their debut and others being the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Neuberger Loeb, a New York City investment group with ties to Buffalo was the original owner. The league took control of the team. Before it had played a preseason game due to a series of errors. Dolph Schayes was the team’s first head coach. However, He acquires in the 1970 NBA Expansion Draft. It was the team’s first outstanding player.
Moreover, the NBA owners voted 21–1 to allow the Braves to relocate. After their final season in Western New York. After the 1977–78 season. Levin purchased a franchise in San Diego, which became the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Clippers. The teams switched the majority of their lineups as part of the transaction.
Houston Rockets (1972-1980)– NBA Former Teams
The Houston Rockets are an NBA basketball franchise headquartered in Houston, Texas. The Rockets are a part of the Western Conference’s Southwest Division in the National Basketball Association. The Toyota Center in downtown Houston hosts the team’s home games. In its history, Houston has won two NBA championships and four Western Conference titles. The San Diego Rockets are a professional basketball team headquartered in San Diego in 1967 as an expansion franchise. The Rockets moved to Houston in 1971.
The Rockets only won 15 games in their debut season as a club. In the 1968 NBA draft, the Rockets’ first overall pick and selected power forward Elvin Hayes. By guided the team to its first playoff appearance in his rookie season. The Rockets picked center Hakeem Olajuwon with the first overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft. He would become the cornerstone of the franchise’s most successful decade.
The New Orleans Hornets (now known as the Pelicans) 2002-2004– NBA Former Teams
NBA New Orleans Pelicans are basketball club based in New Orleans. The Pelicans are one of the Western Conference’s Southwest Division, the National Basketball Association.
For the 2002–03 NBA season, Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn relocated the team to New Orleans. After then, the franchise named New Orleans Hornets. Hurricane Katrina prompted the Hornets. To relocate to Oklahoma City for two seasons after three seasons in New Orleans. For the 2007–08 season, the Hornets were back in New Orleans full-time. After the 2012-13 season, the team named the New Orleans Pelicans.
Louisiana has a 671–771 total regular-season record and has advanced to the playoffs seven times. Sixteen years ago, the original franchise relocated from North Carolina. Among their achievements are two playoff series victories and a division title.
Philadelphia Warriors (Now Golden State Warriors) (1946-1962)
The Philadelphia Warriors, a pioneer member of the Basketball Association of America. They were founded in 1946 as the Warriors of Philadelphia. Peter A. Tyrrell, who also owns the American Hockey League’s Philadelphia Rockets, was the team’s owner. Eddie Gottlieb, a longtime basketball promoter in Philadelphia, was hired as the team’s coach and a general manager by Tyrrell. The squad called after the Philadelphia Warriors, a former American Basketball League team that played in 1925.
For the 1971–72 season, the Warriors changed their name to the Golden State Warriors. And played almost all their home games in Oakland. The six “home” games were played in San Diego. While none has done in San Francisco or Daly City. The Warriors became the only NBA club that does not include the name of their state or city in their title. After changing their name from the San Francisco Warriors. Although “Golden State” is a well-known California nickname.
The Warriors won the BAA’s first title in their first season, defeating the Chicago Stags in a five-game series in front of 8,221 fans. The Arena would serve as the Warriors’ home court until 1952, between the Civic Center and the Arena. An arrangement that would last until the team was sold and relocated to San Francisco in 1962.
Providence Steamrollers (1946-1947)– NBA Former Teams
The Providence Steamrollers were a professional basketball club based in Providence, Rhode Island. They competed in the National Basketball Association. The Steamrollers are the only professional sports team from one of the Big Four leagues to call Rhode Island home.
The Steamrollers were one of the NBA’s first eleven teams when the league called the Basketball Association of America. Before collapsing after three seasons, the team had an overall record of 46-122 (274).
With six wins in 1947-48, the Steamrollers still maintain the dubious NBA record for the fewest games won in a season. The 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers hold the record for lowest winning percentage. Nat Hickey of the Steamrollers, at the age of 46, set the record for being the oldest player in NBA history during the 1947-48 season.
Toronto Huskies (1946-1947)– NBA Former Teams
NBA Former Teams. For the 1946–47 season, the Toronto Huskies were a basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario. Therefore, they competed in the Basketball Association of America. A precursor to the National Basketball Association. The club had a 22–38 win-loss record in its single season. Before disbanding in the summer of 1947. They have nothing to do with the Toronto Raptors of the NBA.
The NBA founded in 1946 by a group of men who owned or controlled the venues in America. The majority of them associated with the NHL and needed to cover empty dates. Then the meeting was in New York.
However, the team’s franchise rights to Jackie Robinson, a well-known baseball star, after the 1965 season. The “Brooklyn Dodgers” established, lasting only one season. A team from the Basketball Association of America was the Providence Steamrollers.
Washington Capitols (1946-1947, 1948, 1951)
The Washington Capitols were a Washington, D.C.-based defunct Basketball Association of America. The forerunner of the National Basketball Association team. In between 1946 and 1951, the NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbach coached the squad from 1946 until 1949.
After the 1949-1950 season, the Anderson Packers, Sheboygan Red Skins, and also Waterloo Hawks joined the NPBL. Moreover, the Chicago Stags, Denver Nuggets, and St. Louis Bombers dissolved. Before the 1950-1951 season started, the league had shrunk from 17 to 11. Therefore, The Washington Capitols disbanded midway through the 1950-1951 season. Also, bringing the league’s total number of teams to 10.
NBA Former Teams. The team began as a charter BAA team in 1946. Then in 1949, it designated as a charter NBA team. Moreover, On January 9, 1951, it folded with a 10–25 record. On October 31, 1950, at Uline Arena, Earl Lloyd, the first African American player to participate in the NBA. He made his debut with the Washington Capitals.
Lastly, the squad competed in the American Basketball League for the 1951–52 season before folding in January 1952. Green and also white were the squad colors. Therefore, The Washington Wizards have replaced the Baltimore Bullets, renamed the Capital Bullets in 1973. Thus, The National Basketball Association (NBA) has returned to Washington, D.C.
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