In general news and sports coverage, the full city and team name should be used on first reference in copy.

However, in all headlines and on first reference in copy where the NBA context is obvious, only the full team name needs to be used: Suns tops Sonics in overtime thriller; The Timberwolves’ most exciting players were Stephon Marbury and Kevin Garnett.

Below are common nicknames for each team, all of which are acceptable on subsequent reference in copy. Nicknames with a caret (^) are the preferred name, whereas nicknames with an asterisk (*) should be used sparingly, if at all.