Antawn Jamison rocks the rim and the history books in
a throw-back Zephyrs jersey circa 1961 on the way to
offing Wizards arch rival, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

When it comes to rivalries, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers represent the enemy to most Washington Wizards fans, while other fans of the NBA do not consider the match-up a rivalry at all.  Here's a look at how we define "rivalry," and three prospective rivalries of the Washington Wizards franchise to debate.

The infamous Charles Barkley once said, and I paraphrase, "for a rivalry to exist between two teams, both must be able to win games."  The general consensus is a rivalry is only born during the NBA playoffs, which is why the Wizards-Cavs rivalry is sometimes belittled.  Washington has not beaten Cleveland in a postseason series since 1977.  You wouldn't know it, sitting at the Verizon Center trying not to show bias as the entire audience screams with joy because Washington just broke Cleveland's 13-game win streak, but it's a statistic that keeps the current rivalry debatable.

The New York Knickerbockers (1969-1975)
Washington's first true rivalry began in Baltimore, against the New York Knickerbockers, known today as the Knicks.  From 1969-1975, Washington and New York met in the the playoffs six consecutive times.  The Baltimore "Bullets" were led by the likes of guard "Earl the Pearl" Monroe, forwards Jack Marin, Gus Johnson and center Wes Unseld, while the Knicks were led by forwards/guards Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere and center Willis Reed.  Over the course of the '70s, the Knicks and Bullets combined to win seven Eastern Finals and three NBA Championships.

In the 1969 postseason match-up between the two teams, New York dominated Baltimore in a 4-0 sweep.  In 1970, New York escaped Baltimore 4-3 and the Knicks went on to win the NBA Championship.  However, in 1971, Baltimore finished a 4-3 series of their own, defeating the defending Champs and giving weight to the rivalry. 

After the '71 playoffs, and before the 1971-72 season would begin, the Bullets decided to reassemble their team.  In a dramatic turn, Earl Monroe refused to play for Baltimore and joined the Knicks.  With Monroe gone, New York would use the help of the former Bullet for three straight years of postseason victories, including an NBA Championship in 1973.  Baltimore became the Washington Capitals in 1974, and would fall to New York one final time in a 3-4 losing effort to cap the six-year span.  In the following year the franchise would rename their team the Washington Bullets, and under this name, they would soon challenge the Seattle Supersonics to end the decade in Championship fashion.

The Seattle Supersonics (1978-1979)
After the Bullets-Knicks era the Baltimore Bullets were now known as the "Washington Bullets."  With a new name and rookie by the name of Kevin Grevey, Washington had a fresh outlook to start their 1975-1976 season.  In 1976, Washington drafted another important rookie in forward Mitch Kupchak, but the loss of future Hall of Famer Dave Bing would leave 1977 questionable.

Led by Wes Unseld, and under the coaching of Dick Motta (a guy who had never played organized basketball in his life) an unlikely Washington team stumbled through the 1977-78 season with a 44-38 record, good enough to seed the team for a playoffs berth.  With that opportunity, the underdogs of the bracket passed by the Atlanta Hawks in a 2-0 sweep, beat the San Antonio Spurs 4-2 in the conference semis, and offed the Philadelphia 76ers 4-2 to win control of the East.

In the Finals, Washington met up with the Seattle Supersonics.  Seattle, like Washington, had little difficulty getting to the Finals, and had a slightly better 47-35 season record.  However, Washington's frontcourt of Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld, as well as the clutch shooting of Bobby Dandridge, gave the Bullets a final 4-3 series win over Seattle, who had great inside talents of their own in Marvin Webster, Paul Silas, and Jack Sikma, but couldn't quite hold on in game seven.

The defending Champion Washington Bullets would meet up with Seattle again in the NBA Finals, but this time Seattle would easily win the series 4-1.  Following the Finals loss, the former defending Champion Bullets would embark on a game-changing trip to China in August of '79 (thanks to Truth_About_It for the fact check).  30 years later, Washington will once again make that trip.

From 1980-1985 Gene Shue lead Washington as Head Coach, but other than a run in '81 which ended in a semifinals loss, Washington was unable to get past the first round.  From 1984-1988 Washington lost to three different teams in five consecutive first-round knock outs, eventually resulting in Wes Unseld becoming Head Coach in 1988.  Unseld, largely unsuccessful as a coach of a team which had entered a "Dark Age," would be replaced in '94, and in 1997 the Bullets, in their last year under that name, would finally reach the playoffs again only to fall once more in the first-round.

The Cleveland Cavaliers (2006-2009)
Before the start of the 1997-98 season, the Washington Bullets were renamed the Washington Wizards after a fan-vote determined the choice.  Alternate names included the Dragons, Express, Stallions, and Sea Dogs.  Fan sites such as BulletsForever tap into the discrepancies of the name change, however, in 2003, Head Coach Eddie Jordan helped turn around the franchise, and from 2004-2008 Jordan led Washington to four consecutive playoffs appearances.  Unfortunately for Washington, each year ended in a first round loss, and from 2006-2008, it was LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers who knocked the Wizards out.

In 2009, Jordan was fired after a dismal 1-10 start to the regular season, and as the team continued under interim Head Coach Ed Tapscott, Washington's success would not improve.  With a record of 19-63 to end the season, Washington would not join Cleveland in the playoffs, breaking the rivalry.  However, one can argue that the four-game season series had a playoffs intensity all on its own.

What do you think, is the rivalry going with the Cavs legit?  Leave a comment below!

Updated: Thursday, August 27th, 2009 -- 3:18 p.m. ET

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