The Chicago Packers were a professional basketball team playing with the National Basketball Association from 1961 to 1962. The Packers are now known as the Washington Wizards.
The Packers were found in Chicago, Illinois in 1961. They were a part of the 1961 NBA expansion and were the ninth team to join the National Basketball Association. The Packers were also the first basketball team that the city of Chicago got after the Chicago Stags folded in 1950. The Stags were a basketball team who played in the NBA from 1946 to 1950. The team logo of the Chicago Packers was a bull’s head on a basketball. The team played their home games at the Chicago Amphither.
| Country |
United States
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| City | Chicago, Illinois |
| Founded | 1961 |
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In 1961, soon after their formation the Packers drafted Walt Bellamay who won the Rookie of the year. Bellamay averaged at 31.6 points per game and 19.0 rebounds per game. He stood second to Wilt Chamberlain in points and third behind Bill Russell in rebounds. Bellamay was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Packers however; finished last in the Western Division with 18 wins and 62 losses behind the St. Louis Hawks. The next season in 1962, the Packers changed their name to Zephyrs and thus the team was called the Chicago Zephyrs. In 1963, the Zephyrs moved to Baltimore and were christened as the Baltimore Bullets. The Bullets played for a decade in Baltimore and shifted to Landover to become the Capital Bullets. The Capital Bullets were renamed as the Washington Bullets and eventually as the Washington Wizards.
In the first year of their formation and the only season that the team played in Chicago as the Chicago Packers, they won 18 games and lost 62 games in a total of 80 games.
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