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




NBA球队名字的由来--东部联盟球队
　　中国球员王治郅、姚明和巴特尔加入美国NBA后，使NBA在中国增加了数百万新球迷。虽说火箭队、湖人队这些NBA球队在中国已经家喻户晓，但在中国球迷中还很少有人知道这些球队名字后面的故事。

　　NBA分为东部联盟和西部联盟，两个联盟是以密西西比河为界，密西西比河也是美国传统上东西部的分界线。我的文章分为二部分，本期介绍东部联盟球队的名字，下期介绍西部联盟。

　　纽约尼克斯队(Knicks)1626年，最早来到当今纽约市一带定居的欧洲人是来自荷兰的移民，他们根据荷兰城市的名字将这片土地称为“新阿姆斯特丹”。到了1664年，该市被英国人占领了，重新将它命名为“新约克”即纽约。而荷兰的一个姓氏“尼克伯克尔”则成为了一个俗语，用来指那些祖辈是荷兰移民的纽约人。在美国历史上最著名的“尼克伯克尔”人是罗斯福家族，这一家族出了两位总统：西奥多-罗斯福(1901-1904任总统)和富兰克林-罗斯福(1933-1945任总统)。“尼克”是“尼克伯克尔人”的简称(尼克斯是尼克的复数形式)。

　　波士顿凯尔特人队(Celtics)从19世纪40年代开始，大量的爱尔兰移民来到了波士顿，最后，波士顿成为了爱尔兰人最多的美国城市。约翰-肯尼迪(1961-1963年任总统)就是出生于波士顿的爱尔兰裔美国人。“凯尔特”一词表示一种古老的语言凯尔特语，也表示爱尔兰(以及威尔士、苏格兰)人的祖先凯尔特人，该词纪念了波士顿爱尔兰裔美国人的传统。

　　费城76人队(76ers)美国大西洋沿岸的州最初是英国的殖民地。1776年7月4日，这些殖民地宣布独立，建立了美利坚合众国，发表《独立宣言》的会议就是在费城召开的，费城篮球队的名字纪念了这一历史事件。

　　迈阿密热队(Heat)这个队的名字很确切然而并不让人为之兴奋。位于佛罗里达半岛南端的迈阿密是美国大陆相互接壤的48个州中最靠南的大城市，一年到头天气都很热，名字便由此而来。

　　华盛顿奇才队(Wizards)一帮奇才在美国首都华盛顿市(请不要将华盛顿市与西海岸的华盛顿州相混淆)打篮球。“奇才”(英文意为“魔术师”)作为队名没有什么特别的意义，除非是一些愤世嫉俗的人认为华盛顿的政治人物们魔术般地把美国人交的税钱变没了。该篮球队在1997年之前叫“子弹队”，之所以改名是因为华盛顿曾经而且现在仍属于全国暴力犯罪高发地区，考虑到发生在该市的大量持枪犯罪，“子弹队”这个名字是不大适宜的。

　　奥兰多魔术队(Magic)佛罗里达州的奥兰多以迪斯尼世界乐园最为著名。迪斯尼世界乐园的中心是“魔术王国”，该队的名称便由此而来。

　　印第安纳步行者队(Pacers)印第安纳波利斯市以印第安纳波利斯500汽车赛最为著名，每年都要举办500英里(805公里)长的汽车赛。在比赛的某些地段，参赛者都要跟着一辆领跑车，以领跑车的速度往前开(英文领跑车一词pacer也作步行者讲，中国人就将其译成了步行者队，其实译成领跑车队更为准确)。

　　底特律活塞队(Pistons)底特律长期以来就是美国汽车工业的中心，并由此获得了“汽车城”的美誉，更口语话一点儿，则被称为“摩托”。活塞一词是指汽车发动机的关键部件。

　　密尔沃基雄鹿队(Bucks)在北美地区能看到很多白尾鹿，但在威斯康星州的田野和森林里尤其的多。实际上，白尾鹿还是威斯康星州的标志之一。“Bucks”是指这种鹿中的雄性，是唯一能长鹿茸的一种鹿(密尔沃基位于威斯康星州)。

　　芝加哥公牛队(Bulls)在上个世纪八十年代和九十年代，迈克尔-乔丹使公牛队成为世界上最知名的美国篮球队。在乔丹时代之前的一百年，芝加哥是美国肉类加工业中心。美国中部各个地方的牛都被装上火车运到芝加哥，并在大型肉类加工厂进行屠宰(要想以批判的眼光了解芝加哥历史上的这一时期，可看由厄波顿-辛克莱所写的暴露性小说《屠场》)。虽说如今肉类加工厂大部分已撤出了芝加哥，但“公牛”这一名字还是让人回想起那段历史。

　　新奥尔良黄蜂队、新泽西网队、克利夫兰骑士队、多伦多猛龙队、亚特兰大鹰队这些名字都是一般性的，对他们所在的城市来说没有什么特殊的意义。

　　下一期，我们来看西部联盟球队的名字。(待续)

　　康思德(美)

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