Greatest Logo in the History of Every NBA Team

The NBA lockout is still going on, so naturally I feel like looking to the past a lot more than I want to look at the bleak future.

One of the things that is important in any sport, not just basketball is a team's logo.  A bad logo can be hilariously embarrassing years later after everyone realizes just how bad it was, and a good logo can last for decades.

When it comes to the NBA, some teams put together a good logo right out of the box and just had to tweak it a bit from time to time over the course of their history.  However, other teams have been so bad at creating logo that instead of tweaking them they just scrap the design altogether and create a new one.

So, I've thrown together the best logo in the history of each team. What did I base each decision on?  Well, creativity is one obvious category, but there's also effectiveness, simplicity and how much sense the logo actually makes.

Atlanta Hawks 1957-68

The Atlanta Hawks have changed their logo more times than any other team, and this one just happens to be my personal favorite.

It's straight to the point, fierce and just look at it.  That's a super-strong basketball playing hawk right there.

Boston Celtics 1978-1995

Whereas the Atlanta Hawks have changed their logo more times than a teenage girl getting ready to go on a date, the Boston Celtics are more like a 50-year-old man.

They'll stick with one thing for a while, tweak it and then completely change it just when it's starting to look old.

This one in particular is the logo mainly associated with the Larry Bird era Celtics.  It's after they got rid of the ridiculous hopping leprechaun and before they added the gold to the current leprechaun's vest.

Charlotte Bobcats 2007-Present

The Bobcats have been around for less than a decade, so their only change in logos is a slight tweak in color.

They went from a sort of pinkish red to a burnt orange that just looks better in the logo.

Chicago Bulls 1966-Present

This is your typical case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and this logo, my friends, ain't broke.

The Bulls logo gets the point across, it shows people exactly what they are and to make things even better, it looks cool.

I think there may be a riot in Chicago if they ever try to change this one.

Cleveland Cavaliers 2003-2010

The LeBron James Era may have left a sour taste in the mouths of many Clevelanders, but the logo is certainly something good that came out of it.

The Cavs have gone from a wine and gold laden logo with a swordsman, which got the point across, but was a bit too flashy, to the Stepien Era logo which was just a block CAVS with the "V" turned into a hoop, which was so bland it may have been the worst thing to come out of that short period of time.  Next came the orange and blue Mark Price Era logo, which would have been fine if it weren't for those terrible colors.

The LeBron logo actually gives homage to the past with the sword and to the fact that they are a basketball team. Win-win.

The newest logo just turned the handle of the sword form bronze to gold, which I think was an unnecessary change.

Dallas Mavericks 1980-2001

Neither of the Dallas Mavericks' logos make sense to me, but I guess this one is the best.

This one in particular makes it seem as if they are cowboys while the current logo seems to be an overly distorted horse.

That would be fine if they were the Dallas Cowboys, but they are the Dallas Mavericks. A Maverick is defined as either a person who doesn't play by the rules of society or a stray range animal, like a calf.

 I guess that most closely describes a cowboy, so we'll go with the first Mavericks logo here.

Denver Nuggets 1976-1981

Usually, I'm not a huge fan of ridiculous mascots that don't seem to make sense, but this one is too good to pass up.

This basketball playing miner who seems to be imitating Michael Jordan with a pick makes me smile every time I see it.  While I do like the other logos that are all references to Denver being a mountain town, I just can't get over this guy.

Detroit Pistons 1941-1948

I get that the horse on the current Pistons logo is supposed to allude to the fact that pistons generate horsepower, and the Pistons are as powerful as a horse. Whatever, it just doesn't do it for me.

This guy from back in the BAA days of the Pistons is a freaking basketball playing robot made out of pistons. He's the winner.

Golden State Warriors 2010-Present

The Warriors have been pretty adamant about getting their logo right, almost to a point where it's become an obsession.

They've had 10 different logos in three years, the first three having some sort of image of a Native American, four basically just an outline of California with a star on San Francisco, two with bridges and one with a freaky looking knight-like man looking heroically into the future.

