List of NBA mascots

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.

Current mascots

Team Mascot(s) Photo
Atlanta Hawks Harry the Hawk
Boston Celtics Lucky the Leprechaun
Charlotte Hornets Hugo the Hornet, Super Hugo
Chicago Bulls Benny the Bull, Mini Benny, Big Ben, Benji, Mama Betty, Inflatabulls
Cleveland Cavaliers Moondog and Sir CC
Dallas Mavericks Champ and Mavs Man
Denver Nuggets Rocky the Mountain Lion
Detroit Pistons Hooper, Mini Hooper
Houston Rockets Clutch the Bear
Mini Clutch
Indiana Pacers Boomer
Mini Boomer
Los Angeles Clippers Chuck the Condor
Memphis Grizzlies Grizz
Miami Heat Burnie
Milwaukee Bucks Bango (the Buck)
Bango Jr.
Minnesota Timberwolves Crunch the Wolf
New Orleans Pelicans Pierre the Pelican
King Cake Baby
Oklahoma City Thunder Rumble the Bison
Orlando Magic Stuff the Magic Dragon
Philadelphia 76ers Franklin
Phoenix Suns The Gorilla
Portland Trail Blazers Blaze the Trail Cat
Douglas Fur
Sacramento Kings Slamson the Lion
San Antonio Spurs Coyote
Toronto Raptors The Raptor
Utah Jazz Jazz Bear
Lil Bear
Washington Wizards G-Wiz, G-Man

Former mascots

Team Mascot(s) Photo
Atlanta Hawks Skyhawk
Brooklyn Nets BrooklyKnight
Charlotte Bobcats Rufus D. Lynx
Chicago Bulls Da Bull
Cleveland Cavaliers Whammer, The Wizard
Denver Nuggets Maxie Miner[3]
Detroit Pistons Cocky Rocky, 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)
Philadelphia 76ers Hip Hop[a]
Lil Hip Hop
Big Shot[b]
Hoops
Portland Trail Blazers Sparky
Bigfoot
Sacramento Kings The Gorilla
Roy Al
Seattle SuperSonics Squatch,
The Wheedle
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. From 2005 until 2023, the conference selected an individual to be honored as the top professional in the league, the Mascot of the Year.[6]

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

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. ^ a b "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. ^ a b 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

Media related to National Basketball Association mascots at Wikimedia Commons