The Washington Bullets were a professional basketball team playing in the National Basketball Association from 1975 to 1997. The Washington Bullets are now known as the Washington Wizards.
The team was originally found in 1961 in Chicago, Illinois; and was called as the Chicago Packers. The next season they were renamed as the Chicago Zephyrs. In 1963, the Zephyrs relocated to Baltimore, Maryland and were christened as the Baltimore Bullets. In 1972, the Bullets were shifted to Landover, Maryland and were renamed as the Capital Bullets. The following season in 1974, the team changed their name to the Washington Bullets. The name ‘Bullets’ was carried on by the team when they shifted from Baltimore to Washington. The team logo was Bullets written in blue with the ‘L’s forming two hands getting ready to collect a red ball. The team colors were red, white and blue. The team played its home game at the Capital Centre also known as the US Air Arena.
In 1974, the Washington Bullets finished first in the Central Division with a record of 60 wins and 22 losses. They played the NBA Finals that year against the Golden State Warriors and faced defeat. In 1975, the Bullets finished with 48 wins and 34 losses. In 1976, coach K.C. Jones was replaced by Dick Motta. The same year they finished with 48 wins and 34 losses once again duplicating the previous year’s performance. In 1977, the Bullets who had been to the NBA Finals twice and were defeated were once again in a similar situation facing the Seattle Super Sonics in the NBA finals. The Bullets beat the Super Sonics and won their first NBA Championships. In 1978, the Bullets were once again in the Finals facing the Super Sonics. This time however the Super Sonics defeated the Bullets to claim the NBA Championship. The 1979 and 1980 seasons were disappointing to the Bullets as they finished with 39 wins and 43 losses both the seasons. In the following years the Bullets continued to struggle and did not make it past the playoffs. In 1987, coach Kevin Loughery was replaced with Wes Unseld. The Bullets continued to struggle and fell to injuries in the following seasons. In 1996, after eight years the Bullets qualified to the playoffs recording 44 wins and 38 losses. In 1997, after a series of gun violence in the Washington, the team was renamed as the Washington Wizards in a name the team contest.
In a total of 1886 games the team played as the Washington Bullets, they won 887 games and lost 999 games.
NBA Champions, 1978.
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