Editing Washington Wizards (section)

====Becoming the Wizards====
[[File:Verizon Center 12-05-2007.JPG|thumb|right|250px|The Wizards moved to the MCI Center (later Verizon Center and then [[Capital One Arena]]) in 1997.]]
In November 1995, owner [[Abe Pollin]] announced he was changing the team's nickname,<ref name=bwchtmnn>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=K7wfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FNgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1117%2C1048322 |via=Google News Archive  |newspaper=Gadsden Times |location=Alabama |agency=Associated Press |title=Bullets will change nickname |date=November 10, 1995 |page=D4 |access-date=August 3, 2016 |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226024730/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=K7wfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FNgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1117%2C1048322 |url-status=live }}</ref> because ''Bullets'' had acquired violent overtones that had made him increasingly uncomfortable over the years, particularly given the high homicide and [[Gun laws in Washington, D.C.|crime]] rate in the early 1990s in Washington, D.C. The name change was widely and incorrectly believed to be related to the [[Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin|assassination]] of Pollin's longtime friend, [[Prime Minister of Israel|Israeli prime minister]] [[Yitzhak Rabin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/02/why_abe_pollin_went_from_bulle.html|title= Why Abe Pollin went from Bullets to Wizards|website=D.C. Sports Bog |publisher=The Washington Post |first1= Dan |last1=Steinberg  |date=  February 2, 2010 |access-date=June 30, 2015|archive-date=August 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812071813/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/02/why_abe_pollin_went_from_bulle.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

A contest was held to choose a new name and the choices were narrowed to the ''Dragons'', ''Express'', ''Stallions'', ''Sea Dogs'', and the ''Wizards''.<ref name="Peterseim">{{cite news |last=Peterseim |first=Locke |title=Like magic, Wizards' name becomes cool |work=Page 2 Goes to Washington |publisher=ESPN |url=https://www.espn.com/page2/wash/s/closer/020316.html |access-date=July 7, 2006 |archive-date=June 28, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628195135/http://espn.go.com/page2/wash/s/closer/020316.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On May 15, 1997, the Bullets officially became the Wizards. The new name generated some controversy because "[[Imperial Wizard|wizard]]" is a rank in the [[Ku Klux Klan]], and Washington has a large [[African American]] population.<ref name="Peterseim" />
A new logo was unveiled and the team colors were changed from the traditional red, white and blue to a lighter shade of blue, black and bronze, the same colors as the [[Washington Capitals]] of the [[National Hockey League]] (NHL), also owned by Pollin and changed from red, white and blue before the 1995–96 season. Washington forward [[Juwan Howard]] sat on the committee that decided on the logo design.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bembry |first1=Jerry |title=Wizards officially assume NBA identity Bullets name put to rest; logos, colors are unveiled |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1997-05-16-1997136067-story.html |website=baltimoresun.com |access-date=January 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128181758/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1997-05-16-1997136067-story.html |archive-date=January 28, 2020 |date=May 16, 1997}}</ref> That same year the Wizards moved to the then MCI Center ([[Capital One Arena]]), also home to the Capitals and the [[Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball|Georgetown Hoyas men's college basketball team]].<ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/general/mciarticles/launch/opening.htm|title=MCI Center Opens Its Doors For Inaugural Game|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 2, 1997|access-date=December 13, 2022|last1=Heath|first1=Thomas|last2=Montgomery|first2=David|archive-date=September 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913151743/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/general/mciarticles/launch/opening.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1998, they became the brother team to the [[Washington Mystics]] of the [[Women's National Basketball Association]], and remained officially thus until 2005 when the Mystics were sold to Lincoln Holdings (headed by [[Ted Leonsis]]), parent company of the Capitals.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/news/story?id=2067522|title=Johnson a partner in Lincoln Holdings|work=ESPN|agency=The Associated Press|location=Washington|date=May 25, 2005|access-date=December 13, 2022|archive-date=December 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213092842/https://www.espn.com/wnba/news/story?id=2067522|url-status=live}}</ref> However, upon the purchase of the Wizards by Leonsis in 2010, the Wizards and Mystics again became sibling teams.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nba.com/wizards/news/leonsis_acquisition_100610.html|title=Ted Leonsis-Led Group Completes Acquisition of Washington Wizards|date=June 10, 2010|work=Washington Wizards|access-date=December 13, 2022|publisher=NBA|archive-date=December 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213092847/https://www.nba.com/wizards/news/leonsis_acquisition_100610.html|url-status=live}}</ref>