Caron Butler

Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr. (born January 6, 1982, in Tampa, Florida) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA. He currently plays for the Washington Wizards.

Though born in Florida, Arenas moved to California with his father at a young age, and became one of the best young basketball players to ever come out of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. He attended Grant High School in North Hollywood, and accepted a scholarship offer to the University of Arizona late in his junior year. From the time of his entry into the league, Arenas' popularity soared. He transformed himself from being a relative unknown to being voted by fans as an All-Star starter for the Eastern Conference in 2007. Arenas overcame a 213,000 vote deficit at one point to edge out Vince Carter by just over 3,000 votes for the second of the two starting guard spots, the other spot going to Dwyane Wade. Arenas was most often nicknamed "Agent Zero," but has increasingly been referred to as "Hibachi," a nod to the small Japanese heating device, which literally translates to "bowl of fire." Both names have quickly become fan favorites in the Washington area.

When Arenas entered the 2001 NBA Draft out of the University of Arizona, he did not seem one of the best prospects. In high school, he was told he would never make it, so he took that on as a challenge and took the jersey number zero. Teams in the first round passed on Arenas because he lacked the size needed at the shooting guard position in the NBA and lacked the awareness and ball handling skills of a point guard. His dream was to be drafted by the New York Knicks, who had two picks in the first round. They had shown interest in him but they passed. With no position solidified and a shaky prospect at best, Arenas went the entire first round without being drafted.

The Golden State Warriors finally drafted him with the second pick in the second round (31st overall). Although the Warriors did not enjoy much team success during his tenure with them, Arenas quickly established himself as one of the league's bright young talents. In 2003, his second year in the league, Arenas received the NBA Most Improved Player Award and was named Most Valuable Player of the Rookie-Sophomore game during the NBA All-Star Weekend.

After that season, he was one of the most sought-after free agents of the NBA. He signed with the Washington Wizards, reportedly after flipping a coin to decide among several teams, including the Wizards, Warriors, and Los Angeles Clippers. Arenas had a disappointing first season with the Wizards, battling a strained abdominal muscle injury all season. However, Arenas enjoyed great success in his second season in Washington. He teamed up with shooting guard Larry Hughes (22.0 points per game) in 2004–05 to give the Wizards the highest scoring backcourt duo in the NBA. Arenas was selected for his first NBA All-Star Game. He guided the team to a 45-win season and its first playoff berth since 1997. Arenas led the team in scoring with 25.5 ppg, and finished seventh in the league in that category. He also finished sixth in the league in steals per game in 2004–05 with 2.24 (Hughes led the league with 2.93 steals per game).

Known for his fierce competitiveness and somewhat unusual behavior, Arenas quickly became a fan favorite in Washington. In the fifth game of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2005, Arenas hit a 16-foot fadeaway as time expired to give the Wizards a 112–110 win over the Chicago Bulls. The Wizards eventually won the series, the franchise's first playoff series victory in more than a decade.

Arenas had a career year during the 2005–06 season in which he averaged 29.3 points, which ranked fourth among the scoring leaders, two steals (also fourth), and 6.1 assists per game. Despite his accomplishments, neither fans nor coaches selected Arenas to the 2006 All-Star Game. He was able to get in due to the injury to Indiana Pacers forward–center Jermaine O'Neal. He also participated in the Three-point Shootout, where he was the runner-up to Dirk Nowitzki in the contest.

During the offseason, Arenas said that he was willing to take a pay cut in order to give the Wizards additional money with which to sign available free agents. He has expressed a desire to win a championship with the Wizards. One of Arenas's most memorable play is a 40-foot jump shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Round 1 of the 2006 NBA playoffs.

During the 2006–07 NBA season, Arenas established himself as a threat in close game situations. On January 3, 2007, Arenas hit a 32-foot buzzer-beater to win the game against the Milwaukee Bucks, 108–105. Two weeks later on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day he hit yet another buzzer-beating three-pointer to beat the Utah Jazz, 114–111, in a thriller at the Verizon Center. This same scenario has been added as a cut scene in the video game NBA Live 2008. He also hit a game-winning layup as time expired to beat the Seattle SuperSonics on March 21, 2007.

In an overtime game versus the Los Angeles Lakers on December 17, 2006 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Arenas scored a career-high 60 points, adding 8 rebounds and 8 assists in helping lead the Wizards over the Lakers 147–141. Arenas now holds the Wizards' franchise record for most points scored in a game by an individual. The previous record was held by Earl Monroe with 56 points, achieved in 1968 which was also an overtime game against the Lakers. Arenas's 16 points in the extra period also set an NBA record for most points in one overtime period, surpassing Earl Boykins' record by one point.

Gilbert became noted during the season for his anger with his snub by Team USA for the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Team USA Managing Director Jerry Colangelo and assistant coach Mike D'Antoni cited Arenas's injury as the reason for his not making the team.

Arenas himself has noted that he withdrew from the United States national team for the 2006 FIBA World Championship because he felt that assistant coaches Mike D'Antoni and Nate McMillan had pre-determined the roster even prior to tryouts. Afterward, he stated that he planned on averaging 50 points against their respective teams (Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers). He succeeded at his goal versus powerhouse Phoenix, scoring 54 points, including 21-of-37 from the field, 6-of-12 three-pointers (while reportedly eyeing in the direction of Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo), in a high-scoring 144–139 Wizards win over the Suns. However, on February 11 versus the Blazers, he was held to a lowly nine points, including tying the Wizards' franchise record for three-point futility, going 0-for-8 from behind the arc, in a 94–73 loss versus Portland.

In February, 2007, during the final days of All-Star voting, Arenas was voted as a first-time starter for the 2007 NBA All-Star game for the Eastern Conference, edging out Vince Carter by a slight margin, with 1,454,166 votes to Carter's 1,451,156. At the time he was averaging 29.7 points per game, second in the league.

Towards the end of the season Arenas tore his MCL during a game against the Charlotte Bobcats when Gerald Wallace fell into his leg. The Wizards struggled to finish the season with Arenas and teammate Caron Butler both being injured. Washington earned a playoff berth, but was swept in the first round in a rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Arenas had only played in 8 games this season due to a knee injury, before he started practicing again in May, and returned to action on April 2, 2008 against the Milwaukee Bucks, scoring 17 points in a 110–109 home loss.

Ten days prior, Arenas stormed out of the locker room before a game against the Detroit Pistons. He had wanted to play, but his doctor did not give him clearance. Arenas made a surprise return on April 9, when he came out of the locker room with 5:30 left in the first quarter. He finished the game scoring 13 points and dishing out 3 assists in helping the Wizards beat the Boston Celtics 109–95. He came off the bench for the rest of the regular season as not to disrupt the chemistry the Wizards had built without him. Arenas got his wish when they matched up against the Cavaliers for the third straight year; however, it was apparent he was not 100% healthy. In games 1–3, he played limited minutes, citing soreness in his surgically repaired knee. A few minutes before game 4 of their first-round playoff appearance against the Cavaliers, Arenas announced he would sit out the rest of the playoffs.

On June 9, 2008, Arenas officially opted out of the final year of his contract. Arenas also stated that he would consider re-signing with the Wizards if they were able to retain fellow free agent and teammate Antawn Jamison. The Wizards did indeed sign Jamison to a contract. Arenas was offered a five-year contract worth more than $100 million by the Golden State Warriors and another max deal by the Wizards, a six-year deal worth $124 million. On July 13, 2008, Arenas signed a contract worth $111 million over six years with the Wizards.

Due to the various injuries he had been getting since April 2007, Arenas did not play in any game at all for the Wizards until March 28, 2009, scoring 15 points and dishing 10 assists in a 98–96 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

In the Washington, D.C. area, "Gilbertology" is the name given to Arenas's unorthodox behavior on and off the court, first coined by former Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan. After being criticized for shooting too much as a point guard, Arenas would play games nearly without shooting at all, and then score at will the next game.

While with the Warriors, he once took a shower at halftime in full uniform. Before every game he would take a teammate's jersey and hide it in the locker room to make him look for it. Warriors teammate Adonal Foyle called him a "lunatic," and Troy Murphy said he used to lick or put baby powder on donuts he was forced to deliver to the team as a prank.

Arenas has been said to play online poker during the halftime of games, instead of resting or preparing for the second half. He disputes the accuracy of these stories, saying he was misquoted. Arenas says he does not play for money nor does he play online; instead, he plays on a DVD game of poker. On road trips, he will often eschew team outings on the town in favor of sitting in his room, ordering products from infomercials, such as a colon cleanser. In the same interview he said he preferred sleeping on the couch rather than on his bed, and that he once ate 12 cheeseburgers while on a road trip with the Wizards in Canada.

At the end of each game, regardless of whether it is a home/road win or loss, Arenas takes off his jersey and tosses it to the crowd. He originally tossed his shoes into the crowd, explaining that jerseys were too expensive for him to pay for every game. After he signed a lucrative contract with Washington, he began to throw his jerseys out. Arenas agreed to become a team captain for the 2005–06 season after declining the previous year because he said that many times he didn't even believe the things he was saying to his teammates. He has recently been given the nickname "The Black President", and calls himself the "East Coast Assassin", in reference to his quest to prove his abilities to those who did not vote for him to be a 2006 Eastern All Star reserve. Arenas has also begun to refer to himself as "Agent Zero", a reference to his jersey number originally coined by sports blog The Wizznutzz.

During the 2003–04 season, Arenas tried to vote himself into the All-Star game, trading a pair of shoes and a jersey for a box of ballots.

In October 2006, an ESPN.com story stated that Arenas was converting his Washington, D.C. home to simulate high-altitude conditions, stating that he hoped the arrangement would help him have more energy, especially late in games.

Arenas does not wear size 13 sneakers on the court even though his feet are size 14½, as popularly believed. This was a misquote from an interview. He actually wears shoes a half-size larger.

During the 2006 NBA season, he began to shout the word "hibachi" as he took field goal attempts in games, explaining, "You know, a hibachi grill gets real hot. That's what my shot's like, so I've been calling it that: 'Welcome to the hibachi'." He has also stated that while he is scoring on opponents, he is "cooking chicken and shrimp" in reference to his "Hibachi grill," and that if his opponent wanted to double-team him, he would "cook fillet mignon" as well.

On December 23, 2006, Arenas told The Washington Post he had begun replacing "hibachi" with the phrase "quality shots," a direct reference to Kobe Bryant who had felt Arenas' shot selection was questionable and that he seemingly lacked a conscience. "Out of that whole game I probably took two bad shots," Arenas would respond. "And for me not to have a conscience? You're right. When you're an assassin, you don't have a conscience." Nonetheless, Kobe stated that Gilbert Arenas is one of the most difficult players to guard in the NBA.

According to Gilbert Arenas's blog, he predicted that he would hit the game winner against the Utah Jazz on January 15, 2007.

On February 18, 2007 during the All-Star game, Gilbert joined a line of dunking Elvis impersonators and completed a between-the legs dunk. According to his NBA.com blog, Shaquille O'Neal promised him $100,000 to his Zer0 2 Her0 charity if he did it.

According to his blog, Arenas has said that although he was going to try to go an entire season without making one of his famous predictions, he promised the fans of the new and improved Boston Celtics that they would lose their season opener against the Wizards Boston went on to win that game. But the Wizards won the season series 3–1.

Arenas was raised by his single father in Florida and California after his mother, a drug addict, left him as a child. His paternal grandfather is originally from Cuba. His cousin is Javier Arenas, an all-star football player who is currently starting for the University of Alabama. Another cousin, Armando Murillo, is a cornerback at the University of Nebraska. Arenas attended Sherman Oaks elementary in Sherman Oaks, California and Grant High School in North Hollywood, California.

Arenas donated $100 for every point he scored in each home game during the 2006–07 season to local D.C. area schools, while Wizards team owner Abe Pollin is matching that contribution for each away game. He also mentors a D.C. boy who lost his family in a fire at age 10. Arenas takes him shopping, bowling, got him a job as a ball boy for the Wizards, and acts as a brotherly figure towards him.

Arenas also has his own shoe, the Adidas Gil Zero, as well as his own line of Adidas TS Lightswitch shoes.

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Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The team now known as the Wizards began play as the Chicago Packers in the 1961-62 season. The next season, they changed their name to the Zephyrs. In 1963 the franchise moved to Baltimore, Maryland and became the Baltimore Bullets (no relation to the 1940s–50s Bullets franchise). In their first year in Baltimore, the Bullets finished 4th in a 5–team Western Division.

Prior to the 1964-65 NBA season the Bullets pulled off a blockbuster trade, sending Terry Dischinger, Rod Thorn and Don Kojis to the Detroit Pistons for Bailey Howell, Don Ohl, Bob Ferry and Wali Jones. The trade worked out well; Howell proved to be a hustling, fundamentally sound player who helped the Bullets get into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In the 1965 NBA Playoffs, the Bullets stunned the St. Louis Hawks 3–1, and advanced to the Western Conference Finals. In the finals, Baltimore managed to split the first four games with the Los Angeles Lakers before losing the series 4–2.

In the late 1960s, the Bullets drafted two future Hall of Famers: Earl Monroe, 1967 draft, #2 overall and Wes Unseld, 1968 draft, #2 overall. The team improved dramatically, from 36 wins the previous season to 57 in the 1968-69 season, and Unseld received both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. The Bullets reached the playoffs with high expectations to go further, but they were eliminated by the New York Knicks in the first round. The next season the two teams met again in the first round, and although this one went to 7 games, the Knicks emerged victorious again.

In the 1970-71 season, the 42–40 Bullets again met the Knicks, this time though in the Eastern Conference Finals. With the Knicks team captain Willis Reed injured in the finals, the injury-free Bullets took advantage of his absence, and in Game 7 at New York's Madison Square Garden, the Bullets' Gus Johnson made a critical basket late in the game to lift the Bullets over the Knicks 93–91 and advance to their first NBA Finals in franchise history. They were swept in four games by the powerful Milwaukee Bucks.

Even after Monroe was traded (to the Knicks), the Bullets remained a playoff contender throughout the 1970s. Following a less than spectacular 1971-72 NBA season, the Bullets improved dramatically by acquiring Elvin Hayes from the Houston Rockets and drafting Kevin Porter. After a slow start the Bullets began to make their charge in December, posting a 10–4 record on the way to capturing the Central Division title for the 3rd straight year. The Bullets would again face the Knicks in the 1973 NBA Playoffs, losing for the fourth time in five series against New York.

In 1973, the team moved to Landover, Maryland and became the Capital Bullets; they changed their name to the Washington Bullets the following season.

