National Basketball Association (NBA) team mascots are as follows. Two mascots, Go the Gorilla and Rocky the Mountain Lion were ranked fourth[1] and ninth[2] respectively on AskMen.com's top 10 sports mascots. As of now, four teams do not have a mascot, namely the Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, and Golden State Warriors.
Current mascots
[edit]Former mascots
[edit]Team | Mascot(s) | Photo |
---|---|---|
Atlanta Hawks | Skyhawk | |
Brooklyn Nets | BrooklyKnight | |
Charlotte Bobcats | Rufus D. Lynx | ![]() |
Chicago Bulls | Da Bull | |
Cleveland Cavaliers | Whammer, The Wizard | |
Denver Nuggets | Maxie Miner[3] | |
Detroit Pistons | Sir Slam A Lot | |
Houston Rockets | Booster, Turbo | |
Golden State Warriors | Thunder, Berserker | |
Indiana Pacers | Hoop T Dunker Bowser – Boomer's counterpart, Pete M. Panther |
|
Los Angeles Clippers | Sam Dunk | |
New Jersey Nets | Duncan the Dragon SuperDunk Sly the Silver Fox Mini Sly |
|
New Orleans Hornets | Hugo (Current mascot of the Charlotte Hornets) |
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Philadelphia 76ers | Hip Hop[a] Lil Hip Hop Big Shot[b] Hoops |
|
Portland Trail Blazers | Sparky Bigfoot |
|
Sacramento Kings | The Gorilla | |
Seattle SuperSonics | Squatch, The Wheedle |
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Toronto Raptors | Stripes | |
Washington Bullets | Hoops | |
Washington Wizards | G. Wiz |
Mascot of the Year
[edit]In 1997, the mascots started having an annual meeting at the NBA Mascot Conference. Since 2005, the conference also selects an individual to be honored as the top professional in the league, the Mascot of the Year.[6]
Year | Mascot | Team |
---|---|---|
2005 | Clutch[7] | Houston Rockets |
2006 | Jazz Bear[8] | Utah Jazz |
2007 | Hugo the Hornet[9] | New Orleans Hornets |
2008 | Jazz Bear (2)[8] | Utah Jazz |
2009 | Rumble the Bison[10] | Oklahoma City Thunder |
2010 | Bango[10] | Milwaukee Bucks |
2011 | Grizz[11] | Memphis Grizzlies |
2012 | Crunch the Wolf[12] | Minnesota Timberwolves |
2013 | Clutch (2)[13] | Houston Rockets |
2014 | The Coyote[14] | San Antonio Spurs |
2015 | Benny the Bull[15] | Chicago Bulls |
2016 | Stuff the Magic Dragon[16] | Orlando Magic |
2017 | Stuff the Magic Dragon (2) | Orlando Magic |
2018 | Jazz Bear (3)[17] | Utah Jazz |
2019 | Rocky the Mountain Lion | Denver Nuggets |
2020 | The Coyote (2) | San Antonio Spurs |
2021 | Clutch (3) | Houston Rockets |
2022 | Chuck the Condor | Los Angeles Clippers |
2023 | Harry the Hawk | Atlanta Hawks |
2024 | TBD | TBD |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Replaced by new owners following the 2012 season.[4]
- ^ Retired when the 76ers departed the Spectrum following the 1996 season.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Top 10: Sports Mascots. (page 2)". AskMen. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
- ^ "Top 10: Sports Mascots (page 1)". AskMen. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
- ^ "A look back at Denver Nuggets' history". Denver Stiffs. August 10, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ Sixers say goodbye to Hip-Hop
- ^ Philadelphia 76ers introduce their new mascot, doggone it. (Video) - Philadelphia Business Journal
- ^ Alum named NBA Mascot of the Year
- ^ Mascot of the Year: Houston's own Clutch.
- ^ a b "NBA Mascots To Celebrate Dixie State's Mascot's Birthday At February Basketball Games". Archived from the original on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
- ^ "NBA Mascot of the Year". Archived from the original on 2014-11-11. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
- ^ a b NBA Mascot of the Year
- ^ Memphis' 'Grizz' named 2011 NBA Mascot of the Year
- ^ Congratulations, Crunch!
- ^ Barajas, Erik (August 19, 2013). "Rockets' Clutch the Bear wins best mascot title in NBA". ABC. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
- ^ Whitaker, Lang (August 1, 2014). "San Antonio Coyote Named Mascot of the Year". All Ball. NBA. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
- ^ Chicago's Benny the Bull named NBA Mascot of the Year
- ^ @OrlandoMagic (29 July 2016). "Wooooooohooooooooo!!! RETWEET to congratulate @STUFFMagic on being named @NBA Mascot of the Year!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Utah Jazz: Jazz Bear returns to the top, earns third Mascot of the Year Award
External links
[edit] Media related to National Basketball Association mascots at Wikimedia Commons