The entry of Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming, and Mengke Bateer into the National Basketball Association have created millions of new NBA fans in China. Although teams such as the Rockets and the Lakers have become well known in China, very few Chinese fans know the stories behind the NBA's team names.

　　The NBA is divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences. The two conferences are split along the Mississippi River, which is the traditional East-West dividing line in the United States. In this article, the first in a two-part series, I will discuss Eastern Conference team names. The next article will move on to the Western Conference.

　　TheNewYorkKnicks. The first Europeans to settle permanently (in 1626) in the area now known as New York City were immigrants from the Netherlands. They named their colony "Nieuw Amsterdam" after the city in Holland. In 1664 the town was captured by the English, who renamed it "New York". The word "Knickerbocker", a Dutch surname, is used as a colloquial term for New Yorkers descended from the original Dutch settlers. Among the best known "Knickerbockers" in American history is the Roosevelt clan, which has produced two presidents, Theodore Roosevelt (president 1901-1909) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (president 1933-1945). "Knick" is an abbreviation of "Knickerbocker." TheBostonCeltics. Starting in the 1840s large numbers of Irish immigrants came to Boston. Eventually Boston became known as America's most Irish city. John F. Kennedy (president 1961-1963) was an Irish-American who was born in Boston. The word "Celtic," which designates the ancient language and ethnic group from which the Irish (along with the Welsh and most Scots) spring, celebrates Boston's Irish-American heritage.

　　ThePhiladelphia76ers. The US states along the Atlantic Ocean were originally colonies of Great Britain. On July 4, 1776, these colonies declared independence from England and established the United States of America. The meeting at which the Declaration of Independence was issued was held in the city of Philadelphia. Philadelphia's team name commemorates this event.

　　TheMiamiHeat. This team has an accurate though unexciting name. Located at the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, Miami is the southernmost major city in the contiguous 48 states. Miami has hot weather year-round, hence the name.

　　TheWashingtonWizards. The Wizards play in the nation's capital, Washington, DC (not to be confused with Washington state on the other side of the country). The name "Wizards" (meaning "magicians") has no special significance, except perhaps for those cynics who say that Washington politicians magically make Americans' tax dollars disappear. The team was known as the "Bullets" until 1997. The name was changed because Washington's violent crime rate was (and is) among the highest in the nation. The name "Bullets" was deemed inappropriate in light of the large number of gun-related crimes that were occurring in the city.

　　TheOrlandoMagic. Orlando, Florida, is best known as the home of Walt Disney World. The centerpiece of Walt Disney World is "The Magic Kingdom", from which the team takes its name.

　　TheIndianaPacers. Indianapolis is best known for the Indianapolis 500, which is a popular 500-mile (805 km) automobile race held once every year. During certain parts of the race, the racers are guided by a "pace car", i.e. a "pacer", which sets the speed at which the racers may drive.

　　TheDetroitPistons. Detroit has long been the center of the American automobile industry and for that reason it has earned the nickname the "Motor City" or, more colloquially, "Motown". The name "Pistons" refers to a key part of an automobile engine.

　　TheMilwaukeeBucks. White-tailed deer are found in many parts of North America, but they are particularly numerous in Wisconsin's landscape of fields and forests. In fact, the white-tailed deer is one of the official state symbols of Wisconsin. The name "Bucks" refers to the male of the species, which is the only gender to have antlers.

　　TheChicagoBulls. During the 1980s and 1990s, Michael Jordan made the Bulls the most widely recognized American sports team in the world. A hundred years before Jordan's era, Chicago was a center of the meatpacking industry. Cattle were shipped by train to Chicago from all over the central United States and slaughtered in vast meatpacking factories. (For a critical look at this era in Chicago's history, read Upton Sinclair's classic muckraking novel TheJungle.) Although the meatpackers are now for the most part gone from Chicago, the name "Bulls" recalls this legacy.

　　TheNewOrleansHornets, NewJerseyNets, ClevelandCavaliers, TorontoRaptors, AtlantaHawks: These names are all generic labels with no special significance for the cities where the teams are based.

　　Next week: we look at Western Conference team names.

　　(to be continued)

　　Timothy Kiefer