During November 1973, while waiting for the completion of their new arena in Landover, the Bullets played their home games at Cole Field House on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park. The Capital Centre (later known as the USAir/US Airways Arena) opened on December 2, 1973, with the Bullets defeating the SuperSonics. Through the mid-1970s, the Bullets still played a few games per season in Baltimore.

The 60–22 Bullets made it back to the 1975 NBA Playoffs. That year Washington posted a 36–5 home record at the Capital Centre. In the first round of the playoffs, they survived a 7–game series against the Buffalo Braves as both teams won all of their games at home. In the Eastern Conference Finals, they beat the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics in 6 games to advance to the NBA Finals. The Bullets were favorites to win the NBA Championship, but were shockingly swept by the Rick Barry-led Golden State Warriors in 4 games. They lost game 4 at the Capital Centre.

The loss at the NBA Finals lingered into the 1975-76 NBA season as they won 12 fewer games than last year, and in the playoffs they were eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 7 games. After the season the Bullets fired head coach K.C. Jones, despite having a career 62% winning percentage as the Bullets head coach.

In the 1976-77 NBA season under new head coach Dick Motta, the Bullets would again fall short of the Central Division title for the second straight year. Elvin Hayes finished 6th in the league in rebounds with 12.5 rebounds per game. After opening the 1977 NBA Playoffs with a 3–game series victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Bullets took a 2–1 series lead in the second round of against the Houston Rockets. With a chance to take a 3–1 series lead at home, the Bullets would lose 107–103 as the Rockets went on take the series in 6 games.

Although they had hall of Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld on the team, the Bullets finished the season 44–38 and were a longshot to win the NBA Championship, but coach Dick Motta used the famed phrase "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings". This became the rallying cry for the Bullets as they finished a playoff run that led to the NBA Finals, defeating the Seattle SuperSonics in 7 games to bring a professional sports championship to Washington D.C. for the first time in 36 years.

In the 1978-79 NBA season the Bullets moved to the Atlantic Division, capturing the title in their first season there. They entered the 1979 NBA Playoffs having lost 8 of the final 11 games to finish the regular season at 54–28. In the playoffs the Bullets nearly blew a 3–1 series lead against the Atlanta Hawks, but managed to hold off the Hawks in 7 games.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, they trailed the San Antonio Spurs 3–1, but they mounted a comeback by winning 2 straight games to force a Game 7 at the Cap Center. The Bullets would rally again, overcoming a 4th–quarter deficit to beat George Gervin and the Spurs 107-105 in one of the NBA's all-time greatest games and advance to the NBA Finals and a rematch with the Seattle SuperSonics.

In Game 1 of the Finals, the Bullets defeated the SuperSonics, 99-97, on two game-winning free throws. However, they lost the next four games - and the series - to Seattle. Still, just appearing in the series gave the Bullets the distinction of being the only team to play in the NBA Finals four times during the 1970s.

Age and injuries finally caught up with the Bullets. In the 1979-80 NBA season, they barely made the playoffs as they captured the sixth and final playoff spot with a tiebreaker despite posting a 39–43 record. In the playoffs, they were swept by the Philadelphia 76ers in a 2–game playoff series. The following year the Bullets failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. Wes Unseld retired and Elvin Hayes was traded to the Houston Rockets the following season.

In '81, Washington played strong under the coaching of Gene Shue and Don Moran, finishing the regular season with a 43–39 record, and although they advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals in the playoffs, they had clearly lost their form of the late 70's. The Bullets continued to play with the same talent they had in the previous year. They finished with a winning record, but in a highly competitive Atlantic Division they finished last and missed the playoffs.

The next two years saw the Bullets continue to play mediocre basketball as they finished with losing records but they made the playoffs in the new expanded NBA Playoffs format that involved the 16 best teams to make the playoffs; the Bullets were eliminated in both years in the first round.

In 1985, the Bullets acquired Manute Bol, whose specialty was blocking shots. That year, he blocked 397 shots (a Bullets record), part of a team that blocked 716 shots (a Bullets team record). But the Bullets finished with a disappointing 39–43 record, and were eliminated by the 76ers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The Bullets acquired center Moses Malone from the Philadelphia 76ers for center Jeff Ruland the following season for hope of improvement. Moses would lead the team in scoring with a 24.1 points per game as he would be joined by Jeff Malone who averaged 22.0 points per game. The Bullets' 42–40 record would be their last winning season until the 1996-97 NBA season. Washington was eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in 3 games in the playoffs.

The Bullets selected Muggsy Bogues twelfth overall in the '87 Draft, who at 5'3" is the smallest player in NBA history. The Bullets would get off to a slow start as coach Kevin Loughery was fired 27 games into the season with the Bullets holding an 8–19 record. To replace Loughery, the Bullets hired former MVP Wes Unseld. Under Unseld the Bullets improved as they were able to reach the playoffs again with a record of 38–44. After losing the first 2 games on the road in the first round of the 1988 NBA Playoffs to the Detroit Pistons, the Bullets fought back and forced a 5th game with 2 home wins. They would lose game 5 by 21 points. It would be 9 years before Washington would return to the NBA Playoffs.

The Bullets got off to a 5–1 start in 1989, but hopes of a good season faded quickly as they lost 16 of 18 games from Mid-December to Mid-January. They would finish with a 31–51 record despite stellar seasons by Jeff Malone and Bernard King, who averaged 24.3 and 22.3 points per game respectively to lead the team.

The lone highlight of the Bullets 30 win 1990–91 season was the successful comeback effort by Bernard King as he recovered from knee surgery he suffered while playing for the Knicks in the 1984-85 NBA season to finish 3rd in the NBA in scoring with a 28.4 points per game. In 1990, the team would name Susan O'Malley as its president, the first female president of a franchise in the history of the NBA. She is the sister of former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley and the daughter of former Dodger owner Walter O'Malley.

The Bullets posted records of 25–57 in the 1991–92 season and 22–60 in the 1992–93 season due to injuries and inconsistent play.

Injuries would continue to bite the Bullets as key players Rex Chapman and Calbert Cheaney (the club's 1st round draft pick) miss significant stretches, and Pervis Ellison misses almost the entire season. The result was a miserable 24–58 record for the 1993-94 season, but help from the Michigan Wolverines was on the way.

The Bullets selected Juwan Howard in the 1994 NBA Draft and traded Tom Gugliotta along with three first round draft picks to the Golden State Warriors for the rights to Chris Webber. While the season started out with promise, a shoulder injury to Chris Webber (ironically against the Warriors) caused him to miss 19 games and the Bullets struggled through the rest of the season finishing a then franchise worst (percentage wise) 21–61. Webber averaged 20.1 ppg and 9.6 rpg but declined surgery for his dislocated shoulder. This would prove costly for the next season.

The Bullets' 95–96 season seemed over before it started as Webber suffered a dislocated left shoulder in a preseason game against Indiana on October 21 and opened the season on the injured list. He was activated on Nov. 27, but strained his shoulder against New York on Dec. 29. After hoping the injury would get better with rest, Webber finally underwent surgery on Feb. 1 which sidelined him for the remainder of the season. The Bullets were 9–6 with Webber in the lineup as he averaged a team-high 23.7 points plus 7.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.80 steals in 37.2 minutes per game when he was able to play. Other players injured included Mark Price (who only played in 7 games) and Robert Pack (31 games played out of 82). Bright spots of the season included the selection of Rasheed Wallace in the 1995 NBA Draft and the All-Star play of Howard. Juwan averaged a career best 22.1 ppg and 8.1 rpg and kept the Bullets slim playoff hopes alive until the end of the season. The Bullets improved to 39–43 but just missed the playoffs.

Washington, boasting the league's tallest player (center Gheorghe Mureşan 7'7"), two very athletic forwards (Juwan and Webber) and one of the league's top point guards (Rod Strickland), struggled at the start of the 1996–97 season to a 22–24 start. That led to the dismissal of Head Coach Jim Lynam. Bernie Bickerstaff, an assistant coach with the Bullets when they won their only NBA Championship in 1978, was called upon to resurrect his former team. The Bullets responded, winning 16 of their final 21 games to finish 44–38, their best record since 1978-79. The late surge enabled the Bullets to climb within reach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the final playoff spot. In a winner-take-the-eighth-playoff-spot game with the Cavaliers on the season's final day, the Bullets squeezed past Cleveland 85–81 to end the franchise's longest playoff drought. And while the Bullets were swept by the Bulls in the first round, they lost the three games by a total of just 18 points, a sign that the team is one to be reckoned with.

Webber led the way in scoring (20.1 ppg), rebounding (10.3) and blocks (1.9) and shot 51.8 percent from the floor to make his first All-Star team and became the first All-star of the franchise. Howard averaged 19.1 ppg and 8.0 rpg, while Strickland averaged 17.2 ppg and 1.74 spg and finished fifth in the league in assists with 8.9 per game. Muresan dominated the middle and led the NBA in field goal percentage (.599). Washington also received valuable contributions from Calbert Cheaney (10.6 ppg) and Tracy Murray (10.0 ppg).

In 1995, owner Abe Pollin announced he was changing the team's name because Bullets had acquired violent overtones that had made him increasingly uncomfortable over the years. The final straw was the assassination of his longtime friend, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. A contest was held to choose a new name and the choices were narrowed to the Dragons, Express, Stallions, Sea Dogs, or Wizards. On May 15, 1997, the Bullets officially became the Washington Wizards. The change generated some controversy because Wizard is a rank in the Ku Klux Klan. A new logo was unveiled and the team colors were changed from the traditional red, white and blue to blue, black and bronze, the same colors as the Washington Capitals, a hockey team also owned by Pollin (the Capitals were traditionally red, white, and blue and would return to that scheme in 2007). That same year the Wizards moved to the then MCI Center, now called Verizon Center. The Verizon Center is also home to the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League, the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Georgetown Hoyas men's college basketball team.

In 1998, they became the brother team to the WNBA's Washington Mystics, and remained officially thus until 2005 when the Mystics were sold to Lincoln Holdings, parent company of the Washington Capitals.

The newly-named Wizards began the 1997-98 season playing 5 home games at the Capital Centre before moving to the new MCI Center on December 2, 1997. The Wizards finished the season with a 42–40 record including 4 straight victories to end the season but just missed the playoffs. Highlights of the season included Chris Webber leading the team in scoring (21.9 ppg) and rebounding (9.5 rpg). Strickland led the league in assists (10.5 apg) before suffering an injury near the end of the season. Tracy Murray averaged 15.1 ppg off the bench including a 50 point game against Golden State. Off court distractions led to the trade of Webber to the Sacramento Kings for Mitch Richmond and Otis Thorpe in May 1998.

The Wizards finished the lockout shortened season of 1998-99 with a record of 18-32. Mitch Richmond led the team in scoring with a 19.7 ppg average. In the 1999-2000 season, the Wizards finished with a 29–53 record. Mitch Richmond led the team with 17.4 ppg. 1999 NBA Draft pick Richard Hamilton led the team in scoring the following season with 18.1 ppg on a team that finished with a 19-63 record (a franchise low).

On February 23, 2001, the Wizards were involved in a blockbuster trade days before the trading deadline. The team sent Juwan, Obinna Ekezie and Calvin Booth to the Dallas Mavericks. In return, Washington received Hubert Davis, Courtney Alexander, Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught and Etan Thomas along with $3 million.

After retiring from the Chicago Bulls in early 1999, Michael Jordan became the Washington Wizards’ president of basketball operations as well as a minority owner in January 2000. However in September 2001, Michael Jordan came out of retirement at age 38 to play basketball for the Washington Wizards. Jordan stated that he was returning “for the love of the game.” Because of NBA rules, he had to divest himself of any ownership of the team. Before the All-Star break, Jordan was only one of two players to average more than 25 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds as he led the Wizards to a 26–21 record. Unfortunately, after the all-star break, Jordan’s knee could not handle the workload of a full-season as he ended the season on the injured list, and the Wizards concluded the season with a 37–45 record. Still, Jordan had led the Wizards to an 18-win improvement from the previous season.

Jordan announced he would return for the 2002-03 season, and this time he was determined to be equipped with reinforcements, as he traded for All-Star Jerry Stackhouse and signed budding star Larry Hughes. Jordan even accepted a sixth-man role on the bench in order for his knee to survive the rigors of an 82–game season. However, a combination of numerous team injuries and uninspired play led to Jordan’s return to the starting lineup, where he tried to rebound the franchise from its early-season struggles. By the end of the season, the Wizards finished with a 37–45 record once again. Jordan ended the season as the only Wizard to play in all 82 games, as he averaged 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals in 37.0 minutes per game.

After the season, Wizards' majority owner Abe Pollin fired Jordan as team president, much to the shock of teammates, associates, and the public. Michael Jordan felt he was betrayed, thinking that he would get his ownership back after his playing days ended, but Pollin justified Jordan's dismissal by noting that Jordan had detrimental effects on the team, such as benching Larry Hughes for Tyronn Lue, making poor trades, and squandering the teams' 2001 1st round draft pick on high schooler Kwame Brown who never panned out. Without MJ in the fold the following year, the Washington Wizards were not expected to win, and they didn’t. Despite the signing of future All-Star point guard Gilbert Arenas, the team stumbled to a 25–57 record in the 2003-04 season.

The Wizards replaced Jordan's managerial role with coach Eddie Jordan and General Manager Ernie Grunfeld. The team's current roster only has two holdovers from the Michael Jordan era: Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood.

The 2004-05 NBA season saw the team (now in the new Southeast Division) post its finest regular season record in 26 years (45-37) and marked the first time the franchise had ever made the playoffs as the Wizards. In the offseason, the team traded Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, and the draft rights to Devin Harris for Antawn Jamison. During the regular season, the scoring trio of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Larry Hughes was the highest in the NBA and earned the nickname of "The Big Three." Hughes also led the NBA in steals with 2.89 steals per game. Arenas and Jamison were both named to the 2005 Eastern Conference All-Star team, marking the first time Washington had two players in the All-Star game since Jeff Malone and Moses Malone represented the Bullets in the 1987 All-Star Game.

