Washington Post July 13th 1997

 The Washington Wizards unveiled their new uniforms Friday, but it may take the Washington populace a little longer to adapt to the new image and identity of its professional basketball team.

In fact, fans and sports paraphernalia dealers say, the switch from the Bullets' logo to the Wizards' has created an unexpected demand for shirts, caps and jerseys sporting the old emblems.

"People want anything with the `Bullets' on it because they think it's going to be a collector's item someday," said Akbar Sadeghi, manager of Nash's Sports and Casuals in Northwest Washington. "We're running out of stock pretty quickly."

Andre Thompson, 17, of Washington, searched unsuccessfully for some of his own yesterday.

"They'll always be the Bullets to me," Thompson said as he combed the Sports Authority store in Rockville for a Bullets jersey with Chris Webber's name on it. He gave up after a half-hour.

"The new logo is too goofy," Thompson said. "It looks like something out of `The Wizard of Oz' or maybe the Ku Klux Klan."

The futuristic logo features a man in a sorcerer's hat leaping over a crescent-shaped moon that has seams like a basketball. The wizard is spinning a basketball in his left hand, and an eight-point starburst is coming from his right.

The Bullets' red-white-and-blue colors have been replaced with the blue, black and bronze adopted two years ago by Abe Pollin's other professional franchise, the Washington Capitals hockey team.

Pollin announced in 1995 that he wanted to change the nickname because of violent connotations associated with "Bullets." Fans were invited to vote on a new nickname, and "Wizards" was announced as the winner on Feb. 22, 1996. The team worked with the National Basketball Association's design team on a new logo.

Friday, the 35-year era of the Bullets nickname came to an official end when the team unveiled the logo and color scheme that will accompany the name change to Wizards. Wizards players and other celebrities, including Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes, trotted out in the new gear at Union Station.

When fans will start wearing the paraphernalia, however, is another matter. Gary Timberlake, manager of the Stadium Store in Wheaton, said that while the logo change has generated interest in Wizards clothing, it also has sparked some nostalgia among longtime basketball fans.

"People didn't used to come in very often to buy Bullets stuff," he said. "Now they want it before it disappears."

In changing the team's image, the franchise also wanted to target a slightly older audience in a higher income range. Team officials say the Wizards want to appeal to the 18- to 35-year-old crowd, although most team apparel is bought by people 18 to 24.

And that may be the toughest sell. Chris Hamilton, 33, a computer technician in Rockville, said he eventually will grow used to calling his team the Wizards and "may even buy a cap before the season starts," but he said it will be tough to say goodbye to the nickname the team has held since the Chicago Zephyrs moved to Baltimore in 1963.

"First the Redskins leave RFK {Stadium}. Now the Bullets get a makeover," Hamilton said. "Sports fans don't like a lot of changes. I hope they stick with this for a long while."

In the meantime, some sports shop owners hope to cash in on the memories.

"If we keep getting requests for the old stuff," Sadeghi said, "I'm going to have to find some secret sources for Bullets clothes."