<P> Webber led the way in scoring (20.1 ppg), rebounding (10.3) and blocks (1.9) and shot 51.8 percent from the floor to make his first All - Star team . Howard averaged 19.1 ppg and 8.0 rpg, while Strickland averaged 17.2 ppg and 1.74 spg and finished fifth in the league in assists with 8.9 per game . Mureşan dominated the middle and led the NBA in field goal percentage (. 599). Washington received contributions from Calbert Cheaney (10.6 ppg) and Tracy Murray (10.0 ppg). </P> <P> In November 1995, owner Abe Pollin announced he was changing the team's nickname, because Bullets had acquired violent overtones that had made him increasingly uncomfortable over the years, particularly given the high homicide and crime rate in the early 1990s in Washington, D.C. It was widely believed to also be related to the assassination of Pollin's longtime friend, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin . </P> <P> A contest was held to choose a new name and the choices were narrowed to the Dragons, Express, Stallions, Sea Dogs, and the Wizards . On May 15, 1997, the Bullets officially became the Wizards . The new name generated some controversy because "Wizard" is a rank in the Ku Klux Klan, and Washington has a large African American population . A new logo was unveiled and the team colors were changed from the traditional red, white and blue to a lighter shade of blue, black and bronze, the same colors as the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL), also owned by Pollin . That same year the Wizards moved to the then MCI Center, now called Capital One Arena, which is home to the Capitals, the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association and the Georgetown Hoyas men's college basketball team . </P> <P> In 1998, they became the brother team to the Mystics, and remained officially thus until 2005 when the Mystics were sold to Lincoln Holdings (headed by Ted Leonsis), parent company of the Capitals . However, upon the purchase of the Wizards by Leonsis in 2010, the Wizards and Mystics again became sibling teams . </P>

Where did the washington wizards name come from