1973–74 Capital Bullets season

The 1973–74 Capital Bullets season was the team's first in Washington, D.C. area, southwest from nearby Baltimore. Prior to the 1973–74 season, the 1972–73 [Baltimore Bullets season|Baltimore Bullets] relocated to Landover, Maryland, a suburb east of Washington, and became the Capital Bullets. It was also their only season under the Capital Bullets name. They also rebranded their jerseys, eschewing the previous orange and blue look for red, white, and blue.
The Bullets finished with a 47–35 record and won the Central Division. Wes Unseld was limited to 56 games due to injuries. In the playoffs, the Bullets fell to the New York Knicks for the fifth time in six years, eliminated in seven games. Following the season, the team was renamed as the Washington Bullets.
The new Capital Centre opened on December 2, 1973; the Bullets played their earlier home games this season at Cole Field House at the University of Maryland in College Park. They played several home games at Cole during their last seasons in Baltimore.

Draft picks

Round

Pick

Player

Position

Nationality

College

United Statessortname|Louie|Nelson

Player stats

Note: GP=Games played; MP=Minutes Played; FG=Field Goals; FGA=Field Goal Attempts; FG%=Field Goal Percentage; FT=Free Throws; FTA=Free Throws Attempts; FT%=Free Throw Percentage; ORB=Offensive Rebounds; DRB=Defensive Rebounds; TRB=Total Rebounds; AST=Assists; STL=Steals; BLK=Blocks; PF=Personal Fouls; PTS=Points; AVG=Average

Player	GP	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	PF	PTS	AVG
Hayes	81	3602	689	1627	.423	357	495	.721	354	1109	1463	163	86	240	252	1735	21.4
Chenier	76	2942	697	1607	.434	274	334	.820	114	274	388	239	155	67	135	1668	21.9
Riordan	81	3230	577	1223	.472	136	174	.782	120	260	380	264	102	14	237	1290	15.9
Porter	81	2339	477	997	.478	180	249	.723	79	100	179	469	95	9	319	1134	14.0
Clark	56	1786	315	675	.467	103	131	.786	44	97	141	285	59	6	122	733	13.1
Weatherspoon	65	1216	199	483	.412	96	139	.691	133	264	397	38	48	16	179	494	7.6
Unseld	56	1727	146	333	.438	36	55	.655	152	365	517	159	56	16	121	328	5.9
Nelson	49	556	93	215	.433	53	73	.726	26	44	70	52	31	2	62	239	4.9
Leaks	53	845	79	232	.341	58	83	.699	94	150	244	25	10	39	95	216	4.1
Stallworth	45	458	75	187	.401	47	55	.855	52	73	125	25	28	4	61	197	4.4
Wesley	39	400	71	151	.470	26	43	.605	63	73	136	14	9	20	74	168	4.3
Kozelko	49	573	59	133	.444	23	32	.719	52	72	124	25	21	7	82	141	2.9
Rinaldi	7	48	3	22	.136	3	4	.750	2	5	7	10	3	1	7	9	1.3
Patterson	2	8	0	1	.000	1	2	.500	1	1	2	2	0	0	0	1	0.5

Team stats

Note: G=Games; MP=Minutes Played; FG=Field Goals; FGA=Field Goal Attempts; FG%=Field Goal Percentage; FT=Free Throws; FTA=Free Throw Attempts; FT%=Free Throw Percentage; ORB=Offensive Rebounds; DRB=Defensive Rebounds; TRB=Total Rebounds; AST=Assists; STL=Steals; BLK=Blocks; TOV=Turnovers; PF=Personal Fouls; PTS=Points

	G	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Team	82	19730	3480	7886	.441	1393	1869	.745	1286	2887	4173	1770	703	441	1568	1746	8353
Team/G		240.6	42.4	96.2	.441	17.0	22.8	.745	15.7	35.2	50.9	21.6	8.6	5.4	19.1	21.3	101.9
Lg Rank		13	11	4	15	14	14	17	5	4	4	16	11	5	3	1	14
Year/Year		0.0%	-4.8%	0.0%	-.022	7.7%	7.3	+.002			-0.8%	-13.7%				4.4%	-2.9%
Opponent	82	19730	3496	7760	.451	1239	1639	.756	1206	2915	4121	1900	651	350	1651	1840	8231
Opponent/G		240.6	42.6	94.6	.451	15.1	20.0	.756	14.7	35.5	50.3	23.2	7.9	4.3	20.1	22.4	100.4
Lg Rank		13	6	11	6	1	1	2	10	15	15	3	5	5	12	14	5
Year/Year		0.0%	-1.0%	-3.1%	+.010	-2.4%	-3.7%	+.010			-2.5%	2.6%				9.4%	-1.2%

Playoffs player stats

Note: GP=Games played; MP=Minutes Played; FG=Field Goals; FGA=Field Goal Attempts; FG%=Field Goal Percentage; FT=Free Throws; FTA=Free Throw Attempts; FT%=Free Throw Percentage; ORB=Offensive Rebounds; DRB=Defensive Rebounds; TRB=Total Rebounds; AST=Assists; STL=Steals; BLK=Blocks; PF=Personal Fouls; PTS=Points; AVG=Average

Player	GP	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	PF	PTS	AVG
Hayes	7	323	76	143	.531	29	41	.701	31	80	111	21	5	15	23	181	25.9
Chenier	7	310	62	137	.453	33	37	.892	6	37	43	12	13	8	19	157	22.4
Riordan	7	267	36	87	.414	14	16	.875	7	17	24	17	4	2	28	86	12.3
Porter	7	195	33	85	.388	9	14	.643	10	7	17	32	8	0	30	75	10.7
Unseld	7	297	31	63	.492	9	15	.600	22	63	85	27	4	1	15	71	10.1
Clark	7	162	20	59	.339	11	20	.550	3	10	13	15	5	0	13	51	7.3
Kozelko	7	58	10	13	.769	3	4	.750	4	4	8	1	0	0	10	23	3.3
Weatherspoon	7	9	19	.474	2	5	.400	11	16	27	0	2	2	11	20	2.9	-
Leaks	2	5	1	2	.500	0	0		1	1	2	0	0	0	1	2	1.0
Wesley	1	1	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0

Awards and honors

Elvin Hayes, All-NBA Second Team
Nick Weatherspoon, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team