List of relocated National Basketball Association teams

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The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional men's basketball league, consisting of 30 teams in North America—29 in the United States and one in Canada. The NBA was founded in New York City on 6 June 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).[1] It adopted the name National Basketball Association at the start of the 1949–50 season when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL).[1] The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball, which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) as the national governing body for basketball in the country.[2] The league is considered to be one of the four major professional sports leagues of North America.[3]

Relocated teams [edit]

The list contains current franchises in the NBA, also during the period they played for ABA. However, the list does not contain relocation of ABA franchises that folded prior to the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. It also does not include name changes.[4]

First First year in original city
Last Last year in original city
Win% Winning percentage
PA NBA Playoffs appearances
C Championship titles
^ City later received a new franchise
* Later relocated again
Team First Last Relocated to Seasons Win% PA C Main reason Ref
Tri-Cities Blackhawks 1949 1951 Milwaukee Hawks* 2 .409 1 0
Milwaukee Hawks^ 1951 1955 St. Louis Hawks* 4 .324 0 0
Fort Wayne Pistons 1948 1957 Detroit Pistons 9 .506 8 0 Small city
Rochester Royals 1948 1957 Cincinnati Royals* 9 .576 7 1 Lack of profitability
Minneapolis Lakers^ 1948 1960 Los Angeles Lakers 12 .545 11 5 Poor attendance [5]
Philadelphia Warriors^ 1946 1962 San Francisco Warriors 16 .506 12 2 Sold to San Francisco owner
Chicago Zephyrs^ 1961 1963 Baltimore Bullets* 2 .269 0 0
Syracuse Nationals 1949 1963 Philadelphia 76ers 14 .569 14 1
St. Louis Hawks 1955 1968 Atlanta Hawks 13 .550 12 1 Sold to Atlanta owners
New Jersey Americans ^ 1967 1968 New York Nets* 1 .462 1 0
San Diego Rockets^ 1967 1971 Houston Rockets 4 .363 1 0 Low attendance [6]
Cincinnati Royals 1957 1972 Kansas City – Omaha Kings* 15 .467 7 0
Baltimore Bullets 1963 1973 Capital Bullets 10 .493 7 0
Dallas Chaparrals^ 1967 1973 San Antonio Spurs 6 .495 5 0 Bought by San Antonio owners
Kansas City – Omaha Kings 1972 1975 Kansas City Kings* 3 .459 1 0 Moved all games to Kansas City
New York Nets 1968 1977 New Jersey Nets* 9 .481 7 2
Buffalo Braves 1970 1978 San Diego Clippers* 8 .395 3 0 Sale to California owner
New Orleans Jazz^ 1974 1979 Utah Jazz 5 .393 0 0 Lack of profitability
San Diego Clippers 1978 1984 Los Angeles Clippers 6 .378 0 0 Poor attendance
Kansas City Kings 1975 1985 Sacramento Kings 10 .465 4 0 Low attendance
Vancouver Grizzlies 1995 2001 Memphis Grizzlies 6 .220 0 0 Weak Canadian dollar [7]
Charlotte Hornets^ 1988 2002 New Orleans Hornets* 14 .486 7 0 Falling attendance after owner scandal [8]
New Orleans Hornets^ 2002 2005 New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets* 3 .512 2 0 Temporary because of Hurricane Katrina [9]
New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets^ 2005 2007 New Orleans Hornets 2 .470 0 0 Return after temporary move [10]
Seattle SuperSonics 1967 2008 Oklahoma City Thunder 41 .524 22 1 Blatantly stolen by an Oklahoma City resident [11]
New Jersey Nets 1977 2012 Brooklyn Nets 35 .420 15 0 Part of real-estate development project. [12]

†The moves of the New Jersey Americans to New York and of the Dallas Chaparrals to San Antonio occurred while these franchises were in the ABA.
‡The New Jersey Americans tied the Kentucky Colonels for the fourth and last playoff of the ABA's Eastern Division in the 1967-68 season but forfeited the tiebreaker due to the lack of a suitable arena in which the teams could play. The New York Nets' 2 titles came in the ABA.
§The Capital Bullets later became the Washington Bullets, then the Washington Wizards. The New Orleans Hornets later became the New Orleans Pelicans.

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Goldaper, Sam (17 April 2006). "Nov. 1, 1946: New York vs. Toronto — The First Game". National Basketball Association. Retrieved 6 July 2009. 
  2. ^ "Inside USA Basketball". USA Basketball. Retrieved 4 July 2009. 
  3. ^ Pennington, Bill (4 April 2003). "Drugs; Anti-Doping Executive Plans to Prod Pro Leagues". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 July 2009. 
  4. ^ "Team Index". Sport Reference. Retrieved 25 May 2011. 
  5. ^ "History of the Lakers". Los Angeles Lakers. Retrieved 25 May 2011. 
  6. ^ "Owners, fans waited years before Rockets took off". Houston Chronicle. 20 September 2001. Retrieved 13 May 2008. 
  7. ^ Beamish, Mike (19 February 2011). "NBA dreams rekindled, 10 years after Grizzlies’ demise". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 
  8. ^ Green, Ron (2 November 2008). "Shinn: I messed up in Charlotte". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  9. ^ Smith, Jimmy (21 September 2005). "The buzz is Oklahoma City – Hornets will play 35 games there, six at the PMAC". New Orleans Times-Picayune. p. C5. 
  10. ^ "New Orleans Hornets Schedule - 2007-08". ESPN.com. Retrieved 21 April 2009. 
  11. ^ Pian Chan, Sharon (2 July 2002). "Sonics, city reach settlement". Seattle Times. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  12. ^ PRO BASKETBALL; Nets Focus On Bidder With Ties In Brooklyn By CHARLES V. BAGLI and RICHARD SANDOMIR, New York Times, January 15, 2004. Retrieved November 21, 2012
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