NBA

The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The Spurs are one of four former American Basketball Association teams (along with the Nets, Pacers, and Nuggets) to remain intact in the NBA after the 1976 ABA-NBA merger and is the only former ABA team to have won an NBA championship. The Spurs have won four NBA championships, more than any NBA franchise except the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls. The Spurs' perfect record in NBA Finals series is surpassed only by the Chicago Bulls, who have won six without a loss; the Bulls and Spurs are the only two teams to maintain perfect records through multiple Finals series. As of July 2009, the Spurs rank third among active franchises for the highest winning percentage in NBA history; they have only missed the playoffs 4 times as an NBA franchise.

In their 33 NBA seasons, since 1976–1977, the Spurs have captured 17 division titles, which gives the Spurs the most division titles in the NBA during that 33-year span (the Lakers are second with 16). They have made the playoffs in 19 of the last 20 seasons, and have not missed the playoffs in the 12 seasons since Tim Duncan came to the Spurs in 1997.

The New Orleans Hornets is a professional basketball team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. It plays in the Southwest Division of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The franchise began play during the 1988–89 NBA season as the Charlotte Hornets, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, where it was located until the end of the 2001–02 NBA season.

In 1985, the NBA announced plans to expand by four teams. George Shinn, an entrepreneur from Charlotte, North Carolina, announced plans to bring an NBA team to the Charlotte area. He assembled a group of prominent local businessmen to head the prospective franchise.

Charlotte and surrounding Mecklenburg County had long been a hotbed for college basketball. The four North Carolina schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference, in addition to three local college teams (the Charlotte 49ers, Davidson Wildcats, and the Johnson C. Smith Bulls), have large and loyal fan bases in the city. Charlotte was also one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. It had also previously been one of the three in-state regional homes to the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars, from 1969 to 1974.

Nevertheless, some critics doubted that Charlotte could support an NBA team. In fact, one Sacramento Bee columnist joked, "The only franchise Charlotte is going to get is one with golden arches." However, Shinn's ace in the hole was the Charlotte Coliseum, a state-of-the-art arena under construction that would seat almost 24,000 spectators – the largest basketball-specific arena ever to serve as a full-time home for an NBA team. On April 5, 1987, NBA Commissioner David Stern called Shinn to tell him that his group had been awarded the 24th franchise of the NBA, to begin play in 1988. Franchises were also granted to Miami (the Heat), Minneapolis-Saint Paul (the Timberwolves), and Orlando (the Magic).

The Memphis Grizzlies are a professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Along with the Toronto Raptors, the Grizzlies were established in 1995 as part of the NBA's expansion into Canada. The team originated that year in Vancouver, British Columbia and relocated to Memphis in 2001. The team's majority owner is Michael Heisley, who controls a 95% share of the franchise; the remaining 5% is controlled by several local owners, including AutoZone founder J. R. ("Pitt") Hyde, his wife Barbara Hyde, equity manager Staley Cates, and former NBA player and University of Memphis point guard Elliot Perry.

The Vancouver Grizzlies, along with the Toronto Raptors, entered the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1995. Both teams were the first NBA teams to play in Canada since the 1946–47 Toronto Huskies. The Grizzlies were originally supposed to be named the Vancouver Mounties, but were forced to find a new name due to objections from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They then decided to adopt the name "Grizzlies," after the grizzly bear, which is native to British Columbia. Like the Raptors, the Grizzlies paid homage to the sport's founder, Canadian American James Naismith, in their color scheme; one of their team colors was "Naismith blue." The Grizzlies were the first NBA team to have a website, which was created in 1995 by Bob Kerstein, Chief Information Officer of the Grizzlies at the time. The newly-built General Motors Place, shared with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL), would serve as the Grizzlies' home arena for their entire stay in Vancouver.

The Houston Rockets is an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being moved to Houston.

In the Rockets' debut season, they won only 15 games. But after drafting Elvin Hayes first overall in the 1969 NBA Draft, they made their first appearance in the playoffs in 1969. After Hayes was traded, Moses Malone was acquired to replace him. Malone won two MVPs during his time in Houston, and he led the Rockets to the conference finals in his first year with the Rockets. He also took the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981, but they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics.

In 1984, the Rockets drafted future Hall-of-Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who led them to the 1986 Finals in his second year, where they lost again to Boston. In the next seven seasons, they lost in the first round of the playoffs five times. They did not win their first championship until 1994, when Olajuwon led them to the championship, and 1995. However, the Rockets did not advance to the finals again, and missed the playoffs from 1999–2003. They did not reach the playoffs again until they drafted Yao Ming and they did not advance past the first round of the playoffs again until 2009.