2007-08 Washington Wizards
Ticket buyers broke records last season, with fans breaking season attendance record with a whooping 18,372 per game in ‘06-07. Fans are expected to turn up as well for ’07-08, as they still have the power pack: Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. They are considered one of the top trios in basketball, and are expected to give headaches to opposing teams in the coming season. In fact, many argue that Arenas, “Agent Zero” is the engine that makes the Wizards go. Jamison continues to live up to his salary, stepping in for an injured Arenas and Butler – who in spite of injuries, set career highs last season. For ’07-08 the trio will continue to impress if they continue in good health. And if they can keep their game tight, Agent Zero will most likely step in to win.
Previous Seasons
The Washington Wizards have an interesting history. They started out playing in Chicago as the Chicago Packers then changed their name to the Chicago Zephyrs. The roller coaster of team names continued when the franchise hauled off to Baltimore. In Baltimore the team played in an old Armory, so the name was changed to the Baltimore Bullets. Another move to the Washington suburb of Landover required a name change to the Capital Bullets. Finally in 1974 the Capital Bullets re-named themselves the Washington Bullets.
While all this was going on the Bullets managed to post some good season. In 1978 the Washington Bullets captured an NBA Championship. The Washington Bullets were an unlikely NBA Champion. With a regular season of 44-38 the team managed to make the playoffs. With no one in the basketball world expecting much, the Bullets swept the Atlanta Hawks in the first round. In the second round Washington got off to a 31 start before the San Antonio Spurs came back to force a Game 6 showdown where things got really weird. First of all, the Spurs Mike Gale lost his uniform at the airport and wore another jersey inside out. In the middle of the 3rd quarter, with the Spurs roaring back to take a 62-61, power was lost in the Cap Centre. Finally the lights came back on in both the Cap centre and the Bullets, and Washington won 103-100 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Bullets walked away a winner after 6 games to advance to the NBA Finals where the faced the Seattle Supersonics. A hectic back and forth battle ensued with the Bullets finally capturing the NBA Championship after a 101-94 win over Seattle.
Another NBA Finals appearance in 1979 failed miserably, winning Game 1 but dropping the next four to give the Seattle Supersonics an MBA Championship. It was all downhill from there as the Wizards failed to win either a division championship or move past the first round for the next few years.