With a 93-82 win over the Chicago Bulls on April 13, 2005, the Wizards clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 1996-97. Long suffering fans celebrated by buying over 16,000 playoff tickets in two and a half hours the day tickets went on sale. In game 3 of the first round against the Bulls, the Wizards won their first playoff game since 1988. Adding to the "long-overdue" feeling was the fact that game 3 was also the first NBA playoff game to be held within Washington, D.C. city limits. In the Wizards' game 5 victory in Chicago, Arenas hit a buzzer-beater to win the game and the Wizards took their first lead in a playoff series since 1986. In Game 6 at the MCI Center, Jared Jeffries picked up a loose ball and went in for an uncontested tiebreaking dunk with 32 seconds left, thus giving the Washington Wizards a 94-91 win and the team's their first playoff series win in 23 years. They were only the 12th team in NBA history to win a playoff series after being down 0-2.

In the conference semifinals, the Wizards were swept by the Miami Heat, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference in the 2005 NBA Playoffs.

The 2005–06 NBA season was one filled with ups and downs. During the offseason, Washington acquired Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels. During the regular season, the Wizards again had the best scoring trio in the NBA, this time consisting of Arenas, Jamison and Butler as the "Big Three." The Wizards started the 2005–06 season at 5–1, but went on an 8–17 funk to go to 13–18 through 31 games. Then, they went 13–5 in the next 18 games. On April 5, 2006, the team was 39–35 and looking to close in on the 45 win mark achieved the previous year, until Caron suffered a thumb sprain and the Wizards lost all five games without him. Butler returned and the team pulled out their final three games, against the Pistons, Cavs and Bucks, all playoff bound teams, to finish the year at 42–40 and clinch the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. They averaged 101.7 points a game, 3rd in the NBA and tops in the East and clinched a playoff berth for the second year in a row for the first time since 1987.

Their first round match up with Cleveland was widely seen as the most evenly matched series in the 2006 NBA Playoffs. The teams exchanged wins during the first two games in Cleveland, with Game 2 highlighted by the Wizards holding LeBron James to 7-25 shooting from the floor while Brendan Haywood gave James a hard foul in the first quarter that many cited as the key to shaking up the rest of LeBron's game. In Game 3 at the Verizon Center, James hit a 4-footer on the way down with 5.7 seconds left to take the game and the series lead for the Cavs with a 97–96 win. Arenas missed a potential game winning 3-pointer on the other end to seal the win for the Cavs. Game 4 saw the Wizards heat up again, as Gilbert scored 20 in the fourth quarter after claiming he changed his jersey, shorts, shoes and tights in the locker room and the Wizards won 106–96. Yet in Games 5 and 6, the Cavs would take control of the series, both games decided by one point in overtime.

In Game 5, despite the Wizards being down 107-100 with 1:18 to play, the team drove back and eventually tied the game on Caron Butler's layup with 7.5 seconds remaining to send the game to OT, where James would score with 0.9 seconds left in overtime to send the Cavs to a 121-120 win. The series came back to the newly-named Verizon Center for Game 6, where the game went back and forth all night. The Wizards blew a 14-point first-quarter lead, then for 24 minutes, from early in the second quarter to early in the fourth, neither team led by more than five points at any time. The Wizards blew a seven point lead with just under 5 to play and needed Arenas to hit a 31-footer at the end of regulation to take the game to overtime. In OT, Gilbert missed two key free throws. Cleveland rebounded the ball, went downcourt and Damon Jones hit a 17-foot baseline jumper with 4.8 seconds remaining to give the Cavs the lead for good. Butler would miss a 3-pointer on the other end to seal the game, and the series, for the Cavaliers.

The 2006-07 season started out very promising for the Wizards. In the offseason they signed free agents DeShawn Stevenson and Darius Songaila. Etan Thomas beat out Haywood for the starting center job. After starting the season 0-8 on the road, Washington rebounded to win 6 of 7 away from Verizon Center. After a 4–9 November, Washington went 22–9 through December and January. Arenas scored a franchise-record 60 points against the Lakers on December 17. Both he and Eddie Jordan were named player of the month and coach of the month for December, respectively. On January 3 and again on January 15, Gilbert hit buzzer-beating three-pointers to beat Milwaukee and Utah.

On January 30, Antawn Jamison went down with a sprained left knee in a win against Detroit. Washington went 4–8 in the 12 games without him. On February 3, Songaila made his Wizards debut against the Lakers. On February 18th, Eddie Jordan became the first Wizards/Bullets coach to coach the NBA All-Star Game since Dick Motta in 1978-1979. Arenas played in his 3rd straight All-Star game and Caron Butler made his All-Star Game debut.

On March 14, Butler went out with a knee injury that kept him out of the lineup for six games. He returned for only three games until he fractured his right hand on April 1 against Milwaukee. On April 4, Gilbert suffered a season-ending knee injury, of the meniscus. An April 15th article in The Washington Post pointed out that with Arenas and Caron gone, the team had lost 42.3% of their offensive production, quite possibly "the most costly" loss for any team in the midst of a playoff hunt in NBA history.

Despite their late season struggles without Arenas and Butler, the Wizards still managed to make the Eastern Conference playoffs, taking the 7th seed at 41-41. They were swept 4 games to none in a rematch of last year's first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite a depleted roster, the Wizards still managed to keep things close in every game in the series and only lost the final three games by a combined 20 points. Business-wise, the team enjoyed their best attendance figures in the post-Michael Jordan era with a season attendance of 753,283 (18,372 per game) .

The Wizards retained a majority of their roster from the 2006–07 season, only losing Jarvis Hayes to Detroit, Calvin Booth to the Philadelphia 76ers, and Michael Ruffin to the Milwaukee Bucks as free agents. Washington also signed Oleksiy Pecherov, the team's first-round pick in 2006, as well as 2007 picks Nick Young and Dominic McGuire. Etan Thomas missed the regular season after undergoing open-heart surgery.

The team began the season starting 0–5, but rebounded to win six straight. After 8 games, Gilbert Arenas underwent surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in his left knee, as well as a microfracture surgery. This was the same knee he had injured the previous year. The injury forced Arenas out for a total of 68 games. Midway through the season, Caron Butler was forced to the sidelines for a total of 20 games with what initially was a strained hip flexor, but turned out to be a labral tear. Despite all of the injuries, the Wizards managed to go 43-39 on the regular season, good for 5th place in the Eastern Conference and a first-round playoff matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third straight season.

The Washington Wizards made minor modifications on their team jerseys and logos. To accommodate the gold/black alternate jerseys they introduced the previous season along with the design change on the Verizon Center floor, they changed their secondary team colors from bronze to metallic gold, and the player's name on the back of the jersey was changed from white/blue with bronze trim to gold (blue on home uniforms) with a change in lettering.

The Wizards emerged from the offseason retaining two of their main pieces of their core: Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison. Arenas signed a 6-year, $111 million contract, while Jamison signed a 4-year, $50 million contract. The Wizards did not, however, re-sign guard Roger Mason, who signed with the San Antonio Spurs. The Wizards did add guards Dee Brown and Juan Dixon, and drafted JaVale McGee 18th overall in the 2008 NBA Draft.

In September, Gilbert Arenas underwent a third operation on his surgically repaired left knee to clean out fluid and debris, and was expected to miss at least the first month of the season. However the forecast came in longer than expected, as Arenas missed five months of action due to concerns on his knee before returning on March 29, 2009. In the first game of the preseason, Antawn Jamison suffered a right knee contusion, and is expected to miss the rest of the preseason. Center Brendan Haywood also announced that he will undergo surgery on his right wrist and is expected to miss four to six months. The preseason also marked the return of Etan Thomas who had missed all of the 2007-2008 season while recovering from open heart surgery.

The Wizards opened the season on October 29th with a loss against New Jersey, and dropped 15 of their first 19 games. Head coach Eddie Jordan was fired on November 24th after a 1-10 start, and was replaced by interim Ed Tapscott. On December 10th, Washington acquired guards Javaris Crittenton and Mike James in a three-team deal that sent Antonio Daniels to New Orleans. The team also waived guard Dee Brown. They won 14 of their first 60 games, going 14-46 and are en route to suffering their worst season in franchise history.

One of the few high points of the season came on February 27th when recently-inaugurated President Barack Obama attended a Wizards game against the Chicago Bulls, sitting in a northeast court-side seat; the Wizards produced their second-biggest victory margin of the season with a 113-90 win, with Antawn Jamison pacing the side with 27 points.

Then on April 2nd, the Wizards shut down the red hot Cleveland Cavaliers, who came 61-13, and ended Cleveland's franchise best streak at 13. Several players had good nights. Caron Butler score 25 points and 4 assists, Antawn Jamison scored 19 and 5 assists, and Brendan Haywood with 12 points and 10 assists. Despite a bad shooting night, Gilbert Arenas recorded a double double with 11 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds. Darius Songalia also had a notable game, scoring 17 points (which included 7 consecutive points in the 4th quarter) and grabbing 6 rebounds.

In the 2006 NBA Playoffs, the Wizards matched up with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a first-round matchup, in what would turn out to be the first of three consecutive postseason matchups, as well as James' first-ever playoff appearance. The series was considered to be one of the most evenly matched of all first-round series that year. After suffering a loss in Game 1, Washington came back to win Game 2 and steal home-court advantage heading back to Verizon Center for Game 3. However, Cleveland stole home-court advantage right back. Washington came back to tie the series at two apiece with a win in Game 4, but suffered two consecutive one-point overtime losses and thus were eliminated 4 games to 2.

The Wizards and Cavaliers met again in the 2007 NBA Playoffs, this time as a 2-7 matchup. Wizards were swept 4-0 by Cleveland. Antawn Jamison averaged a team-high 32 points per game in the series.

In April 2008, Arenas made comments saying Cleveland was only a .500 team since a midseason blockbuster trade. After the conclusion of the 2007-08 regular season, the Wizards and Cavaliers were pitted against each other yet again in a 4-5 first-round matchup. Following a regular-season win on March 13th, guard DeShawn Stevenson made comments saying LeBron James was "overrated." James responded to the comment by saying that he would not return the insult, as that would be "almost like Jay-Z made by Soulja Boy." Soulja Boy made an appearance at Game 3 of the series (played in Washington) in support of the Wizards; his music was played over the PA system. Jay-Z, a close friend of James, got involved in the rivalry as well, making a song that trashed Stevenson. The day after Game 3, James reserved a private room at a D.C. area nightclub called "Love" for himself and his teammates. Jay-Z's new song was played while Cavs guard Damon Jones made negative gestures about the Wizards. Unbeknownst to the Cavaliers, Wizards star Caron Butler and his wife were also present, and they stormed out of the nightclub. According to the ABC broadcast of Game 4, Butler and the Wizards have sworn never to visit that particular club again, despite often frequenting it in the past. After suffering a late-game loss in Game 4 at the hands of a Delonte West three-pointer, Washington won a nail-biting Game 5 in Cleveland to bring the series back to Washington for Game 6 of the series. Prior to Game 6, Darius Songaila, a reserve forward, was suspended for hitting LeBron James in the face in the first quarter of Game 5, and without Songaila, the Wizards suffered a season-ending defeat to Cleveland, and lost the series 4–2.

In the 2008-09 season, the series was split 2-2, with the teams winning both of their respective home wins. In the first Wizards' win on January 4, LeBron James was called for a traveling violation, which he later described as a "crab-dribble." The Wizards went on to win that game 80-77. On April 2nd, the Wizards' starting lineup consisted of Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood for the only time that season. The Wizards won the game, 109-101, snapping Cleveland's 13-game winning streak.

Dating back to the start of the 2005-06 season, the Wizards and Cavaliers have played each other a combined 36 times (including preseason), far more than they have played any other team in the league.

The Hall also honors Arnold "Red" Auerbach, who played collegiately at D.C.'s George Washington University, and Horace "Bones" McKinney, who played for the Washington Capitols in the early days of the NBA. Both men also coached the Capitols, who played from the NBA's founding in 1946 until the team folded in 1951.

Most games are carried on TV on Comcast SportsNet which is available in the Washington, D.C. area and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic states. Alternate local carriers include WDCW-TV and cable station NewsChannel 8. Wizards games are announced by Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier. Chris Miller serves as a sideline reporter for some broadcasts (including most Wizards' home games). On the radio, Wizards games are broadcast on WTEM-980 AM, with Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor doing analysis.

Blogs that cover the Wizards include Bullets Forever, Truth About It, and The Wizznutzz.

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Big East Conference

The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of seventeen universities in the northeastern, southeastern and midwestern United States. The conference's 17 members (16 full-time and 1 associate member) participate in 23 NCAA sports. Eight of the seventeen conference schools are football members and the Big East competes as a BCS conference in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the top level of NCAA competition in that sport (also known by its former designation: Division I-A). Three members have football programs but are not Big East football schools: Georgetown and Villanova compete in the Football Championship Subdivision and Notre Dame plays as an FBS independent.

The Big East has also had all 8 of their members play in bowl games since re-alignment and have had 7 of their 8 teams in the Top 25 since 2003. The last 3 years the Big East has seen the emergence of new national players (University of South Florida rising as high as #2, Rutgers as high as #6, University of Connecticut as high as #13 and University of Cincinnati as high as #12 in BCS standings). Big East football has also seen an increase in attendance and is enjoying a new, quarter of a billion dollar plus television package that lasts through 2013.

In basketball, teams currently in the Big East account for 40 all time Final Four appearances and 10 National Championships, numbers only surpassed by the Big Ten and Pac-10. Of the Big East's 16 full members, 15 (or 94%) have been to the Final Four, by far the most of any conference, although it should be noted that Louisville, Marquette, DePaul, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Cincinnati, West Virginia and Pittsburgh made their trips before joining the Big East. The only full member that has never been to the Final Four is South Florida. The Big East set the record for the most teams sent to the NCAA Tournament by a single conference in 2006, with eight. The conference tied its own record in 2008.

The Big East was founded in 1979 when Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, and Syracuse invited Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Boston College to form a conference primarily focused on basketball. Villanova joined a year later in 1980 and Pittsburgh joined in 1982. Also in 1982, Penn State applied for membership, but was rejected by a 5-3 vote. It was longed rumored that Syracuse cast the deciding vote against Penn State, but Mike Tranghese confirmed that this was not the case and that Syracuse had, in fact, voted for Penn State's inclusion.

Almost a decade later, the Big East was serious about becoming a major football conference and added five schools, including four-time champion Miami, Temple, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Rutgers. Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference. The inaugural Big East football season was launched in 1991. West Virginia and Rutgers were football-only members until 1995, Virginia Tech was a football-only member until 2001, with Temple remaining a football-only member until consistently failing to attract enough fan support and vacating its membership in 2004. Notre Dame was also offered a non-football membership as of 1995.

