List of National Basketball Association mascots

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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[edit]

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, Big Ben, Benji  |
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 |
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 | Go 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[edit]

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 | 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]
Big Shot[b]
Hoops  |
Portland Trail Blazers | Sparky
Bigfoot  |
Sacramento Kings | The Gorilla  |
Seattle SuperSonics | Squatch,
The Wheedle |
Toronto Raptors | Stripes  |
Washington Bullets | Hoops  |
Washington Wizards | G. Wiz  |

## Mascot of the Year[edit]

In 1997, the mascots started having an annual meeting at the NBA Mascot Conference. Since 2005, the conference also selects 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[edit]

1. ^ Replaced by new owners following the 2012 season.[4]
2. ^ Retired when the 76ers departed the Spectrum following the 1996 season.[5]

## References[edit]

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 (July 29, 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

## External links[edit]

Media related to National Basketball Association mascots at Wikimedia Commons

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National Basketball Association

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| Northwest|

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NBA mascots

Eastern
Conference|

| Atlantic|

* Lucky the Leprechaun (Boston Celtics)
* no mascot (Brooklyn Nets)
* no mascot (New York Knicks)
* Franklin (Philadelphia 76ers)
* The Raptor / Stripes (Toronto Raptors)

|

Central|

* Benny the Bull (Chicago Bulls)
* Moon Dog, Sir CC (Cleveland Cavaliers)
* Hooper (Detroit Pistons)
* Boomer (Indiana Pacers)
* Bango / Bango Jr. (Milwaukee Bucks)

Southeast|

* Harry the Hawk (Atlanta Hawks)
* Hugo the Hornet (Charlotte Hornets)
* Burnie (Miami Heat)
* Stuff the Magic Dragon (Orlando Magic)
* G-Wiz / G-Man (Washington Wizards)

Western
Conference|

| Northwest|

* Rocky the Mountain Lion (Denver Nuggets)
* Crunch the Wolf (Minnesota Timberwolves)
* Rumble the Bison (Oklahoma City Thunder)
* Blaze the Trail Cat, Douglas Fur (Portland Trail Blazers)
* Jazz Bear (Utah Jazz)

|

Pacific|

* no mascot (Golden State Warriors)
* Chuck the Condor (Los Angeles Clippers)
* no mascot (Los Angeles Lakers)
* Go the Gorilla (Phoenix Suns)
* Slamson the Lion (Sacramento Kings)

Southwest|

* Champ / Mavs Man (Dallas Mavericks)
* Clutch (Houston Rockets)
* Grizz (Memphis Grizzlies)
* Pierre the Pelican (New Orleans Pelicans)
* The Coyote (San Antonio Spurs)

Former mascots
Dancing Harry
Hip Hop
Rufus
Skyhawk
Squatch
Wheedle

Mascots of the Year
2005: Clutch
2006: Jazz Bear
2007: Hugo
2008: Jazz Bear
2009: Rumble the Bison
2010: Bango
2011: Grizz
2012: Crunch the Wolf
2013: Clutch
2014: The Coyote
2015: Benny the Bull
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