They can't seem to get a logo with a mascot on it right, so I went with the creativity of the bridgetheir most recent incarnation of which being the most interesting to me.

Houston Rockets 1995-2003

Quite frankly, while many find this logo to be kooky, I find it to be the embodiment of everything that was great about the 90s.

It is cartoonish, it holds nothing back, showing both that it is the logo of a basketball team, and they are the rockets, plus, the rocket has a shark's mouth.

Indiana Pacers 2005-Present

This has basically been the Pacers logo since 1990, when they changed it from the hand reaching for a basketball forming a "P" which seems like it could have been discontinued the day after they first implemented it.

The Pacers changed it in 2005 to make the basketball seem more basketball colored, which I think is a nice touch.

Los Angeles Clippers 2010-Present

Without counting the Buffalo Braves (who just had a rash of ridiculous, nonlinear logos), the Clippers logo has been bland and boring ever since they came to California in 1982.

They changed it in 1984 so it would say "Los Angeles" instead of "San Diego," and in 2010, they darkened the colors.

How exciting.

Los Angeles Lakers 2001-Present

Like the Clippers, the Lakers haven't changed much over the years, but unlike the Clippers logo, the subtle change in colors made all the difference.

The first logo for the Lakers when the came to Los Angeles looked like it was printed with a permanent layer of sludge on top of it, which they brightened up in 1976.

However, the logo in 1976 still looked faded, so they darkened the purple and sharpened the yellow to get the logo that we all know today.

Memphis (Vancouver) Grizzlies 1995-2001

I'm going to go with the throwback here for two reasons.

First of all, the past incarnation of the Grizzlies logo is so much more fierce than the current logo, which looks more like a blue-faced black bear than a deadly, dribbling, dunking grizzly.

Second, I went with "Vancouver" across the top rather than "Memphis" for the simple fact that grizzly bears don't and have never called Memphis, Tennessee his home.

Miami Heat 1999-Present

The Heat have had the same logo since their inception in 1989 with the flaming ball going through a netless hoop, but the way the color scheme changed made all the difference in how good the logo looked.

In the first decade of the team's existence the logo looked like a bad dream with the ball engulfed in flames, rather than just a trail of fire flickering behind it.

Milwaukee Bucks 1996-2006

The Milwaukee Bucks had a cartoon buck that looked like it lisped like Bullwinkle, finally changing it in 1996.

The only difference between the logo now and the one from 1996 to 2006 is the background color, which changed from purple to red.

The purple does it more for me because of the mere fact that it bleeds over into the buck's eyes.  It makes the buck look possessed and more frightening than the buck in the logo today that just has eyes the same color as the rest of his body.

Minnesota Timberwolves 1996-2008

The first seven years that the Timberwolves were around, the team relied on a wolf in a circle that looked no more fierce than this puppy.

In 1996, they changed it to this fierce, glowering beast from hell ready to rip your heart out if you step foot into his forest with a foreboding font to go along with it.

In 2008 they softened the font and put a weird patch of white on the right side of the wolf's face, which makes it look like someone tried to paint the wolf, so I have to stick with the earlier rendition. 

New Jersey Nets 1997-Present

The New Jersey Nets have had no form of consistency in developing logos, and I'm sure whatever they unveil for their move to Brooklyn is going to be just as drastically different, so really, the Nets logos are a judgement call.

This just so happens to be my favorite because the others are red, white and blue abominations with flowery fonts and outlines of New Jersey.  Why would you want to point out that the team is from New Jersey?  They should have just named them the "Close to New York City Nets," but that doesn't really have a ring to it.

New Orleans Hornets 2008-Present

After starting out in 1988 with a logo that looked like it was made for 1947, the Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets basically created the logo that we see today.

The only difference between the original and today's logo is the fact that it says "New Orleans" instead of "Charlotte," and the hornet is slightly larger with "NOLA" on it's chest.

New York Nickerbockers 1995-2011

I feel like the Knicks logo that they had before they just changed it was about as they could have gotten.