This led to an unusual structure since not all members of the conference competed in Division I-A (now FBS) football. This had long led to rumors of instability, and in 2003, ongoing press reports of tensions between the football schools and the basketball schools finally exploded into a months-long public tug-of-war between the Big East and the Atlantic Coast Conference over several Big East members. The end result was that three Big East schools — Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College — moved to the ACC, while five teams moved to the Big East from Conference USA — Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida, Marquette, and DePaul. For more details on this topic, see Realignment.

The addition of the three football schools, along with Big East non-football member Connecticut moving up to the Big East football conference, ensured that the league would keep the minimum eight teams needed to keep its BCS bid. In addition two traditional basketball teams, DePaul and Marquette, were added to gain the Chicago and Milwaukee TV markets and help the already solid basketball status of the conference.

The Big East currently represents the majority of the large, athletically competitive private Catholic schools, while public schools UConn, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Rutgers, South Florida, and Cincinnati are also located in areas with large Catholic communities. Five of the founding seven schools are Catholic schools — Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, Seton Hall, and Boston College.

In January 2006, Loyola College in Maryland was added as an associate member in the sport of women's lacrosse.

Big East schools compete in Division I in basketball and Olympic sports. Football members of the conference participate in Division I FBS. Notre Dame remains an FBS independent, while Georgetown and Villanova have Division I FCS (formerly I-AA) football programs. Georgetown football competes in the Patriot League. Villanova competed in the Atlantic Ten through the 2006 season, but along with all other members of the A-10 football conference joined the new football conference launched by the Colonial Athletic Association in 2007.

An interesting note is that the 8 schools which play football in the conference are all state-supported (or in the case of Pittsburgh, state-related) with the exception of Syracuse (a private but secular institution), whereas the 8 schools that do not play football in the conference are all affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

Beginning in 2010, the Big East will sponsor a Men's Lacrosse League.

Mike Tranghese is retiring at the end of the 2008–09 academic year, which he announced in June 2008, and he will be replaced by current senior associate commissioner John Marinatto.

The Big East was founded by seven charter schools in 1979 (Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, Seton Hall, UConn, and Boston College) with the intent of creating a powerhouse basketball conference. Villanova joined the following year, followed by Pittsburgh in 1982.

It wouldn't take long for the conference to meet its original aim, with Georgetown, led by senior Sleepy Floyd and freshman Patrick Ewing, making the NCAA Championship Game (losing to the James Worthy-led North Carolina Tar Heels, who sported a freshman Michael Jordan). Just two years later in 1984 Georgetown won the Big East's first NCAA basketball championship with a victory over the University of Houston.

The following year three Big East teams (Villanova, St. John's, and Georgetown) all advanced to the Final Four, culminating in Villanova's stunning championship game victory over the heavily-favored Hoyas. The conference's 1985 success was nearly duplicated in 1987, when Syracuse and a surprising Providence College both made the Final Four, followed by the Orangemen's narrow loss to Indiana University in the tournament final. Two years later, the Seton Hall Pirates also advanced to the NCAA Championship Game, but were defeated by the Michigan Wolverines in an overtime heartbreaker.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Georgetown, St. John's, and Syracuse were the primary powers in the conference. Georgetown was led by John Thompson Jr., who was named three times as the conference Coach of the Year. They won five regular season conference championships and six Big East Tournaments to go with their 1984 national title. St. John's was led by Lou Carnesecca, who won the National Coach of the Year honor in 1983 and 1985. He led the Redmen (now the Red Storm) to the 1985 Final Four, and made a post-season appearance in each of his 24 years at the helm. Syracuse has been led by alumnus Jim Boeheim since the 1977 season. He was named conference Coach of the Year in 1984 and 1991. During this period, the Orangemen won five regular season conference championships, three Big East Tournaments, and were invited to the NCAA Tournament every year but two (1981 and 1982), losing the 1987 National Final to Indiana.

From the mid 90's to mid 00's, basketball in the Big East was largely dominated by UConn. Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun's program, led by such stars as Ray Allen, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Caron Butler and Emeka Okafor, averaged nearly 26 wins a year during that time span, won numerous Big East regular season and tournament championships, and claimed the National Championship in both 1999 and 2004.

Syracuse won its first national title in 2003, led by coach Boeheim and freshman Carmelo Anthony. The conference got a record eight teams into the NCAA Men's Tournament in 2006 and matched their own record in 2008. At the start of the 2008-2009 season, many sports analysts predicted that the conference would surpass the record by sending 10 teams to the tournament. When the brackets were revealed, seven made it, but three of them (Louisville, Pittsburgh and Connecticut) gained #1 seeds, and Louisville earned the top seed overall. Another four teams made either the NIT or the College Basketball Invitational.

The conference has a number of former players currently playing in the National Basketball Association with some of the most recent being Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Caron Butler, Carmelo Anthony, Ryan Gomes, Austin Croshere, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, Troy Murphy, Hakim Warrick, Quincy Douby, Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry, Steve Novak, Rudy Gay, Hilton Armstrong, Josh Boone, Jake Voskuhl, Kevin Ollie, Etan Thomas, Samuel Dalembert, Charlie Villanueva, Donte Greene, Ron Artest, Chris Quinn, Jason Hart, Tim Thomas, Francisco Garcia, Aaron Gray, Wilson Chandler, Jeff Green, Joe Alexander, and Marcus Williams.

Big East women's basketball is nearly as powerful as the conference's men's programs. UConn coach Geno Auriemma has led his women's team to five national championships (including four between 2000 and 2004) and three undefeated seasons (1995, 2002 and 2009). UConn set the record for longest winning streak in all of NCAA women's basketball history with a 70 game winning streak stretching from 2001-2003. This streak was ended in 2003 when Villanova beat UConn for the Big East tournament title, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in women's basketball (Villanova would go on to reach the Elite Eight that year). Under the strength of the UConn program, and to a lesser extent 2007 national runner-up Rutgers, and 2001 national champion Notre Dame, the Big East has emerged as one of the major powers in women's college basketball.

Big East began football during the 1991-1992 season with the addition of Miami and was a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series. The league obtained immediate legitimacy with the addition of powerhouse Miami.

In the league's early years the University of Miami dominated, winning nine of the first thirteen championships and two national championships in 1991 and 2001. Virginia Tech also did well, winning the conference in 1995 and 1996 and earning a number 2 national ranking in 1999. West Virginia and Syracuse were the only other teams to win conference titles during the league's original alignment.

The conference experienced a major reconstruction when Miami and Virginia Tech left for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004, followed by Boston College in 2005. Initially, Syracuse University was in place to make the jump instead of Virginia Tech, but in 2003, the governor of Virginia put pressure on the ACC to ensure that Virginia Tech was taken over Syracuse. Syracuse was left to remain in the Big East.

The universities that replaced them were Louisville, USF and Cincinnati from Conference USA. The league also invited the University of Connecticut to play football a year earlier than planned.

At about this time, the BCS announced that it would adjust the automatic bids granted to its six founding conferences based on results from 2004–07, and that there would be five, six, or seven such bids starting in 2008. The obvious inference was that soon the Big East might lose its bid, and the Mountain West might gain one.

The conference’s fortunes improved in 2005. The three new teams from Conference USA began play that year, restoring the league to eight teams. West Virginia won the conference title, defeated SEC champion Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, and finished 11–1 and finished #5 in the AP poll. Newcomer Louisville also ranked in the top 20.

Another former member for football only was Temple. Unlike other football only members in the past, they did not gain full membership in the Big East - due to objections from crosstown rivals Villanova (who do not play football in the Big East). After 14 seasons of mostly poor performance, Temple was kicked out of the conference following the 2004 season. They currently play football in the Mid-American Conference (for that sport only), and are the first school to leave a BCS conference to later join a non-BCS conference.

In 2006, West Virginia, Louisville, and Rutgers all entered November undefeated. However, they did not stay that way, as in a trio of exciting games over the next month, Louisville defeated West Virginia 44–34, Rutgers defeated Louisville 28–25, and West Virginia defeated Rutgers 41–39 in three overtimes. Rutgers’ resurgence after a century of mostly futile play was a national story, but Louisville won the conference title in the end. In bowl action, the Big East went 5–0, including an Orange Bowl victory for Louisville over Wake Forest and a win by West Virginia over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl.

In 2007, USF, rose to #2 in the BCS rankings. They lost their next three games, however, to drop out of the rankings. They eventually finished the season #21 in the final BCS polls. The Connecticut Huskies, getting as high as #13, and West Virginia remained in the top 25. Cincinnati also rose as high as #15 in the rankings eventually finishing the season with 10 wins and a #17 ranking. Connecticut lost subsequent games and dropped substantially in the rankings. On the final day of the season, Pittsburgh upset #2 WVU 13–9 in the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl to give the Huskies a share of the conference championship, while WVU was stopped on the doorstep of the BCS National Championship Game. In bowl games, WVU upset the Big 12 Champion Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, despite having lost their highly touted coach, Rich Rodriguez to Michigan less than a month before the game.

Notes: 1 Football stadiums for Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Villanova are not "conference facilities" as those universities are not members of Big East Football. 2 The University of Louisville is in the process of a $63 million expansion of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium to 63,600 and constructing a new $350 million downtown waterfront arena that will seat 23,500. Both projects are funded and expected to be complete by 2010. 3 St. John's men generally play their Big East home schedule in Madison Square Garden and their non-conference home schedule on campus at Carnesecca Arena. In 2005-06, St. John's played only one non-conference game at MSG and one Big East game on campus. 4 For certain high-profile home games, Villanova uses the Wachovia Center, and previously used the Wachovia Spectrum. In 2005-06, Villanova played three home games at the Wachovia Center and the rest on campus at The Pavilion. In 2006, the Wachovia Center was also a first-round site for the NCAA Tournament. Under NCAA rules, a venue is not considered a home court unless a school plays four or more regular-season games there; this enabled Villanova to play its first two tournament games at the Wachovia Center (but Villanova was not considered the host school for that sub-region — the Atlantic 10 Conference was). This situation occurred again in 2009, with Villanova playing (and winning) its first two tournament games at Wachovia. 5 For Syracuse basketball games in the Carrier Dome, the court is laid out on one end of the field and stands are erected beside it. This makes the Carrier Dome the largest on-campus venue for college basketball in the nation. 6 Late in 2006, Rutgers added approximately 3000 temporary end zone seats that remained for the 2007 season (total 45,000). In 2008, Rutgers began a stadium expansion project which is expected to increase capacity to over 55,000 seats and add luxury and club seats. The premium seating is projected to be ready for the 2008 season and the additional 12,000 end zone seats are expected for the 2009 season. The stadium is also expected to receive a new name as part of the financing package depends on a name sponsorship.

See 2005 NCAA football realignment.

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History of the Miami Heat

The History of the Miami Heat, an American basketball team, began in 1988.

During the boom period of the NBA of the 1980s the league sought to expand itself from 23 teams to 27 by the end of the decade. In Florida, a state devoid of any NBA franchises, groups from Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg and Miami all vied to land franchises.

The Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority eventually endorsed a group led by NBA Hall of Famer Billy Cunningham and former sports agent (and lifelong friend of Cunningham's) Lewis Schaffel, who received their financial backing from Carnival Cruise Lines founder Ted Arison, who would be majority owner. Day-to-day operations would be handled by minority shareholders Cunningham and Schaffel.

In April 1987, the NBA expansion committee endorsed the bids of the cities of Charlotte and Minneapolis. However, the committee was split between awarding the third and final franchise to Miami or Orlando, causing representatives from both cities to toss barbs at the other. Finally, it was decided that the NBA would expand by 4 teams, with the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat debuting for the 1988–89 season and the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic beginning for the 1989–90 season .

The Heat came into the NBA for the 1988–89 season with an unproductive first year, with a roster full of young players and journeymen. Among the players on the inaugural roster were first round picks Rony Seikaly and Kevin Edwards, fellow rookies Grant Long and Sylvester Gray as well as NBA vets Rory Sparrow, Jon Sundvold, Pat Cummings, Scott Hastings, Dwayne "Pearl" Washington and Billy Thompson. The team started out the season by losing its first 17 games, an NBA record. It did not help that the Heat were placed in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference, in defiance of all geographic reality. This forced them on the longest road trips in the NBA; their nearest divisional opponent was the Houston Rockets, over 900 miles from Miami. The team ultimately finished with a league-worst 15–67 win-loss record (second worst season in franchise history).

To help address Miami's league-low point production, the Heat picked Glen Rice from the University of Michigan in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft, and Sherman Douglas of Syracuse University in the 2nd round. The team also moved to the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference for the 1989–90 season, where they would remain for the next 15 years. However, the Heat continued to struggle and never won more than two consecutive games, en route to an 18–64 record.

The 1989–90 season saw Miami awarded with the 3rd pick overall, only to parlay via two trades (first with the Denver Nuggets and later with the Houston Rockets) into getting the 9th and 12th picks, with which they selected Willie Burton of the University of Minnesota and Alec Kessler of the University of Georgia. Both picks flopped, as the Heat tried to turn Burton, a college small forward, into a shooting guard without much success and Kessler was bogged by injury problems and was not physical enough to be a quality NBA power forward.

While Rice, Seikaly and Douglas all showed improvement from the previous year, Miami still only went 24–58 and remained in the Atlantic Division basement.

Rothstein would resign as head coach at the end of the season, but later would return to the Heat prior to the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach, a role he still fulfills today.

In the wake of Rothstein's resignation prior to the 1991–92 season, the Heat hired Kevin Loughery, who had 29 years of experience in the NBA both as a coach and a player, to be their new head coach.

For the 1991 NBA Draft, the team selected Steve Smith from Michigan State, an agile guard, to usher in a new era of a mature Heat team. With the help of rookie Smith, Rony Seikaly, and a more experienced Glen Rice, the Heat finished in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with a 38–44 record and made the playoffs for the first time. Playing the league-best Chicago Bulls, the Heat were swept in three games. Steve Smith made the NBA All-Rookie team and Glen Rice finished 10th in the NBA in scoring.

The 1992-93 NBA season included the additions of draft choice Harold Miner of the University of Southern California as well as trading a 1st round pick (which would turn into the #10 overall pick the following season) for Detroit Pistons forward/center John Salley.

While Salley's addition was first met with hope because of the role that he played on two championship Pistons squads, it became quickly apparent that Salley was a quality role player for a good team, but not a quality player for a mediocre team like Miami was at the time. Salley would eventually have his playing time diminish, ultimately resulting in his being taken by the Toronto Raptors in the 1995 expansion draft. As for the season itself, it started off poorly, with Smith missing time with a knee injury and Burton being lost for most of the year with a wrist injury. Upon Smith's return, Miami posted a winning record in February and March, but it was not enough to dig themselves out of the 13–27 hole they began in. They finished 36–46 and would not return to the playoffs.

