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The Bullets then drafted Gus Johnson , who distinct the modern power-forward position with tough rebound and overwhelming slam dunks. In Baltimore the team improved, qualify for the playoffs in 1965 and 1966. Two last-place finishes followed, but those years also feature the selections of guard Earl "The Pearl" Monroe and Wes Unseld in the NBA draft.
With new aptitude, the Bullets improved radically, registering the NBA's best win-loss record for the 1968-69 season, at 57-25. The Wizards team qualified for the playoffs, and Bullets coach Gene Shue was named NBA coach of the year. That NBA season Unseld won both the NBA most precious player (MVP) and rookie of the year awards.
In 1970-71 the Bullets recorded a 42-40 win-loss record in the usual season to win its division. The Wizard team then defeated the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks to go forward to the NBA Finals. There the Wizards were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks in four straight games. The Bullets ' success sustaine d throughout the early 1970s, although they traded Monroe to the New York Knicks before the 1971-72 season. In the 1974-75 season the Wizards team began playing as the Washington Bullets, in Washington , D.C. That year, Unseld and Elvin Hayes, who was acquire from the San Diego Rockets, led the team to the separation title as the Bullets put together a 60-22 record. They advanced to the NBA Finals, where they were swept by the Golden State Warriors.
Dick Motta , who had before coached the Chicago Bulls, replace Jones for the 1976-77 season. A year later, the club signed forward Bob Dandridge . In the 1978 playoffs the Bullets beaten the Atlanta Hawks, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Philadelphia 76ers to go forward to the finals. There they played the Seattle SuperSonics, falling behind three games to two and then pending back to win the seven-game series and capture the 1978 NBA title.
After losing in the NBA Finals a day later to the SuperSonics, the Bullets began a period of decline. From 1979-80 from side to side 1995-96, the Wizards team 's best single-season win total was 43 in 1981-82. The team's best players throughout this time included guard Jeff Malone and forward Bernard King .
In the mid-1990s the Bullets acquire two talented young forwards, Chris Webber and Juwan Howard , who as teammates at the University of Michigan had twice led the school to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship game. Injuries, though, hampered the Bullets, and the club remain in the bottom half of its division until the 1996-97 season, when it complete the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Concerned that the team 's name had too violent an insinuation, franchise officials distorted the club's name to the Washington Wizards for the 1997-98 season .
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