[8] The team's original name was a reference to Chicago's meatpacking industry; their home arena, the International Amphitheater, was next door to the Union Stock Yards.

[13] Within the first two months of that season, the Bullets were purchased from original franchise managing partner Dave Trager by Abe Pollin, Earl Foreman and real estate investor and former NBA referee Arnold Heft for $1.1 million, on November 23, 1964.

[21] They were swept in four games by the powerful Milwaukee Bucks led by future Hall of Fame members Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (known in 1971 as Lew Alcindor) and Oscar Robertson.

[23][24] After a slow start in 1972–73, Baltimore made their charge in December, posting a 10–4 record on the way to capturing the Central Division title for the third straight year.

[29] During November 1973, while waiting for the completion of their new arena in Landover, the Bullets played their home games at Cole Field House on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park.

[37] Although they had future hall of famers Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld on the team, the Bullets finished the 1977–78 season 44–38 and were a longshot to win the NBA Finals, but San Antonio journalist Dan Cook coined the famed phrase "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings".

[38] This became the rallying cry for the Bullets as they finished a playoff run that led to the NBA Finals, defeating the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games to bring a professional sports championship to Washington, D.C. for the first time in 36 years.

[48] In 1981–82, Washington played strong under the coaching of Gene Shue and Don Moran, finishing the regular season with a 43–39 record, and although they advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals in the playoffs, they had clearly lost the power of the late 1970s.

In a win-or-go-home game with the Cavaliers on the season's final day, the Bullets squeezed past Cleveland 85–81 to end the franchise's longest playoff drought.

[89] In November 1995, owner Abe Pollin announced he was changing the team's nickname,[90] because Bullets had acquired violent overtones that had made him increasingly uncomfortable over the years, particularly given the high homicide and crime rate in the early 1990s in Washington, D.C.

The name change was widely and incorrectly believed to be related to the assassination of Pollin's longtime friend, Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

[102] After retiring from the Chicago Bulls in early 1999, Michael Jordan became the Washington Wizards' vice president of basketball operations as well as a minority owner in January 2000.

[109] Jordan announced he would return for the 2002–03 season, and this time he was determined to be equipped with reinforcements, as he traded for All-Star Jerry Stackhouse and signed budding star Larry Hughes.

A combination of numerous team injuries and uninspired play led to Jordan's return to the starting lineup, where he tried to rebound the franchise from its early-season struggles.

[119] In the off-season, the team traded Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, and the draft rights to Devin Harris to the Dallas Mavericks for Antawn Jamison.

Cleveland rebounded the ball, went downcourt and Damon Jones hit a 17-foot baseline jump shot with 4.8 seconds remaining to give the Cavs the lead for good.

[149] The Wizards retained a majority of their roster from the 2006–07 season, only losing Jarvis Hayes to Detroit, Calvin Booth to the Philadelphia 76ers, and Michael Ruffin to the Milwaukee Bucks as free agents.

In September, Arenas underwent a third operation on his surgically repaired left knee to clean out fluid and debris, and was expected to miss at least the first month of the season.

[168] One of the few high points of the season came on February 27 when recently inaugurated President Barack Obama attended a Wizards game against the Chicago Bulls, sitting in a northeast court-side seat.

[179] Despite Stern's longstanding practice of not disciplining players until the legal process played out, he felt compelled to act when Arenas' teammates surrounded him during pregame introductions prior to a game with the Philadelphia 76ers and he pantomimed shooting them with guns made from his fingers.

[181] On February 13, 2010, after a 17–33 record at the season's midway point, The Wizards traded Butler, Haywood, and Stevenson to the Mavericks in exchange for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross and James Singleton.

[182] Three days later, the Wizards traded Antawn Jamison to the Cavaliers in exchange for Zydrunas Ilgauskas and obtained Al Thornton from the Los Angeles Clippers in a three-team deal.

[195] On March 15, the Wizards were involved in a three-way trade that sent JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf to the Nuggets and Nick Young to the Clippers in exchange for Nenê and Brian Cook.

[208] Led by first time All-Star John Wall, on April 29, 2014, the Wizards defeated the Chicago Bulls in game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals by a score of 75–69 to win the series 4–1.

Beal's rise matched the continued All-Star play of John Wall who averaged career highs in points and assists with 23.1 and 10.7, respectively, earning him an All-NBA team spot.

The Wizards acquired All-Star Kristaps Porziņģis in a trade for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans, a sharpshooter whose 5-year, $80 million contract yielded lackluster results during his time in Washington.

During this era, the Bullets also wore unconventional uniforms, featuring three thick stripes which ran from the right leg up to the left side of the jersey.

Beginning with the 1973–74 season, coinciding with the team's move to Landover, Maryland, to become the Capital Bullets, they changed their colors to red, white and blue to match the American flag.

David Safren, Pat Sullivan, and Michael Glazer were the product designers for the new jerseys which include the Washington Monument as an alternate logo.

[271] The structure would be part of an arts and entertainment district at the site, which would include a practice facility, restaurants, an esports venue, concert hall, and a new headquarters for Monumental.