A healthier squad fared better in 1993–94, posting the franchise's first-ever winning record at 42–40 and returning to the playoffs as the #8 seed versus the Atlanta Hawks. After Miami had a 2-1 series lead, Atlanta rallied from the deficit to win the best-of-5 series. After that season, Steve Smith would be selected as a member of the 2nd Dream Team, the collection of NBA All-Stars who were selected to compete in the 1994 FIBA World Championship in Toronto as Team USA.

Dream Team II, also made up of future Heat players Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Dan Majerle and Tim Hardaway, would go on to win the tournament.

In 1994–95, the team overhauled their roster, trading away Seikaly, Smith, and Grant Long. In return, the Heat obtained Kevin Willis and Billy Owens.

Also, at this time came a changing of ownership in Heat's front office. On February 13, 1995 Cunningham and Lew Schaffel were bought out by the Arison family of Carnival Cruise Lines fame, who to that point in time had been silent partners in the day-to-day operations of the franchise. Ted Arison's son, Micky Arison, was named Managing General Partner. He immediately fired Loughery and replaced him with Alvin Gentry on an interim basis to try and shake up the 17–29 Heat. Gentry went 15–21 for the remaining 36 games of the season for a 32–50 record overall, 10 games off the previous year's mark.

From 1994 to 1997, the Miami Heat sought relocation plans in case the city of Miami resisted a standard facility for the team. Alternative cities were discussed: Las Vegas, Nevada, Memphis, Tennessee (now the home of the Memphis Grizzlies), St. Louis and San Diego. Just when the Miami Heat was struggling to win and stay put, a new era arrived to take them to a new decade of possibilities.

In the 1995 offseason, the Heat hired Pat Riley from the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers and the 1990s New York Knicks to be the team's new president and head coach after he resigned immediately following the 1994-1995 season. Riley dropped a bombshell the night before the season began, sending Glen Rice and Matt Geiger (among others) to the Hornets in exchange for All-Star center Alonzo Mourning. In a flurry of midseason deals, Riley acquired several players including Tim Hardaway, Chris Gatling and Walt Williams. The Heat finished with a winning record with Mourning among the league leaders in scoring and rebounding, but lost in the playoffs in a 3-game sweep against the 72–10 Bulls.

The following season, the Heat made a 19-game improvement in the standings, winning their first-ever Atlantic Division title with a 61–21 record. Playing a key role were new additions Dan Majerle, P.J. Brown, Jamal Mashburn, and Voshon Lenard. They took out Riley's former team in seven games, rallying from a 3–1 series deficit, partly due to several Knicks players leaving the bench (leading to several suspensions) during a fight that occurred between P.J. Brown and Charlie Ward after Ward was body-slammed by the usually mild-mannered Brown, leading to a brawl. The Heat were however ousted from the playoffs in five games (after falling into a 3–0 series deficit) by the Bulls for the second consecutive year, this time in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Heat celebrated their 10-year anniversary in the 1997–98 season and captured their second straight Atlantic Division title. However, in what would become a heated rivalry, the Heat lost in the first round against coach Riley's former team, the New York Knicks after Mourning would miss the deciding Game 5 via suspension after getting into a Game 4 altercation with Larry Johnson and with Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy hanging onto Mourning's leg in an attempt to intervene.

1998-99 was a lockout-shortened season, although Miami would have a conference-best 33-17 record to claim their first-ever #1 seed in the NBA Playoffs. In spite of their seeding, the Heat would lose to the Knicks again after Allan Houston hit a rim-bouncing game-winning jumper in Game 5 to decide the series. The Cinderella story Knicks would go on to play in the 1999 NBA Finals, losing to the San Antonio Spurs.

As a result of their success on the court, the Heat moved into the American Airlines Arena in 1999, with seats for over 20,500 fans. The Heat again lost in a deciding Game 7 to the Knicks by a single point.

During the summer of 2000, the Heat felt it finally needed a change. After losing out to the Orlando Magic to get Raptors swingman Tracy McGrady, Miami decided to trade P.J. Brown and Jamal Mashburn to the Charlotte Hornets (among others) in exchange for Eddie Jones, Anthony Mason and Ricky Davis. Miami also picked up Brian Grant to go along with the core of Mourning, Hardaway, Majerle, Bowen and Carter. The Heat was widely expected to be the favorites in the Eastern Conference until franchise-centerpiece Alonzo Mourning returned from the 2000 Olympics to announce he would miss the entire season due to a rare kidney disorder, known as focal glomerulosclerosis.

The Heat missed Mourning for 69 games in 2000-01, yet found success with Anthony Mason, who was named to his first All-Star game as a reserve. Brian Grant, Eddie Jones and Tim Hardaway also played well for the Heat. Alonzo Mourning returned with 13 games remaining. He was a shell of his former, MVP-candidate self and Miami was swept by the Charlotte Hornets in the first round, the same team that Miami acquired Eddie Jones and Anthony Mason from the previous summer, and Alonzo Mourning in that same year.

The following two seasons were two of the darkest in Heat history. Pat Riley missed the playoffs for the first time in his coaching career, and much of the remaining core from the division-title winning Heat teams of the late 1990s departed (Tim Hardaway, Bruce Bowen and Dan Majerle).

Miami rounded out its 2001-02 season roster with players well past their prime such as Rod Strickland, Chris Gatling, Jim Jackson, LaPhonso Ellis and Kendall Gill to along with Mourning, Jones, Grant and Carter, whom the Heat signed to a controversial three-year deal that many said was far too much for the young guard. And to acquire Gatling, Riley and the Heat traded away Ricky Davis, a young, promising player. The trade drew a lot of criticism at the time. The Heat also signed two young, undrafted players in Malik Allen and Mike James to make up for not having a first-round pick in the draft. Miami also signed Vladimir Stepania to back up Alonzo Mourning at center. The aging, veteran team narrowly missed out on the playoffs, despite having a losing record.

Unlike the 2001-02 season, Miami began to rebuild in 2002-03. The Heat drafted Caron Butler in the first round and Rasual Butler in the second round of the 2002 NBA Draft. Miami supposedly missed out on potentially selecting Yao Ming by one ping-pong ball during the draft lottery. Alonzo Mourning missed the entire season due to his condition worsening and Eddie Jones also missed a huge portion of the season with an ankle injury. Miami signed Travis Best to be the starting point guard. The Heat was led by Caron Butler and many of the youthful players that have filled out the Heat's roster since 2000 including Eddie House, Carter, Stepania, Allen and James.

Alonzo Mourning's huge contract expired the following summer, giving the Heat some much-needed cap room to rebuild. However, Miami was still a few million dollars away from signing a max contract player. On July 1, 2003, Miami was expecting to hear from Bill Duffy, agent for Anthony Carter, who was expected to make $4.1 million the upcoming season provided he exercised his option. Duffy's agency never informed the team and Miami was free from the contract. In addition, the season earlier, forward LaPhonso Ellis honorably rescinded a clause in his contract which would have forced the Heat to pay Ellis the following season, a burden the Heat could not afford to deal with in the rebuilding process.

With the cap space, Miami signed forward Lamar Odom and guard T. J. Moncrieffe. Riley and the Heat also opted to draft Dwyane Wade out of Marquette University with the 5th overall pick instead of signing a large-scale free agent point guard such as Gilbert Arenas. The pick was somewhat surprising at the time, since it was expected that Miami would draft a true point guard rather than the shooting guard Wade. Miami also signed Udonis Haslem out of the University of Florida, who went undrafted a season earlier and had spent the previous season playing overseas in France. Odom, Alston, Haslem and Wade teamed up with Grant, Jones, Allen and both Butlers to form one of the most surprising teams of the season.

A few days before the start of the 2003-04 season, Pat Riley shocked the basketball world when he stepped down as head coach to focus more on his role as team president and promoted longtime assistant coach Stan Van Gundy to the head coaching position. The team was expected to be among the league's worst by NBA prognosticators. After dealing with early injury problems to Odom, Wade and both Butlers, the team quickly jelled and formed what most members of that team consider to be the most fun season of their careers. The Heat newcomers brought youth and energy to the team. Wade broke several rookie records while other Heat players, such as Odom, revived their careers. Wade began to catch the eye of scouts and fans across the league, especially during the playoffs where Wade led the Heat in toppling the New Orleans Hornets(which had relocated from Charlotte at the end of the 2001-2002 season), the same team that swept the Heat into rebuilding mode just three seasons prior; Miami had returned the favor according to some people. Miami lost to the Indiana Pacers 4–2 in a very entertaining conference semifinals. The Pacers had finished with the best record in the league and saw a young and up-and-coming 42–40 Heat team give them a much tougher series than expected.

After the promising 2003–04 season, Miami again took major steps forward to becoming a championship caliber franchise again. The Heat acquired superstar center Shaquille O'Neal on July 14, 2004 in a historic trade with the Los Angeles Lakers in which Miami shipped Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant out west. Dwyane Wade and O'Neal worked well as a pair and each solidified their position as NBA elites with both averaging over 20 points per game. The season also reunited several former club members. Ron Rothstein, the Heat's inaugural head coach, became an assistant coach, Steve Smith rejoined the club and Alonzo Mourning was re-signed after being released from the Toronto Raptors following the Vince Carter trade in December.

The Heat had its second best record in franchise history: 59–23. They were seeded first in the playoffs, and swept through the first two rounds by winning eight consecutive games against New Jersey and Washington and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals against defending champion Detroit. The teams split the first four games before Miami pushed the Pistons to the brink of elimination with an easy 88–76 victory in Game 5, but in the process lost Dwyane Wade to a strained rib muscle suffered in an attempt to take a charge against Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace. Without Wade, the Heat were decimated 91–66 in Game 6 at Detroit, setting up a deciding Game 7 in Miami. In that game, Wade returned, and the Heat held a 6-point lead with 3 minutes remaining before a series of missed shots and turnovers down the stretch that ultimately cost the Heat the game and a 1st ever trip to the finals in the gut wrenching 88-82 Game 7 loss . Wade apparently struggled to breathe throughout the game due to the rib injury, forcing the Heat's star to play in a limited capacity, although he remarkably managed to score 20 points.

In the offseason, the Heat were drastically retooled. In what was to be the largest trade in NBA history, in a 5-team, 13-player transaction the Heat traded away Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler and Qyntel Woods and in exchange received former NBA All-Star Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, and James Posey. Miami also signed future Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton, former UCLA star Jason Kapono in addition to first round pick and NCAA All American Wayne Simien. Free agent Damon Jones opted for a bigger contract offered by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Critics were quick to debate whether a reformed Heat team would have chemistry issues and whether or not the team was too old (O'Neal, Mourning and Payton were all in their mid-thirties) or had too many underacheivers (Walker had a reputation of miserable shot selection, and Williams, one of turnover-prone playmaking). After an 11–10 start, O'Neal already hurt, and the fate of the season hanging in the balance these critics seemed to have been proven right.

Then on December 12, 2005 Pat Riley announced that he would become coach of the Heat for the second time, after Van Gundy unexpectedly stepped down due to personal and family reasons. The team responded and went on to win its first three games under Riley until losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cleveland loss encouraged the Heat to finish up the month of December strong. They concluded the month with 4 wins and 2 losses. The Heat though were still criticized, however, for being unable to beat the top caliber teams of the NBA. This criticism though would just grow more and more on the Heat come the month of January and into February. Although they finished January with 10 wins and 5 losses, there was still and some would argue proof that they could not beat the best in the NBA. They had already lost to the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs twice, twice to the Phoenix Suns, and were decimated in a nationally televised broadcast by 36 points to their eventual NBA Finals opponents the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas. The months of February and March were very successful for the Heat, including a stretch of 15 wins in 16 games which began with a crucial comeback victory over the Perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse Detroit Pistons. Dwyane Wade was electric and Shaquille O'Neal stepped up his game up in a tremendous fashion, helping the Heat resurge and finish with a 52-30 record, good enough for a 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Their record was respectable but was viewed as somewhat underachieved compared to the 2004-2005 59 win and 1st place playoff seeded season.

Earning the second seed in the 2006 playoffs, the Miami Heat drew the seventh seed Chicago Bulls as their first-round opponent. The Heat won the first two games of the series at home, despite Udonis Haslem being ejected in the first game and suspended for the second for throwing his mouthpiece in the direction of the referee. The team lost games three and four in Chicago but bounced back to win game five at home. By winning game six in Chicago, the Heat eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs and went on to face the New Jersey Nets in the second round. The Heat lost Game 1 at home, 100–88, but won the next four to oust the Nets from the playoffs for the second year in a row, taking Game 5 at home 106–105. The Heat subsequently advanced to their second Eastern Conference Finals in as many years. The Heat opened up the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals in Detroit, facing the Pistons in a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference Finals, in which the top-seeded Heat lost Game 7 in heartbreaking fashion. The Heat immediately stole home court advantage by winning Game 1. Although Miami lost the second game 92–88 (despite a near comeback after trailing by eighteen at one point), they maintained home court advantage. Home for the next two games, they won both Game 3 (98–83) and Game 4 (89–78) to take a 3–1 series lead. The Detroit Pistons then won Game 5 in The Palace of Auburn Hills 91–78, but the Heat answered back, winning game 6 (95–78) and with it the series (4–2) in Miami.

After defeating the Detroit Pistons, the Heat advanced to their first NBA Finals in franchise history against the Dallas Mavericks. For the Mavericks, like the Heat, this was also their first NBA Finals appearance.

The Heat were outplayed by the Mavericks in the first two games in Dallas, with the second game being an embarrassing blowout. Things looked worse in Game 3 when the Heat faced a 13-point gap in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter, with Dallas looking to take a 3–0 lead in the series. Led by Dwyane Wade, who single handedly dismantled the Mavericks after falling 0-2 by leading the Heat to a 98-96 comeback in game 3 and after that he never looked back, the Heat were able to make an incredible comeback victory to salvage the series. Similar success came in Game 4, when the Miami Heat once again beat the Mavericks with a combined team effort. The Miami Heat were able to establish their ability to play under pressure in Game 5, which went into overtime. Nevertheless, the effort of Wade with his 43 points, including the game tying basket and clutch overtime free throws, propelled the Heat to within one victory of their first championship in franchise history.

The third consecutive victory at home placed the Heat in the rare company of home teams who have swept the middle three games since the NBA switched to the 2–3–2 format for the finals in 1985 (Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League also use the 2-3-2 format for the championship series). The only team to have previously accomplished that feat were the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals.

