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They changed their names from the Bullets because the former late owner Abe Pollin believed the name eluded to gun violence, which was prevalent in DC during that time. So they had some hacky process to name the team and they gave choices like Sea Dogs, Dragons, Stallions, the Express, or the Wizards. Clearly the Wizards name was better than the rest so that is what was chosen. The widow of Abe Pollin, Irene Pollin desired to not changed the name to Bullets in honor of her deceased husband and the new owner Ted Leonsis, who was a minority owner for a few years, has honored that and has vowed not to disrespect Abe Pollin by changing the name back. So basically odds on out, it will never be changed back to Bullets.
As for the Redskins, that is a completely different situation. Different owner with a different mindset.
Yes they do still sell Bullets gear. Don't ask me why, it doesn't make sense to me.
That doesn't really sound like he is open to changing the name. It sounds like he is giving a political answer because although he said he would "open" to it, he said a few other things that don't really match that point:
Quote:
when asked whether he was considering changing the team’s name back to its former name. “Many fans have suggested it, and I’ve just felt that it’s … like a cheap thrill to change the name back.”
Quote:
“And so what we elected to do in the short-term was to change the look and the feel, which we did last season of the uniforms and of our design and go back to that red, white, and blue, and I think for the time being that’s all we’ll do. But yeah, I’m open to that,” Leonsis said.
These are very carefully worded statements. He is not going to out right reject the idea, but he is leaving an allure for fans to wonder.
“You know, there’s a lot of fans who think we should change the name back to the Bullets,” he continued. “There’s a lot who think we should not do that. And they’re very passionate, but right now, we changed the jerseys. We went back to the throwback red, white and blue look and feel. My position is that we should worry about building a good team and making the playoffs and trying to win a championship with the Wizards name and that would be the right thing to do for our fan base.”
I have listened to Ted for years and I can read through his malarkey. If he was interested in changing the name, he would do it. Saying you are open to it, brings a less hostile reaction than saying it won't happen.
Amazing.....I didn't know that KD would strongly consider playing back home.
But would the Wizards be contenders?
That's the question.
You take the team they had this year, add Durant, it's at least as good as OKC. This year's Thunder looks to be Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and no one else. A player of his caliber will completely change an organization, as we've seen in Cleveland.
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