Ten years ago in the wee-morning hours of December 11, 2006, Mike Prada wrote the first post for Bullets Forever. A lot good things have happened since then for the Wizards, like these.
- Gilbert Arenas’ 60 point game against the Lakers within a couple weeks of the site launching.
- Arenas’ buzzer beaters later that season
- John Wall getting drafted #1 overall in 2010
- Mike celebrating New Year’s Day
- Wall scoring 47 points to fend off the Memphis Grizzlies on March 25, 2013
- Wall winning the 2014 Slam Dunk contest with one attempt
- Seeing the Wizards make the second round of the playoffs in 2014 and 2015 while showing promise. The 2015 Playoffs were quite remarkable because they swept the Toronto Raptors in the first round, and Paul Pierce “called game” in round two:
How were things like back on December 11, 2006?
As you might have guessed, ten years may not seem like a very long time. But back when Mike wrote that first post in 2006, the world was quite a different place.
- Most of us were using desktop or laptop computers to access the Internet. BlackBerry was the only smartphone that had a significant user base at that time. In fact, the iPhone wasn’t released until June 29, 2007, and it was only on AT&T. Today, most web traffic is on mobile devices, which include smartphones and tablets, another tech device that wasn’t in existence then. Android smartphones weren’t on sale until 2008.
- Most of us were watching television “on the tube,” not a wide flatscreen. Part of the reason was because TV was broadcast in analog signals in America. A digital switchover didn’t start until 2008.
- Abe Pollin was the Wizards’ majority owner.
- Ted Leonsis was still the President of AOL. He announced in September 2006 that he would leave the company at the end of the year.
- Gilbert Arenas made blogging a thing. You can still read it at NBA.com.
- The Wizards vs. Cavaliers mid-2000’s rivalry just began.
- John Wall was finally old enough to get a driver’s license. Bradley Beal and Otto Porter were in middle school. Marcin Gortat was an NBA Draft Pick who was still playing in Germany.
- Beyoncé had the number one hit in the USA, but it wasn’t “Single Ladies.” It was “Irreplaceable.”
- Taylor Swift was a curly haired teenage country singer with one album.
Special thanks
Our first thanks goes to Mike Prada, our founder and first site manager. Without him creating our predecessor Bullets Fever, this site in its current form wouldn’t exist. Though he retired as our site manager on November 24, 2014 to focus on SB Nation’s national NBA page full-time, he remains a great friend and vital resource behind the scenes for all of us.
Second, we’d like to give thanks to everyone at Vox Media and SB Nation who have helped keep this site loading up in a timely manner and looking fresh throughout the past decade. We’d like to give a shout out to SB Nation NBA manager Seth Pollack and to all of our fellow basketball blogs within the SBN family. You are all great!
Third, we want to give thanks to all of the great writers who have written here. Your contributions have also played a part helping us increase our profile over the years.
Last, but most of all, we want to thank you, the readers and commenters here on Bullets Forever. We know that the Wizards have had more than their share of down moments this past decade. That said, it is a good thing to see that we have a large, engaged, and well-informed online community of Wizards fans each and every day.
Here’s to another 10 years!