It just shouts New York without actually putting the skyline in the background.

The logo has that epic feel to it, where it seems like it's towering over you on a movie screen with the words "New York" peering down from on top of it looking down on you.

Oklahoma City Thunder (Seattle Supersonics) 1975-1995

The Thunder gained the rights to the Supersonics history when they stole the team from Seattle, so I had to go with what I would say is my favorite logo in NBA history.

It is a silhouette of the most interesting skyline in the country with the unique juxtaposition of colors that seem disgusting when you think about them, but when they go together with anything Sonics-related, it just seems to work.

Besides, the current Oklahoma City logo is terrible.

Orlando Magic 1989-2000

The original Orlando Magic logo, I think, best describes exactly what the franchise is named aftermagic.

There are stars flying all over the place, it has the best contrast of silver and blue out of their three logos in team history and it's just, well, more magical than the other two.

Philadelphia 76ers 1977-1997

I like the early Syracuse Nationals logos that are possibly the most patriotic logos in the history of sports with the entire country surrounded by stars and stripes, but the longest tenured logo in franchise history is my favorite.

It's more subtle with the patriotism while still hinting toward the fact that it's supposed to be a team named for the 1976 independence of the country with the ring of stars from the original American flag and the red, white and blue incorporated.

I'm stoked that they incorporated the old logo in the new one they created in 2009.

Phoenix Suns 1992-2000

I'm not sure why, but the genericness of the 90s Suns just seems better than the newly colored logo that they have these days.

The purple and orange mix together and make me think of Phoenix, and there is a basketball incased in what seems to be a sun. From that, I get the feeling that it's the Phoenix Suns.

Portland Trail Blazers 1990-2002

I don't understand the weird logo that the Blazers have, I don't know where it came from, and I don't know what it means, but I like it.

The best incarnation of the Blazers logo is the one used for the duration of the 1990s which just looks better than the blazers logo in a slanted black box.

Sacramento Kings 1994-Present

Whoever was in charge of making logos for the Kings/Royals from their inception until 1994 needs to be fired, possibly shot.

The Royals started out in 1945 with a blue shield that just said Rochester Royals, then they went to a goofy-looking basketball wearing a crown when they moved to Cincinnati in 1957.

Then from 1971 until 1994, in three different cities they had a bland basketball with a crown, the only thing changed was the city name across the top or bottom.

Finally, in 1994 the Kings got a logo that actually looked royal with a crown sitting atop a coat of arms.  It's not great, but compared to the past, it's amazing.

San Antonio Spurs 1976-1989

I like the old-timey look of the early Spurs logo compared to today's that looks too cartoonish and the logo from the 90s that was far too colorful for a franchise like the Spurs.

The old logo in block letters with the "U" laying down like it's an actual spur just looks sharp.

Toronto Raptors 1995-2008

The Raptors logo for the majority of their existence is by far better than the one they have today, which just tweaked the color a bit.

The dark blue behind the red raptor makes the whole thing pop, but the current logo made the whole thing red, which just doesn't have the same feel.

Utah Jazz 1974-1979

The Jazz logo from 1974 until 1996 (used both in New Orleans and Utah) just makes the most sense. The word "Jazz" with a musical note for the "J."  Simple enough.

Then, in 1996 they decided to just throw the word "Jazz" in front of a mountain and decide it was good enough.  Well, it looked fine, but it made absolutely no sense.  When I think of the mountains, I don't exactly think of Jazz.

I picked the New Orleans version of the early logo because it was the peak of this franchise making sense.

Washington Wizards 1987-1997

I was never a fan of changing the name of the Bullets to the Wizards because of the image problem it created, so naturally I am not a fan of the slanted Gandalf with a basketball that is their logo today.

I like the last rendition of the Bullets logo because they basically got rid of the fingers on the hands, which makes it look like lobster claws grabbing for a basketball, which makes me think of basketball playing lobsters.

Yep, I'm going to end this column fantasizing about basketball playing lobsters. That is all.

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