

But if you’re looking for the best way to play ball you should check out Nicktoons Basketball. There are a lot of ways to play basketball – in the park, at the gym, in the driveway. (Toronto’s nickname is Hogtown.Why Nicktoons Basketball is the best way to play ball rexes, the Tarantulas, the Terriers, and the Hogs. The Raptors cartoon is the difference between thousands of Vince Carter jerseys at a music festival and none Toronto’s other top-10 fan submissions included-and understand that I’m not making these up, which my editor originally thought I was-the Beavers (missed opportunity for “dam” headlines), the Dragons, the T. Nothing looks better on a vintage jersey than a creature so vintage it can no longer be found on this earth.


Raptorsįinding inspiration in Jurassic Park is a product of being founded in the ’90s, but the Raptor is-in this instance and this instance only-timeless.
NICKTOONS BASKETBALL TEAM NAMES FULL
“Blazers” is also the best shorthand mascot in the NBA-the 76ers lose a full 70-count when they become the Sixers the Knickerbockers go from a term used for Dutch settlers in New York to trousers you’d see in Peaky Blinders “Wolves” is fine on its own, but not as good as Blazers. We call certain cherished historical figures in basketball trail blazers of the game every Portland player-all of them, even LaRue Martin-is technically, nominally, the same. On top of being an actual reference to Portland, which is more than we can say for some of the relocated franchises today, the team chose a compliment as a mascot. The 172 fans who submitted “Trail Blazers” in Portland’s 1970 name-the-team contest were paying homage to the Oregon Trail. Other entries included the Beaches, the Floridians, and the Suntan. At the time, I’m not sure they were thinking past it being hot in Florida. You don’t often get a mascot that takes on as much historical symbolism as Miami’s flame logo can with fire. “Heat” is literal to Miami while also able to be left open to interpretation. Neither could come through! On top of the innovation that it represents (and the fact that it’s the only mascot besides the Suns that can travel in space), the Rockets were excellent in transition. All Los Angeles needed was a small body of water. Jazz, an incredibly popular style of music, doesn’t even kind-of fit Utah. It’s miraculous that a nickname chosen to honor a hyper-specific industry in one city should so perfectly apply to its next home some 1,500 miles away. Johnson Space Center in 1973) had already made the city a national hub for the space field. By 1971, when the team moved, Houston’s Manned Spacecraft Center (renamed the Lyndon B. (I’m going to tell my kids it’s a tribute to Houston-native Beyonce’s “Rocket.”) Before the franchise was in Texas, it was the San Diego Rockets-chosen because of its own Southern California space operation at the time. The history of how this team became the Rockets is often mistaken because it fits the city so well. The Top 5 Playmakers in the NBA The Top 5 Microwave Players in the NBA The Top 5 Guards in the NBA 4. But also … imagine the uniforms for the Golden State Fighters. I’ll play devil’s advocate to myself: The name is good because “warrior” is a nobler word for “fighter,” and makes me think of bravery, persistence, that red mohawk thing on top of a Spartan helmet, valor, and heroism. Philly chose the name when it joined the NBA in 1946 because its ABL team in the 1920s was nicknamed the Warriors. (Over the Suns? Multiple 432,690 mile-long balls of hot plasma?) The name has no bearing to Northern California specifically, and wasn’t theirs originally-it was carried over when the team moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 1962. I’ll be honest: I’m not sure why my colleagues voted the Warriors in the top five. All rankings were voted on by The Ringer staff unless noted.īelow, our very definitive and scientific ranking of the best team names in the league. To help reintegrate us to a life of Giannis hammer dunks, James Harden dribbling for 24 seconds, and 76ers fans yelling at you for some reason, we’re rolling out top-five rankings in 20 different categories. Basketball is (maybe, hopefully) on the horizon.