On June 20, Game 6, the Heat took the NBA title in Dallas, winning the series four games to two. In winning the series, the Heat became only the third team in NBA history to win the final series after being down 0–2, following the 1969 Boston Celtics and the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers. The Heat overcame a miserable start with a 14-point gap to wear down the Mavericks, and lead by one point (49–48) at the halftime horn. Again, Wade played a vital role, powering the Heat to a late lead. He was helped by an impressive five blocks by Alonzo Mourning (the Heat had over 10 team blocks in the game even though they were averaging a little over 2 blocks in the series) and clutch shooting by James Posey, who drained a cold-blooded three pointer which put the Heat ahead by six with 3 minutes to go. Surprisingly, the Mavericks were down only three with a few seconds to go after a pair of missed free-throws by Dwyane Wade. However, Dallas would be put to rest after Wade captured the rebound, fittingly ending the game by tossing the ball in the air after a missed three-point shot attempt by Jason Terry. Wade would go on to win the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

The championship proved all the more poignant for Miami's veteran superstars Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, and Antoine Walker who had never before won an NBA championship. Mourning and Payton both re-signed with the Heat for the 2006-07 season, wanting to win another championship. The championship marked the seventh win for Coach Pat Riley (fifth as a head coach), and fourth title to Shaquille O'Neal, both of whom fulfilled their promise to the citizens of Miami in 1995 (when Riley first came to Miami and said he "envisioned a parade on Biscayne Boulevard") and in July 2004 (when Shaq first came to Miami and vowed to "bring the title home"). Shaq also promised after the win to win the NBA championship again in 2007, if and only if Dwyane Wade were present and healthy for the ride through the playoffs.

The Heat got off to a poor start in the 2007 season, losing to the Chicago Bulls by 42 points (66-108), the worst home loss in team history and worst margin of defeat for a defending champion on opening day in NBA history. Shaquille O'Neal played the first few games for the Heat then missed over thirty games with a right knee injury. Key members of the Heat's championship run last season, particularly Antoine Walker and Gary Payton, were finding themselves on the bench more often at the expense of the Heat's questionable, at best, duo of Jason Kapono and Dorell Wright.

The first half of the Heat's season was full of misfortune. Coach Riley took an indefinite leave, Dwyane Wade briefly injured his right wrist, and James Posey and Antoine Walker were delisted after failing a body mass exam.

Matters improved for the team. Rothstein, the Heat's original head coach, returned on an interim basis. Both Posey and Walker were reinstated. Former Heat star Eddie Jones re-signed with the team after being released by the Memphis Grizzlies. O'Neal returned to play in January. Riley resumed his duties as head coach at the start of the second half of the season.

After Wade's injury, many predicted the Heat would fail even to make the playoffs. Those predictions were quickly dismissed as the Heat surged, winning 11 out of 14 games at one point. In that time, Miami posted a nine-game winning streak (defeating such teams as the Pistons, Wizards, Bulls and Jazz), in addition to extending a home winning streak to 14. Shaquille O'Neal was a primary cause for the Heat's resurgence, playing his best basketball of the season and serving as a focal point of the offense. Having a roster full of veterans and former All-Stars also had a notable benefit in dealing with the loss of Dwyane Wade. Miami was able to post a 16-7 record without its star guard and, in the process, the Heat were able to win a third consecutive Southeast Division title.

Shortly after Wade returned, Shaquille O' Neal's grandfather had died, causing him to miss two games. Additionally, Udonis Haslem and Gary Payton were bit by the injury bug; Haslem with a groin aggravation and Payton with a calf injury that will sideline him for two to three weeks. The Heat finished the regular season with a 44-38 record and faced the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs, to whom they lost 4-0 in the best of seven series. Miami Heat became the first defending champion since 1957 to get swept in the first round in the following season. It was also the first four-game playoff series sweep suffered in Miami Heat history.

After a disappointing 2006-07 season, the Heat looked to move forward. Miami retained the 20th and 39th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. On June 28, 2007, the Miami Heat selected Colorado State forward Jason Smith with the 20th overall selection then traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers for the draft rights to 21st overall selection, guard Daequan Cook from Ohio State and cash considerations. With the 39th overall selection, the Miami Heat drafted Stanko Barac, a center from Bosnia, but later traded his rights to the Indiana Pacers for a future second round pick. The Heat lost Jason Kapono to the Toronto Raptors and James Posey to the Boston Celtics. The Heat got a much-needed point guard when they picked up Smush Parker from free agency and signed him to a 3-year deal and veteran guard Penny Hardaway reuniting the Shaq-Penny duo. Hardaway was later waived in December. Also in the 2007 Offseason, the Miami Heat made a 5 player trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, bringing back Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. Leaving the Heat was Antoine Walker, Wayne Simien, Michael Doleac, and a conditional 1st round pick. Davis was on the Heat in August 2000 but fell out of favor with Riley. When the trade occurred he was seen as a more polished scorer and was projected to have been third option for the Heat to compliment Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, had the circumstances of the season turned out differently.

On December 19, 2007, during the 1st quarter of the game versus the Atlanta Hawks while getting back on a fast-break, Alonzo Mourning tore the right patellar tendon in his right knee and was required to undergo a season-ending -- some even say career-ending knee surgery, although Mourning maintains that he has not, nor has he made plans for retirement.

On Tuesday, February 5, 2008, ESPN reported that the Heat were interested in trading center Shaquille O'Neal, contrary to reports by Pat Riley one month earlier that the Heat was not interested in trading the 13 time all-star. The next day however, the Heat agreed to trade O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, effectively ending the Wade-Shaq era.

As of April 16, 2008 the Heat clinched the worst record in the NBA at 15-67. Despite the recent losing funk the Heat have fallen into, they have re-committed themselves to rebuild and turn the franchise around and get it back to the level it was just 2 years ago when they won the 2006 championship, and are projected by many to possibly have a busy 2008 offseason due to the fact that they could possibly have plenty of free salary cap room with the departure of O'Neal and now that they are looking towards the future and to build around superstar Dwyane Wade. Wade has also adamantly committed himself to the rebuilding plan and has said in a public statement that he's in Miami for the longhaul and wants to be part of the rebuilding process currently taking place, since it was his drafting in the 2003 draft that helped turn the franchise around at that time. Late in the season with the Heat well out of any type of realistic playoff contention, head coach Pat Riley missed two games because he went to scout certain NCAA basketball conference tournament games, to prepare in the likely event that the Heat receive the number 1 or 2 lottery pick in the 2008 draft. It was announced on March 10, 2008, that Heat guard Dwyane Wade would be inactive for the rest of the season to help him rehabilitate his ailing knee and shoulder that he has re-aggravated, in hopes of starting in the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. It was announced on March 10 that the Heat have finally waived guard Smush Parker, opening the opportunity to add a player signed to a 10-day contract. Parker has not seen action in a Heat uniform and has been in Pat Riley's "doghouse" since the first few games of the 07-08 season after he got into a dispute and altercation with a Valet Parking attendant who accused him of not paying the parking fee, Miami Police are still looking into the matter. On March 12, 2008, they signed Bobby Jones to a 10-day contract, looking for help at the shooting guard and small forward positions. At the end of March 2008, as if the season had not gone bad enough, the Miami Heat posted the third lowest point total in the history of the NBA during the shot clock era during a 96-54 loss to the Toronto Raptors on March 19, followed by a new record for the fewest made baskets (17) in another lost game against the Boston Celtics on March 30.The Heat finished the season on a positive note on April 16 to close out the season with a 113-99 victory over the playoff bound Atlanta Hawks. The win ties for the worst franchise record set by the 1988-89 heat On April 28, 2008, Pat Riley stepped down as the head coach of the Heat but remained Team President. He replaced himself with longtime Assistant Coach Erik Spoelstra, who at 37, became the youngest coach in the NBA. Riley finished his career with 1,210 victories, third all-time behind Lenny Wilkens and Don Nelson.

On May 20, 2008, the Heat obtained the number 2 pick in the 2008 NBA draft as a result of the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery. They were expected to select power forward Michael Beasley, point guard Derrick Rose or guard O. J. Mayo. Immediately following the draft lottery, Pat Riley suggested the team would listen to any trade offers for the second overall pick. However, he did stress the right offer would have to be made in order for the Heat to even consider such a trade (e.g., the Kevin Garnett trade to Boston from the 2007 offseason).

On June 26, 2008, the Bulls selected Rose as expected, leaving the Heat to select Beasley. In the second round, with the 52nd overall pick, the Heat chose Kansas forward Darnell Jackson. Somewhat unexpectedly, it was announced that the Heat agreed to trade the lesser two of their three 2009 second-round draft picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for the draft rights of talented Kansas guard Mario Chalmers, who helped lead Kansas to the NCAA championship, including making a three-point shot that sent the game to overtime. It was also later announced that Darnell Jackson's draft rights were traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for the lesser of their two second-round picks in 2009.

In early July, the free agent period began and with limited cap space the Heat signed local James Jones (basketball player) as the team's three-point specialist. Along with the acquisition of Yakhouba Diawara and Jamaal Magloire the Heat added depth and experience to their roster.

On September 29, 2008, Randy Pfund stepped down as General Manager, elevating Pat Riley to that position. Four days later, the Miami Heat signed point guard Shaun Livingston, a former L.A Clipper.

On November 5, 2008, 2nd-round draft pick and rookie Mario Chalmers of the Heat set a new franchise record of 9 steals in the game against the Philadelphia 76ers. That exceeded the old record set by Tim Hardaway for the most steals by a rookie in the Heat's 21 year history.

On February 13, 2009, the Heat traded Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Toronto Raptors for center Jermaine O'Neal and forward Jamario Moon. Miami had been rumored to be pursuing O'Neal, as well as Amare Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer. The trade was meant to address the team's lack of a low post presence.

On April 3, 2009, the Miami Heat clinched a playoff berth with a win over the Charlotte Bobcats. The Heat became the first team since the 1968-69 San Diego Rockets to go from 15 wins to the playoffs in one year.

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2008 NBA All-Star Game

The 2008 NBA All-Star Game took place on February 17, 2008 at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, home of the New Orleans Hornets. The game was the 57th edition of the All-Star Game, the first in New Orleans and the first major professional sporting event (outside of regular season games) to take place in the New Orleans Arena since Hurricane Katrina. The city was awarded the 2008 All-Star Game on May 22, 2006.

The Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 134-128. The East led early but blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter; however, in the end, pulled out the win due to the strength of Ray Allen and LeBron James. Allen scored 28 points in the game, 14 of those points coming in the deciding quarter and James finished with a near triple-double 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Through fan voting James took home the NBA All-Star Game MVP award, the second of his career.

The Toronto Raptors had also put in a bid to host the game. All of this year's All-Star participants joined over 2,500 members of the NBA Family for the NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service. The volunteers participated in a variety of service projects at ten different sites throughout New Orleans.

The inaugural NBA Development League Dream Factory Friday Night is modeled after the popular NBA All-Star Saturday Night. It included perennial NBA fan favorite events such as a Three-Point Shootout and Slam Dunk competition, while introducing H.O.R.S.E. and an interactive game of Hot-Shot with fans. Twelve D-League players, including an NBA-assigned player and five others with NBA experience, took to Center Court to showcase their skills throughout the evening’s competitions.

The Turner Broadcasting Network televised the game for the fifth straight year in the United States. The game was called by NBA on TNT commentators Marv Albert, Reggie Miller and Doug Collins. TNT also televised the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, PlayStation Skills Challenge, Footlocker Three-Point Shootout and the Haier Shooting Stars Competition.

ESPN televised the McDonald's All-Star Celebrity Game on February 15th. The event was simulcast on ESPN360.com, ESPN Mobile and ESPN Radio. Although the All-Star game was not broadcast on ESPN, the game was on ESPN Radio.

Beginning the week of the All-Star game, February 11, NBA TV aired tributes to moments in All-Star game history, including a top-10 list, highlights and greatest moments. NBA TV aired the Basketball Hall of Fame Finalist Friday, February 15. The network also provided the behind-the-scenes practices of the East and West rosters, the NBA D-League All-Star game, and pregame and postgame coverage of the All-Star Game.

The NBA vastly increased the global appeal of the All-Star Game, allowing 123 broadcasters to air the games in 215 countries in more than 40 languages. NBA TV covered All-Star weekend to another record 80 countries. Most foreign major sports networks aired the All-Star game live.

The Boston Celtics, the team with the league's best record, came into New Orleans with three players. Kevin Garnett, top vote-getter in the league with 2,399,148 votes, was selected as a starter, while Paul Pierce and Ray Allen (replacing injured Washington Wizards forward Caron Butler) were selected as reserves by the coaches of the Eastern Conference Garnett did not play due to injury and Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh replaced him as starting power forward. Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace replaced Chris Bosh as the backup power forward. The Pistons, who at the time had the second-best record in the league, also had guards Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton participating.

Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James and Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade started for the third straight year and fourth overall for the East with two million votes each. Center Dwight Howard was voted to be a starting All-Star for the first time in his career after averaging 22 points and 15 rebounds for the first half of the season. Shaquille O'Neal was not voted in as a center for the first time in 15 years. Jason Kidd was voted in as the starting point guard for the East amid speculation that he would be traded to the Western conference (Dallas Mavericks).

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, 2007 All-Star MVP, was the top vote-getter in the West with nearly 2,000,500. However days before the game, he was examined by Lakers' doctors and revealed a torn ligament in his right pinky finger. Deciding to put off required surgery until after the season, the Lakers appealed to the league to replace Bryant but league policy stated Bryant must play after playing in the last game before the break.

Denver Nuggets guard Allen Iverson was voted an All-Star for the second time since moving to Denver. Along with him, teammate Carmelo Anthony earned a starting nod at forward. Power forward Tim Duncan made his tenth straight appearance and center Yao Ming his sixth (Yao Ming was voted to All-Star Game 2007 but did not play).

The Eastern Conference team was coached by Doc Rivers of the Boston Celtics. He clinched it nearly a month before the game on January 21, against the New York Knicks. The Celtics entered All-Star Weekend with a 41-9 record, the best record and win percentage in the league.

The Western Conference team was coached by Byron Scott of the New Orleans Hornets. Rivers clinched the coaching spot on January 31, when the Dallas Mavericks lost to the Boston Celtics in Boston. The Hornets entered All-Star Weekend with a 36-15 record, and the best winning percentage in the Conference at .706.

