Readers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal know their town — and they want the name of a potential NBA expansion team to reflect Southern Nevada.
Last week we were deluged with more than 150 different suggestions and more than 300 emails following our call for names for the city’s prospective NBA franchise.
That doesn’t include the hundreds of suggestions on the social media channels.
We have whittled our poll for the Las Vegas NBA nickname to six finalists: Bighorns, Mustangs, Rattlers, Scorpions, Sharks and Vipers.
Votes will only be accepted at the Web version of this story at www.lvrj.com/sports/basketball. Please don’t send us an email or calls us with your vote.
Remember, we have no say-so on which name the NBA selects. This is for entertainment purposes only. These were the six names that stood out from readers. A few were the clear leaders, with dozens of repeat suggestions.
But not every idea was, let’s say, NBA-quality. Or maybe, what were you thinking?
Ill-fitted nicknames
For instance, we had a lot of readers suggest the nickname “Shooters.”
Hmmm. Did you know the NBA’s Washington Wizards were originally called the Bullets and changed their name 30 years ago to get away from a violence-related nickname? Nope, the NBA is going to avoid that branding.
Then there were gambling nicknames. In fact, one of most popular suggestions was “Gamblers.”
Think about this: Would a league that just went through a betting scandal involving three players and a coach name a team the Gamblers? We don’t think so.
Whimsical ideas
Then there were the really creative nicknames.
One reader suggested calling the team the Vegas Victory, saying we could call them the Vegas Vics for short (see your Las Vegas history book if you don’t get it).
Then there are the White Tigers, named in honor of former Las Vegas showmen Siegfried & Roy.
In an homage to vacationers, one reader suggested the Las Vegas Competitors — Comps for short.
Other ideas: the Dry Heat, Golden Nuggets, HiBallers, High Rollers, Posse (that one didn’t work out for the city’s defunct Canadian Football League team), Silver Sevens, Show Stoppers (we’re seeing a theme here), Silver Nuggets, Silver Miners, Silver Streak and Vaqueros.
Oh, and props to the readers who know how to use AI image creation and sent logos for the Goodfellas, Neon, Phantoms, Quicksilver and Traffic Cones.
Best of the best
After the dust has cleared (especially in this city), these six names stood out with the most reader support:
Bighorns: Paying tribute the horned sheep that roam the state, especially in Boulder City.
Mustangs: Wild horses still roam this state.
Rattlers: Those venomous snakes that everyone avoids (and they try to stay away from us).
Scorpions: Those venomous arachnids that everyone avoids (and they seem to come after us).
Sharks: A tribute to former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, who was known as “Tark the Shark.”
Vipers: Another snake. You get the idea.
Now it’s your turn: Vote in the poll attached to this story. We’ll publish the results next Sunday, April 12.
Bill Bradley is sports editor of the Review-Journal. Contact him at bbradley@reviewjournal.com.