List of NBA mascots

Last updated

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.

Contents

Current mascots

TeamMascot(s)Photo
Atlanta Hawks Harry the Hawk Harry The Hawk.jpg
Boston Celtics Lucky the Leprechaun
Charlotte Hornets Hugo the Hornet, Super Hugo US Navy 091104-N-9319B-099 Rear Adm. Victor G. Guillory watches the mascot for the New Orleans Hornets.jpg
Chicago Bulls Benny the Bull, Mini Benny, Big Ben, Benji, Mama Betty, Inflatabulls 20180206 UM-NW Benny The Bull 7DM27126.jpg
Cleveland Cavaliers Moondog and Sir CC Cleveland Cavaliers masocts.jpg
Dallas Mavericks Champ and Mavs Man
Denver Nuggets Rocky the Mountain Lion Rocky at Buckley 1.jpg
Detroit Pistons Hooper, Mini Hooper Hooper, the official mascot of the Detroit Pistons.jpg
Houston Rockets Clutch the Bear
Mini Clutch
Clutch-Halloween-2005.jpg
Indiana Pacers Boomer
Mini Boomer
Boomer Backwards dunk.jpg
Los Angeles Clippers Chuck the Condor Sami Khan, co-founder of Cerberus Interactive with Chuck the Condor at Condor Country launch event (30269783980).jpg
Los Angeles Lakers none
Memphis Grizzlies Grizz
Miami Heat Burnie
Milwaukee Bucks Bango (the Buck)
Bango Jr.
Bango (5572009293).jpg
Minnesota Timberwolves Crunch the Wolf Crunch the Wolf at Target Center.jpg
New Orleans Pelicans Pierre the Pelican
King Cake Baby
Pierre The Pelican.jpg
Oklahoma City Thunder Rumble the Bison Rumble the bison.png
Orlando Magic Stuff the Magic Dragon US Navy 071127-N-6936D-265 Members of the Orlando Magic Dancers and STUFF the Magic Dragon sign autographs for Sasebo Sailors and their families during the Pacific-leg of an Armed Forces Entertainment tour.jpg
Philadelphia 76ers Franklin
Phoenix Suns Go the Gorilla Partido NBA -i---i- (31445366164).jpg
Portland Trail Blazers Blaze the Trail Cat
Douglas Fur
Sacramento Kings Slamson the Lion Slamson Cropped.jpg
San Antonio Spurs Coyote Spurs Coyote sign.JPG
Toronto Raptors The Raptor Raptor dancing.jpg
Utah Jazz Jazz Bear
Lil Bear
NBA Commitment to Service 151106-F-LS255-392.jpg
Washington Wizards G-Wiz, G-Man Washington Wizards G-Wiz.jpg

Former mascots

TeamMascot(s)Photo
Atlanta Hawks Skyhawk
Brooklyn Nets BrooklyKnight
Charlotte Bobcats Rufus D. Lynx Malik Rose and the Sacramento Kings dancers and the Bobcats mascot WTF.jpg
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)
US Navy 091104-N-9319B-099 Rear Adm. Victor G. Guillory watches the mascot for the New Orleans Hornets.jpg
Philadelphia 76ers Hip Hop [lower-alpha 1]
Lil Hip Hop
Big Shot [lower-alpha 2]
Hoops
Portland Trail Blazers Sparky
Bigfoot
Sacramento Kings The Gorilla
Seattle SuperSonics Squatch,
The Wheedle
Squatch2005small.jpg
Toronto Raptors Stripes
Washington Bullets Hoops
Washington Wizards G. Wiz

Mascot of the Year

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]

YearMascotTeam
2005 Clutch [7] Houston Rockets
2006 Jazz Bear [8] Utah Jazz
2007 Hugo the Hornet [9] New Orleans Hornets
2008Jazz Bear (2) [8] Utah Jazz
2009 Rumble the Bison [10] Oklahoma City Thunder
2010Bango [10] Milwaukee Bucks
2011Grizz [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
2017Stuff the Magic Dragon (2)Orlando Magic
2018Jazz Bear (3) [17] Utah Jazz
2019Rocky the Mountain Lion Denver Nuggets
2020The Coyote (2)San Antonio Spurs
2021Clutch (3)Houston Rockets
2022Chuck the Condor Los Angeles Clippers
2023Harry the Hawk Atlanta Hawks

Notes

  1. Replaced by new owners following the 2012 season. [4]
  2. Retired when the 76ers departed the Spectrum following the 1996 season. [5]

See also

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References

  1. "Top 10: Sports Mascots. (page 2)". AskMen. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  2. "Top 10: Sports Mascots (page 1)". AskMen. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  3. "A look back at Denver Nuggets' history". Denver Stiffs . August 10, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  4. Sixers say goodbye to Hip-Hop
  5. Philadelphia 76ers introduce their new mascot, doggone it. (Video) - Philadelphia Business Journal
  6. Alum named NBA Mascot of the Year
  7. Mascot of the Year: Houston's own Clutch.
  8. 1 2 "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.
  9. "NBA Mascot of the Year". Archived from the original on 2014-11-11. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
  10. 1 2 NBA Mascot of the Year
  11. Memphis' 'Grizz' named 2011 NBA Mascot of the Year
  12. Congratulations, Crunch!
  13. Barajas, Erik (August 19, 2013). "Rockets' Clutch the Bear wins best mascot title in NBA". ABC. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  14. 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.
  15. Chicago's Benny the Bull named NBA Mascot of the Year
  16. @OrlandoMagic (29 July 2016). "Wooooooohooooooooo!!! RETWEET to congratulate @STUFFMagic on being named @NBA Mascot of the Year!!" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  17. Utah Jazz: Jazz Bear returns to the top, earns third Mascot of the Year Award

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