The Sophomores defeated the Rookies 136-109. During the first half of the game Daniel Gibson tied the record of Kyle Korver by hitting seven three-pointers (Korver's record was for the entire game). He later set the whole-game record in the second half with eleven total three-pointers, finishing the game shooting 11-20 from three-point range. Gibson was named MVP of the game, finishing with 33 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Gibson's 33 points was the most scored in the annual game until Kevin Durant scored 46-points in the 2009 Rookie Challenge.

Gerald Green returned to defend his crown won in last year's All-Star game. Young NBA stars Rudy Gay, Dwight Howard and Jamario Moon were also invited. What made the Slam Dunk contest unique in 2008 was the introduction of the fan vote. While judges (in this particular contest, Karl Malone, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, Darryl Dawkins and Dominique Wilkins) still scored dunks on a scale from one to fifty and selected those who would move on to the next round, fans had the last word. NBA viewers for the first time could decide the winner of the Sprite Slam Dunk contest, under the tag line "They Dunk. You Decide." For five minutes after the final round, polls were open on NBA.com and through SMS TXT and the dunker with the most votes at the end of the time limit was the winner. Dwight Howard won the contest, grabbing 78% of fan votes.

Jason Kapono became the first back-to-back winner of the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout since Peja Stojakovic won in 2002 and 2003. Kapono also tied the all-time record set in 1986 by Craig Hodges by scoring 25 points in the final round.

Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams won the Skills Challenge, with a first round time of 31.2 seconds and a record finish in 25.5 in his second run. For the first time since 2005, Dwyane Wade did not win the contest. He finished with a low 53.9 seconds, ending his streak at two. Jason Kidd, winner of the event in 2003, finished at 40 seconds. Chris Paul advanced to the finals with 29.9 seconds in the first go-around, but failed to match Williams in the end.

After an impressive run in the first round, Team San Antonio took care of business in the finals of the 2008 Haier Shooting Stars challenge against Team Chicago, as Duncan drained a half-court shot to give the Texas threesome a time of 35.8 seconds.

After trailing late in the first quarter, the D-League Blue All-Stars rallied to tie the game in the second quarter and never looked back. Both teams played hard, ran all night, defended well to the end and put on a show for the fans. Tandems of teammates worked together to score, showing fancy passing and plenty of highlight dunks. But behind All-Star M.V.P. and Fort Wayne Mad Ants guard Jeremy Richardson's 22 points, Blue had Red singing the blues in this, the city of jazz, winning handily by a score of 117-99.

Two preliminary rounds of two games each were played with the winners of the first two rounds competing in a final round for the title of H.O.R.S.E. Champion. Each round was capped at five minutes, and utilized a 24-second shot clock. Contestants were outfitted with a wireless microphone in order for fans to hear the player call his shot.

Lance Allred faced Fort Wayne’s Jeremy Richardson. Both players were tied at the time limit, but Allred managed to advance in sudden death when Richardson could not convert on his attempt. In the other first-round matchup, Utah Jazz assignee Morris Almond advanced over Sioux Fall's Kasib Powell, as he held an H-O advantage at the time limit. In the final, Allred earned the victory over Almond when he sank a bank shot from just outside the elbow, leaving Almond facing an H-O deficit as time expired.

Hot-Shot contestants took to the floor to compete in a race against the clock to score the most points with the help of a D-League fan. Each team had one minute to tally the highest score from four designated shooting spots on the court, including a one-point layup, a two-point foul shot, a three-pointer from behind the arc, and a five-point half-court shot, with the fan only eligible to shoot from the lay-up position. Two teams competed simultaneously, one on each end of the court, during the first round with the winners advancing to a final round of head-to-head competition where the stakes were high – the fan from the winning squad had an opportunity to be a judge in the Slam Dunk Contest.

In the first round, Bakersfield’s Andre Barrett came out on top with a total of 24 while Dakota’s Carlos Powell checked in second with 23 points. Billy Thomas (20 points) and Randy Livingston (5 points) were eliminated after the first round.

In the second and final round, Powell and his teammate Will, a New Orleans resident, won the title with a total of 24, edging Barrett and company’s total of 21.

Each contestant had 60 seconds to sink up to 21 three-pointers from seven shooting stations assembled around the three-point line. Each station had two orange balls (worth one point each) and one "money" ball (worth two points) which may only be attempted after both orange balls have been shot. Fans enjoyed one preliminary round and a championship round featuring the contestants with the top two scores from the first round.

Adam Harrington dominated the contest, posting the highest score of all four competitors in the first round, and then edging Kaniel Dickens in the final round to earn the victory. Dickens advanced to the final via a 30-second shootout with Josh Gross after two players tied for the second best total in the opening round.

The Slam Dunk Contest, which consisted of two rounds of two dunks each, began with each dunker submitting his top two dunks and selecting a fan from the crowd who chose the first dunk to be performed in the first round of competition. A composite total of the scores from the first round of dunks of competition was tallied for each dunker and the dunkers with the two highest scores competed in a championship round consisting of two dunk attempts. Contestants were allowed one replacement dunk per attempt.

The Idaho Stampede pair of Brent Petway and Mike Taylor emerged from the first round and headed to the finals. Petway emerged as the victor after he completed a spectacular through-the-legs dunk that brought down the house at Jam Session and earned a perfect 50 score. Taylor attempted to counter with a show-stopping dunk of his own, but failed to convert on his two alloted attempts. Fort Wayne's Eric Smith and Iowa's Doug Thomas also performed some impressive dunks, but did not record high enough scores from the judges to advance to the final round.

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Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Los Angeles, California. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, which they share with their fellow NBA rival, the Los Angeles Clippers, and their sister team, the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.

The Lakers' franchise was founded in 1946 in Detroit, Michigan before moving to Minneapolis, where the team got its official title from the state's nickname, "Land of 10,000 Lakes." The Lakers won five championships before relocating to Los Angeles in the 1960–61 NBA season. The Lakers lost all of their eight appearances in the NBA Finals in the 1960s, despite having help from Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. In 1972, the Lakers won their sixth title under coach Bill Sharman. The Lakers' popularity soared in the 1980s when they won five additional championships during a nine-year span with the leadership of Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and coach Pat Riley, the franchise's all-time leader in both regular season and playoff games coached and wins. Two of those championships during that span were against their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics. With the help of Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers played in five of the nine NBA Finals in the 2000s, winning three of them consecutively from 2000 to 2002 and losing the last two in 2004 and, most recently, the 2008 NBA Finals without O'Neal.

The Lakers hold records for having (at the end of the 2007–08 season) the most wins (2,905), the highest winning percentage (61.5%), the most NBA Finals appearances (29), the second fewest non-playoff seasons with five (San Antonio Spurs has four), and the second-most NBA championships with 14, behind the Boston Celtics' 17. They also hold the record for compiling the longest consecutive win streak (33) in U.S. professional team sports (also an NBA record) in the 1971–72 season. 14 Hall of Famers have played for the Lakers, while four Hall of Famer (John Kundla, Bill Sharman, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson) have coached the team. Four Lakers (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant) have won the NBA Most Valuable Player award.

The Lakers began in 1946 when Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen bought the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League for $15,000. The team was relocated to Minneapolis for the 1947 season. The Lakers, who already had a solid roster with forward Jim Pollard and playmaker Herm Schaefer, added center George Mikan, who quickly became the most dominant player in the game. With Mikan leading the way during their first year, the Lakers won their division by 13 games with a 43–17 record. In the 1949 BAA Championship the Lakers continued their dominance, beating the Washington Capitols three games to one. The following season, the team improved to 44–24, winning the Western Division. In the playoffs, the team defeated the Indianapolis Olympians in three games but lost to the Rochester Royals in the next round.

In the 1951–52 season the Lakers won 40 games, finishing second in its division. Facing the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the Lakers won in seven games. With a 48–22 record in the 1952–53 season, the team went to the NBA Finals again after defeating the Fort Wayne Pistons in the Western Finals. The team won their second straight championship over The Knicks. Though Lakers star George Milkan suffered from knee problem throughout the 1953–54 season, he was still able to average 18 points per game. Clyde Lovellette, who was drafted in 1952 was able to help the team win the Western Division, along with Milkan. The team was able to win their third straight championship in the '50s when they defeated the Syracuse Nationals in seven games. Following Milkan's retirement in the 1954 offseason, the team struggled but still managed to win 40 games. Although defeating the Royals in the first round, the Lakers were defeated by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the next round. For the rest of the fifties, the team failed to average above .500 and never returned to the Finals.

In their last year in Minneapolis, the Lakers went 25–50 and won the number two pick in the 1960 NBA Draft. The team selected Jerry West from West Virginia University. During the 1960 offseason, the Lakers became the NBA's first West Coast team when the owner, Bob Short, decided to move the team to Los Angeles. Although the team featured Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich, the attendance fell dramatically in their first five years in Los Angeles and the team lost the NBA Finals four times to the Boston Celtics in five seasons. The Lakers moved to a brand-new arena, The Forum, in 1967, after playing seven seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. That season saw the team repeating its pattern, losing to the Celtics in the 1968 NBA Finals.

On July 9, 1968, the team acquired Wilt Chamberlain from the Philadelphia 76ers for Darrell Imhoff, Archie Clark, and Jerry Chambers. The Lakers and Celtics met again in the finals, and the Lakers had the home court advantage for the first time. They could not get past their rivals, however, and lost in seven games; the Celtics emerged from the series with their 11th NBA Championship in 13 seasons. Jerry West was named the first-ever Finals MVP; this remains the only time that a member of the losing team has won the award. In 1970 the team returned to the finals, and for the first time, they did not have to face the Celtics; instead the team met the New York Knicks, who defeated them 4–3. The next season the Lakers were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks, led by future Laker Lew Alcindor (now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in the Western Conference Finals.

The 1971–72 season brought several changes. Owner Jack Kent Cooke brought in Bill Sharman as the new coach, and Elgin Baylor announced his retirement early in the season after realizing that his legs were not healthy enough. The team, however, still won 14 straight games in November and 16 straight games in December. The team then won three straight to open the year of 1972 but on January 9, the Milwaukee Bucks ended the streak by defeating the Lakers, 120–104. By winning 33 straight games, the Lakers notched the longest winning streak of any team in American professional sports. The team won 69 games that season, setting a new NBA record for wins in a season, until the Chicago Bulls won 72 games in 1995–96. Chamberlain averaged a career-low 14.8 points but led the league in rebounding with 19.2 per game. West led the league in assists, with 9.7 assists per game, and averaged better than 25 points. At the end of the season, Bill Sharman was named NBA Coach of the Year. The Lakers eventually made it to the finals where they took revenge on the New York Knicks by winning in five games, bringing the first NBA title to Los Angeles.

During the 1972–73 NBA season, the Lakers did not match their record from their previous season, but they did clinch another Pacific Division title by winning 60 games. Wilt Chamberlain, playing in his final season, again leading the league in rebounding. The team triumphed over the Chicago Bulls after seven games during the conference semifinals but then easily defeated the Golden State Warriors in the Western Division Finals. The team then met the New York Knicks in the 1973 NBA Finals. The Lakers took the first game by three points, but the Knicks took the series in five games. Following the season, Wilt Chamberlain retired after a 15 year NBA career. For the 1973–74, the team was hampered by the loss of Jerry West, who played only 31 games before his legs finally gave out. Gail Goodrich who averaged 25.3 points, helped the team to a late-season surge. Trailing the Golden State Warriors by three games with seven left to play, the Lakers rallied to win the Pacific Division with a 47–35 record. The team advanced to the playoffs but managed only one win against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals. Following the season, Jerry West retired, ending his 14 year playing career.

After missing the playoffs in the 1974–75 season, the Lakers acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the league's premier big man at that time. Abdul-Jabbar wanted out from Milwaukee, demanding a trade to either New York or Los Angeles. He was eventually traded to the Lakers for Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Junior Bridgeman, and Dave Meyers. Abdul-Jabbar had an MVP season for the Lakers in 1975–76, leading the league in rebounding, blocked shots, and minutes played. The Lakers struggled in January, with a 3–10 record. At season's end, Abdul-Jabbar won the fourth NBA Most Valuable Player Award, but the team finished out of the playoffs with a 40–42 record.

Jerry West replaced Bill Sharman as head coach during the offseason. It took another MVP season from Abdul-Jabbar to carry the team back to the top of the Pacific Division, as the Lakers finished the 1976–77 season with a league-best 53–29 record. They defeated the Warriors in a seven-game series to open the postseason before being defeated by Portland in the Western Conference Finals. During the offseason, the Lakers picked up Jamaal Wilkes from Golden State and signed first-round draft pick Norm Nixon. In the first two minutes of the first game of the 1977–78 season, Abdul-Jabbar punched Bucks Kent Benson for an overly aggressive elbow and broke his hand. The team won 45 games despite not having Abdul-Jabbar for nearly two months. During the 1978–79 season, the team posted a 47–35 record but lost to the SuperSonics in the semifinal round of the playoffs.

During the 1979 NBA Draft, the Lakers had the first overall pick and selected 6'9" Earvin Johnson from Michigan State. The Lakers won 60 games in Johnson's rookie year. The Lakers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in game six of the 1980 championship series thanks to an MVP performance by the rookie Johnson, who started for the injured Abdul-Jabbar. He finished with 42 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists en route to the Lakers' second championship in Los Angeles. The 1980–81 season was a disappointment, though, as the Lakers lost Magic Johnson for most of the season to a knee injury. The team turned in a 54–28 record and finished second behind the Phoenix Suns in the Pacific Division. But the Houston Rockets, led by Moses Malone, stunned the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

Owner Jerry Buss fired coach Paul Westhead after the Lakers went 7–4 to start the 1981–82 season. Buss promoted Assistant Coach Pat Riley to head coach on November 19 and the team won 17 of its next 20 games. The Lakers took the Pacific Division title and swept both the Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers then stretched its postseason winning streak to nine games by taking the first contest of the NBA Finals from the 76ers. The team won the Finals four games to two; the team's playoff record that year was 12–2. On draft night in 1982, the Lakers had the first overall pick and selected James Worthy from North Carolina. The Lakers clinched the Pacific Division with a 58–24 record, advancing to the 1983 NBA Finals by defeating Portland and San Antonio in the first two rounds. The Sixers, however, won the series and the championship in four straight games.

By the 1984–85 season, the Lakers' "Showtime" era, the most successful era in team history, was in full swing. The team won the Pacific Division for the fourth straight year. The Lakers lost game one of the NBA Finals by a lopsided score of 148–114, in what is now remembered as the "Memorial Day Massacre". The Lakers were resilient and behind 37-year old Finals MVP Abdul-Jabbar, and they were finally able to defeat Boston in six games. The team won the title in the Boston Garden, thus making the 1985 Lakers the only visiting team to ever win an NBA championship there.

