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The history of the Washington Wizards from Wikipedia. 20004

The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball franchise based in Washington, D.C. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association. The team plays their home games at the Verizon Center, in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

The team now known as the Wizards began playing as the Chicago Packers in 1961, as the first modern expansion team in NBA history. After only one year, they changed their name to the Zephyrs. In 1963 the franchise moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and became the Baltimore Bullets, taking their name from a 1940s–50s Baltimore Bullets BAA/NBA franchise and playing home games at the Baltimore Civic Center. In their first year in Baltimore, the Bullets finished 4th in a 5–team Western Division.

Prior to the 1964–65 NBA season the Bullets pulled off a blockbuster trade, sending Terry Dischinger, Rod Thorn and Don Kojis to the Detroit Pistons for Bailey Howell, Don Ohl, Bob Ferry and Wali Jones. The trade worked out well; Howell proved to be a hustling, fundamentally sound player who helped the Bullets get into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In the 1965 NBA Playoffs, the Bullets stunned the St. Louis Hawks 3–1, and advanced to the Western Conference Finals. In the finals, Baltimore managed to split the first four games with the Los Angeles Lakers before losing the series 4–2.

In the late 1960s, the Bullets drafted two future Hall of Famers: Earl Monroe, 1967 draft, No. 2 overall and Wes Unseld, 1968 draft, No. 2 overall. The team improved dramatically, from 36 wins the previous season to 57 in the 1968–69 season, and Unseld received both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. The Bullets reached the playoffs with high expectations to go further, but they were eliminated by the New York Knicks in the first round. The next season the two teams met again in the first round, and although this one went to 7 games, the Knicks emerged victorious again.

In the 1970–71 season, the 42–40 Bullets again met the Knicks, this time though in the Eastern Conference Finals. With the Knicks team captain Willis Reed injured in the finals, the injury-free Bullets took advantage of his absence, and in Game 7 at New York's Madison Square Garden, the Bullets' Gus Johnson made a critical basket late in the game to lift the Bullets over the Knicks 93–91 and advance to their first NBA Finals in franchise history. They were swept in four games by the powerful Milwaukee Bucks led by future hall-of-famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (known in 1971 as Lew Alcindor) and Oscar Robertson.

Even after the trades of Earl Monroe (to the Knicks) and Gus Johnson (to the Suns), the Bullets remained a playoff contender throughout the 1970s. Following a less than spectacular 1971–72 NBA season, the Bullets improved dramatically by acquiring Elvin Hayes from the Houston Rockets and drafting Kevin Porter.

After a slow start the Bullets began to make their charge in December, posting a 10–4 record on the way to capturing the Central Division title for the 3rd straight year. The Bullets would again face the Knicks in the 1973 NBA Playoffs, losing for the fourth time in five series against New York.