Here, from one of our board scholars, are some past thoughts on the subject of the name
Wizards and its connotations, along with linguistic, anthropologic, semiotic, and other interrelated thoughts
WizarDynasty wrote:what you need is an logo that emphasized the concept "dazzingly skilled".
that is the defintion of a wizard.
YOu need to have some kind of icon that display skill and basketball. the traditional image of a wizard is not what should be emphasized.
You want to emphasize an image more along the lines of the harlem globetrotters. You want people to think harlem globetrotters dazzlingly skilled" when you think the washington wizards...not the image of a stupid tradition magical wizard with a wand.
Highly skilled is shooting a three point, highly skilled his hitting a floater, highly skilled is elite dribbling skills or a reverse layup.
A mascot that projects the image of highly skilled in basketball. that would be a challnge but you can tell that there was no creativity connected the current mascot of a wizard with anythng resembling "dazzling skilled>"
the true challenge comes in the form of creating an image that projects the idea of highly skilled basketball. An image that most people automatically think is highly skilled is the image you want.
the first thing that comes to mind are some of the moves that the globe trotters pull of such as spinning a basketball on your finger.
that would be the icon that i would want as my logo for the wizards.
spinning the ball on your finger requires alot of skill and almost anyone can relate to it. that would be my marketing campaign with our new logo. It would really give this organization an identity and a trademark. I would emphasize just a hand with a finger and the basketball. I would cut all that crap related to a wand and magic and all that corny harry potter stuff and stick strictly to the most dazzling skill that everyone wishes they could do even if they didnt play basketball...and its what everyone loves the globetrotters for...spinning a ball on your index finger.
if javale wanted to win the dunk contest, he would wait until after we change our logo to a finger with a spinning ball...and on his final dunk..spin the ball on his finger and while running thrust the ball in the air off the back board and 180.
that would be sick in a video game on a break away dunk. Classic wizardry..classic dazzingly skill..definition of a wizard...not some corny harry potter..magic wands b.s.

and make this image red white and blue...that would be awesome wizard design. all he marketing campaigns focus on spinning the basketball with the your index finguer.
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WizarDynasty wrote:This team has one of the worst non basketball team names in the history of sports. What h*ll do wizards have anything to do with basketball?
there is not one part of being a wizard that relates to athleticism, aggression, hardwork, and hustle. teh image of wizard is a slacker, sits around all day creating spells,--
I would immediately change the name as my first agenda if I were Ted. He wonders why his basketball team has no identity.
There is no such thing as a YOUNG wizard. They are old, complaining, elitist, there is absolutely, the only people who can relate to wizards are harry potter fans. The team mascot identity heavily influences the psyche of the team.
Ted is faced with the almost insurmountable task of reinventing the definition of a wizard to help support his basketball identity. No one in DC cares about a wizard. It not part of the community, and its not part of tradition. The only reason you chose wizards is because it starts with a W. That was the worse decision Abe ever made and something Ted should have immediately changed along with the uniforms.
Again, TED immediately changed the name to something that creates an image of a winner. Create a team name that makes your players live up to the identity of the team.
Lakers---they have over 5 decades of success. What in the world is laker. you think of magic johnson, or all the championships they won. Celtics....they have an image of a fighting leprachaun......that's the image of the team. You have cavalier...a guy on a horse...not that great but at least its a fighter...you have pacers....race car.... that translates into running... you have pistons...running horse... you have hawks....predator...aggressive.....you have bobcats....crappy but at least its slightly aggressive....you have Heat....everyone relates to the heat...or being hot because of Miami...
you got the bucks...aggressive deer....then you got the knicks....what in the world is a knick...you just think madison square garden and long history.... 76ers....you think of Dr. J and the afro's...toronto raptors....agressive deadly dinosaurs...then you got the Magic...---that's has to be one of the least aggressive names with absolutely no connection to basketball...then you have the wizards....second worst non aggressive name in basketball.
Then you have western conference....grizzlies...bear...fits gasol and dbo greatly, spurs...san antonio...makes sense---wiley aggressive cowboys....portland trailblazers....trailblazers..is connected to oregon past...makes sense...Golden state warriors...again aggressive...New Orleans...smart...changed their name from pelicans...they want to be fast and fly and its state bird....Houston rockets...explosive....Utah Jazz....music....not that aggressive....but the team is built on rhythm....minnesota timberwolves...aggressive...oklahoma thunder....bang aggressive....sacramento kings....kings...translates to being on top...get it...dallas mavericks...someone who doesn't follow customs or rules...Mark Cuban trying to establish his team identity by always trying to break the rules...i get it....
How is TEd going to fix the image of Wizard....If the GM is well know for motion camera statistics....and becomes the face of the organization for being a wizard with NBA STATISTICS.....THAT MAKES SENSE.
Ted pushing forth a public campaign to re image the washington wizards into an organization that are a collecton of WIZARDS with INFORMATION.
that makes sense. BUT TED has YET to DO. Make it a culture that the entire organization are WIZARDS of INFORMATION. IF it's not information like stats, somebody in the organization needs to be branded as a WIZARD of something. Wizard like plays...meaning brilliant plays...
There is absolutely nothing about this orgnanization that suggest WIZARD....or high mastery of a particular area. TED needs to change the name to a name that motivates his team each game with an identity that he forces them to live up to. The leader of this team is far from the image of a wizard.---john wall is a wizard at what?....running fast in a straight line with the basketball. Beal is a wizard at what? shooting the basketball ?....Wittman is a wizard at what offense? Defense coaching? TED you need to quickly find something in this organization that everyone can point to as being a wizard...or you need to change the team name that creates motivation each game for the team.
Michael JOrdan...a bull----aggressive, stout, always charging, tough.....awesome team name---he worked to live up to image of a bull. Every time he saw his team logo, it reminded him of how he should be as a player. That's what you need for this team LEONSIS.
Here and also in the HOF
HereRe the KKK image in the name, when they changed the name from the Bullets (because, you know, the team name was promoting gun violence) they had a promotional public vote to decide on the new name, advertised in papers, etc. The whole thing seemed pretty lame, with what looked like rigged nominations designed to make sure Wizards won. I think one of the nominees was River Rats or Dogs or something, and some radio station promoted that name as the only one that sounded fun, or was maybe trying to stick it to the owners/management for staging such an obviously rigged election. Many think River Rats or whatever was the actual winner. Maybe someone with a better memory can fill in or correct details.
Anyway, of the 4 or 5 nominees, one was Wizards and another was Dragons, so two of the five proposed names were official positions in the KKK. Since the owner was Jewish, I think that was just ignorance. I recall Jim Vance poo pooing associating those names with the Klan, but it was kind of funny when I mentioned all the naming stuff to my father-in-law and he got all excited with
his idea for a new name: The Whips! So he's describing in classic WizD fashion how "they'll be fast as a whip," and 'they'll sting you," and "you were cracked by the whip," and I'm seeing Whips and Dragons and Wizards. Maybe they should have looked the controversy right in the eye and called the team the Freemen.