In the 1985–86 season, they went 24–3 in their first 27 games and finished with 62 wins, clinching their fifth straight division title. The Houston Rockets, however, defeated the Lakers in five games in the Western Conference Finals. The Rockets won the series when Ralph Sampson hit a 20–foot jumper as time expired in game five at The Forum. The next season the Lakers accumulated 65 wins, the second-most in franchise history up to that point. Johnson then notched his last Finals MVP award as the Lakers defeated their arch rival Celtics in the finals, highlighted by Johnson's running "baby hook" shot to win game four at Boston Garden with two seconds remaining. Prior to the 1986–87 season, the Lakers let go of Maurice Lucas, moving A. C. Green into the starting lineup, and picked up Mychal Thompson from the San Antonio Spurs. Johnson won his first career NBA Most Valuable Player Award while leading the Lakers to a 65–17 record, the second-best mark in franchise history. Michael Cooper was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

The Lakers met the Celtics in the NBA Finals by sweeping the Denver Nuggets, losing just one game to the Golden State Warriors, and then swept the Seattle SuperSonics in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers routed the Celtics in the first two games of the Finals, and the teams then split the next four contests, giving the Lakers their second championship in three seasons. Johnson was named the NBA Finals MVP, to go with his regular-season MVP trophy. At the Lakers' championship celebration in Los Angeles, coach Riley brashly declared that the Lakers would repeat as NBA champions in the next season. During the 1987–88 season, the Lakers won, taking their seventh consecutive Pacific Division title, and subsequently meeting the Detroit Pistons in the 1988 NBA Finals. The Lakers took the series in seven games, and James Worthy's triple double earned him a Finals MVP award. In the 1988–89 season, the Lakers won 57 games. The team made it to the NBA Finals, facing the Detroit Pistons again. The Pistons took advantage of the injuries of Byron Scott and Magic Johnson and took the series in four games.

On June 28, 1989, after twenty professional seasons, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar announced his retirement. During the 1990 offseason, 1987 Defensive Player of the Year winner Michael Cooper also announced his retirement. The team made another Finals appearance in 1991 but lost to Michael Jordan's Bulls in five games. On November 7, 1991, Magic Johnson announced he had tested positive for HIV and that he would retire immediately. In their first season without Magic, they only won 43 games. In addition, they were eliminated after only four games in the first round. During the 1993–94 season, the team won only 33 games and missed the playoffs for the fourth time in franchise history.

For the next two seasons, the team made the playoffs but were eliminated in the second and first round, respectively. During the 1996 off-season, however, the Lakers signed Shaquille O'Neal and acquired rookie Kobe Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets for Vlade Divac. They used their 24th pick in the draft to select Derek Fisher. During the season, the team traded Cedric Ceballos to the Phoenix Suns for Robert Horry.

O'Neal led the team to a 56–26 record, their best effort since 1990–91, despite missing 31 games with a knee injury. O'Neal averaged 26.2 ppg and 12.5 rpg and finished third in the league in blocked shots (2.88 bpg) in 51 games. The Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 1997 NBA Playoffs. O'Neal scored 46 points in Game 1 against the Trail Blazers, it marked the highest single-game playoff scoring output by a Laker since Jerry West scored 53 against the Celtics in 1969. In the next round, the Lakers lost four games to one.

In the 1997–98 season, O'Neal and the Lakers had the best start in franchise history, starting 11–0. O'Neal missed 20 games due to an abdominal injury. All season, the Lakers battled with Seattle for the Pacific Division title. In the final two months of the season, the Lakers won 22 of their final 25 games. With their late-season surge, the Lakers overtook Seattle atop the Pacific at 61–21. The Lakers defeated Portland three games to one, in the first-round best-of-five. In the next round, the team faced Seattle. Although Seattle won the first game, the Lakers responded with four straight wins and took the series. The Lakers were swept in four games by the Utah Jazz, being one series short of reaching the Finals for the first time since 1991.

During the middle of the 1998–99 season, All-Star guard Eddie Jones and center Elden Campbell were traded to the Charlotte Hornets. The team also acquired J. R. Reid, B. J. Armstrong, and Glen Rice. The team finished 31–19 in the shortened season, which was fourth in the Western Conference. The team defeated the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs but were defeated by the San Antonio Spurs in the next round.

Prior to the 1999–00 season, the Lakers hired former Bulls coach Phil Jackson as head coach and re-signed veterans Brian Shaw, John Salley, Ron Harper, and A. C. Green, who was with the Lakers during the "Showtime" era. The team also moved to a new arena, the Staples Center.

At the start of the 1999–2000 season, they won 31 of their first 36 games. They won 67 games, the most games since they won 65 in the 1986–87 season. The team eliminated the Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns in the first two rounds of the playoffs. After taking a three games to one lead in the Western Conference Finals, the Trail Blazers came back to force a game seven. The team was down by 15 points but went on a 19–4 run to tie the game. The Lakers won 89–84 and went to the NBA Finals. The team defeated Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers four games to two in the 2000 NBA Finals to win their first title since 1988. The following season, the team won 11 fewer regular season games. The team, however, swept the first three rounds of the playoffs, sweeping the Trail Blazers in three and the Kings and Spurs in four. The team met Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2001 NBA Finals; the Sixers took game one in overtime. But the team came back, taking four in a row to clinch their second straight title. The team had a 15–1 record in the postseason, the best in NBA history. The Lakers won 58 games in the 2001–02 season but the Sacramento Kings clinched the Pacific Division.

In the playoffs, the team eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, three games to none, and the San Antonio Spurs four games to one, in the second round. The team faced the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference Finals; the series went to seven games, the last of which ended in a six-point overtime win in favor of the Lakers. The Lakers then achieved a three-peat by sweeping the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals.

In the beginning of the 2002–03 season, they started 11–19. The team went 39–13 for the rest of the season and won 50 games. The team faced the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2003 NBA Playoffs; the Lakers took the series in six games. The team was eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs four games to two in the Western Conference Semifinals. The following offseason, the Lakers signed Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Three of the "big four", however, struggled with injuries: Shaquille O'Neal suffered from a strained calf, Karl Malone with an injured knee and Kobe Bryant with a shoulder injury. Ending up with a 56–26 record, they clinched the Pacific Division and entered the playoffs as the number two seed. They defeated the Houston Rockets, Spurs, and Timberwolves in the first three rounds of the 2004 NBA Playoffs, before they succumbed to the Detroit Pistons in five games in the 2004 NBA Finals.

During the 2004 offseason, the team entered the rebuilding phase when O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler and a first-round draft pick. The team also traded Rick Fox and Gary Payton to the Boston Celtics, for Chris Mihm, Marcus Banks, and Chucky Atkins. Derek Fisher, frustrated with losing playing time, opted out of his contract and signed with the Warriors. As Phil Jackson was not brought back to coach the team for the 2004–05 season, the team hired Rudy Tomjanovich. With only Kobe Bryant remaining on the team, they finished with a 34–48 record in 2004, missing the playoffs for the fifth time in their franchise history. Since the team failed to make the playoffs, the team was in the 2005 Draft Lottery, their first since 1994.

With the tenth overall pick, The Lakers selected Andrew Bynum, a center from St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey. The team also traded Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins to the Washington Wizards for Kwame Brown and Laron Profit. Jackson returned to coach the team after Rudy Tomjanovich resigned midway through the previous season. On January 22, 2006, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second-highest total in NBA history. Ending the season with a 45–37 record, the team made the playoffs for the first time since 2004. After taking a three games to one lead in the first round, the Phoenix Suns came back to take the series in seven games. In the following season, they won 26 of their first 39 games. For the rest of the season, they lost 27 of their last 43 games, including a seven game losing streak. The team was eliminated in the first round by the Phoenix Suns again, four games to one.

After a season ending injury to Andrew Bynum in January 2008 of the 2007–08 season, the Lakers traded Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the draft rights to Marc Gasol, and two first round draft picks to the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol and a second round draft choice. After the trade, the Lakers went on to clinch the first seed in the Western Conference with a 57–25 record. Kobe Bryant was awarded the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the first Los Angeles Lakers guard to have won the award since Magic Johnson won the award in 1990. The Lakers went to the playoffs and defeated the Denver Nuggets in four games, the Utah Jazz in six games, and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in five games. They entered the NBA Finals for the first time in four years, facing their long-time rivals, the Boston Celtics, whom they had not played in the Finals in 21 years. The Lakers eventually lost the series in six games.

The Lakers have had a long rivalry with the Boston Celtics. They met in the NBA Finals 11 times, the Celtics have won nine while the Lakers have won two. The first meeting in the Finals was in 1959. Despite being swept by the Celtics, the Lakers managed to keep every game close in the Finals. The teams met five more times in the sixties, with the Celtics winning each time. Even though the two teams have met in the Finals three times (1984, 1985, and 1987) and have only played each other twice each season, their rivalry in the 1980s continued with renewed fervor. The 1984 series was even personified as Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson. Their most recent meeting in the finals was in 2008, where the Celtics defeated the Lakers in six games to clinch their seventeenth title.

The rivalry against the Sacramento Kings started in 2000, as the Lakers eliminated the Kings in the 2000 NBA Playoffs. During the 2002 Western Conference Finals, The Kings were up 99–97, and with two seconds remaining, Vlade Divac knocked the ball away as far away from the net as he could. Robert Horry, who waited behind the three-point line, then launched a game-winning three-pointer as time expired to give the Lakers a 100–99 victory.

In a preaseason game between the Kings and Lakers, Lakers forward Rick Fox elbowed Kings guard Doug Christie, while trying to protect the ball. Christie fell to the floor and when he got up, received a shove to the face from Fox. Christie responded with a punch to Fox's jaw and both players were separated and ejected. The players left the court through separate tunnels, but Fox ran to the Kings' end and confronted Christie.

Given the team's proximity to Hollywood, the large Lakers fanbase includes many celebrities, most of whom can regularly be seen at the Staples Center during home games. Jack Nicholson, for example, has held season tickets since the 1970s. From 2002 and 2007 the team averaged just over 18,900 fans, which was still in the top ten in the NBA. The team sold out every home game during the 2007–08 season.

Their television ratings are higher than other NBA teams; the 2008 NBA Finals between the Lakers and Celtics drew a 9.3 rating, which were higher than the 2007 NBA Finals. According to Forbes magazine, the Lakers are the second most valuable basketball franchise in the United States, valued at approximately $584 million, surpassed only by the New York Knicks.

The Laker nickname came from the state of Minnesota being the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The team's colors are purple, gold and white. The Lakers logo consists of the team name, "Los Angeles Lakers" written in purple on top of a gold basketball. Purple uniforms are used for road games and gold uniforms are used for home games. The team also wears white jerseys for Sunday and holiday home games.

Since the Lakers were established in 1948, the team has only missed the NBA playoffs five times. The team has 14 NBA titles and has appeared in the NBA Finals 15 other times. These appearances include eight NBA Finals appearances in the 80s. The best record posted by the team was 69–13, in 1972; the worst record was 19–53, in 1957–58.

The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, located at L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles. The Staples Center opened in 1999 and seats up to 18,997 for Laker Games. The Staples Center is also home to fellow NBA team, Los Angeles Clippers, their sister team of the Women's National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Sparks, the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings and the Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers. The arena is owned and operated by AEG and L.A. Arena Company. Before moving to Staples Center, the Lakers played their home games at The Forum in Inglewood, California for 31 years. The team played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in their first seven years in Los Angeles. While the team played in Minneapolis, the team played their home games at the Minneapolis Auditorium, from 1947 and 1960.

The Lakers have had 16 Hall of Famers (15 players and one broadcaster) who contributed to the Lakers. The Hall of Famers include (in alphabetical order): Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, Connie Hawkins, Magic Johnson, Clyde Lovellette, Slater Martin, Bob McAdoo, George Mikan, Vern Mikkelsen, Jim Pollard, James Worthy and Jerry West. Chick Hearn was the Lakers broadcaster for 42 seasons until he died in 2002.

The Lakers have had three first overall picks in their history: Elgin Baylor (selected in 1958), Magic Johnson (selected in 1979) and James Worthy (selected in 1982). The Lakers have also had three Lottery picks in their history: George Lynch (selected twelfth overall in 1993), Eddie Jones (selected tenth overall in 1994) and Andrew Bynum (selected tenth overall in 2005). Other draft picks include Jerry West, Gail Goodrich in the 1960s, Michael Cooper, Norm Nixon in the 1970s, and A. C. Green and Vlade Divac in the 1980s, Elden Campbell, Nick Van Exel, Derek Fisher, and Devean George in the 1990s, Luke Walton, Saša Vujačić, and Ronny Turiaf in the 2000s.

There have been 21 head coaches for the Lakers franchise. The franchise won their first five NBA championships, from 1949 to 1954, all while coached by John Kundla. Pat Riley is the franchise's all-time leader in both regular season and playoff games coached and wins. Riley was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. John Kundla, Bill Sharman, and Phil Jackson have also all been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach. George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Jerry West, Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, and Kurt Rambis have all played and head coached for the Lakers. Jackson, in his second term, is the head coach of the Lakers since the 2005–06 season.

Chick Hearn was the team's broadcaster for 41 years until his death in 2002. Hearn broadcasted 3,338 consecutive games between November 21, 1965 and December 16, 2001. Paul Sunderland, who had filled in for a couple of games while Hearn recuperated in 2001–02, was named the permanent play-by-play announcer. Stu Lantz was retained as the color commentator. Sunderland's contract expired in the summer of 2005, and the team chose not to renew it. Joel Meyers moved in alongside Lantz as the TV announcer, while Spero Dedes and former Laker player Mychal Thompson on the radio. The current teams are Dedes and Thompson on radio and Meyers and Lantz on television.

As of 2007–08, Lakers radio broadcasts are heard on KLAC in English and KWKW in Spanish. KLAC has had the team's radio broadcast rights since the 1976–77 season. Telecasts are split between KCAL-TV (road games) and Fox Sports Net West (home games), unless they are chosen for national broadcasts on ABC. KCAL has been the Lakers' over-the-air television broadcaster since 1977, dating back to when the station was the RKO General-owned KHJ-TV, which is longer than any other station currently airing NBA games. Prior to KHJ, Laker games were televised on KTLA. The team games are broadcasted in High Definition on FSN West HD, and on KCAL HD.

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