NBA DANCE TEAM

The Sports Illustrated invited ten NBA dancers to New York to be photographed and included in the 2009 Sports Illustrated issue.

The dancers in the issue are Alison Preston from the Boston Celtics, Kayla Oberg from the Phoenix Suns, DeLeah Caro form the Dallas Mavericks, Ashley Allen from the Miami Heat, Deanna Clover from the Orlando Magic, Taylor Walker from NJ Nets, Melanie Fitzpatrick from the 76ers, Chelsey Buhler from the Detroit Pistons, Shanon Lersch from the Chicago Bulls and Cheney Larschied from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Read the rest

Another year and another edition of the popular swimsuite calendars. Below is a list of NBA dancers swimsuit calendars:

- Philadelphia 76ers Dancers swimsuit calendar - $15
This version of the calendar is autographed by all 17 featured dancers. Regular calendar with no autograph is available for $10.

- Phoenix Suns Dancers Calendar
You will have to buy Verve energy drink for $18 and a free calendar with be included.

- Cleveland Cavaliers Girls swimsuit Calendar - $13.92
This calendar features all 16 members of the talented 08-09 Cavalier Girls squad. Complete with two bonus months (November 08 and December 08), this high quality glossy calendar showcases Cleveland’s ladies of the NBA. Cover girl contest winner, Jamie kicks off this year’s edition with wine and gold flair.

- Oklahoma City Thunder Dance Team Calendar - $20
Get your hands on the Oklahoma City Inaugural Dance Team Calendar featuring all the members of the 2008-2009 Thunder Girls’ Dance Team. Perfect for any fan, this 14 month wall calendar features full color images printed on photo stock paper.

- Mavs Dancers 2009 Calendar - $13.99
Don’t miss the excitement as the Mavs Dancers took their calendar to Vegas. for $22.99 you can get the calendar/DVD combo.

- Automotion Calendar 2008-09 - $13.00
This is the new Automotion Calendar for the 2008/09 Pistons season. Each month is highlighted with a beautiful Pistons Automotion Dance Team member dressed in swimwear. The calendar runs from December 2008 through June 2010 and features the Pistons regular season games for the 2008-2009 season along with television listings.

- Golden State Warrior Girls 2009 Swimsuit Calendar - $15.00
Get your hands on the latest edition of the Warriors Girls Swimsuit Calendar featuring all the members of the 2009 Warrior Girls Dance Team. Full color images printed on semi-gloss photo stock paper. Officially licensed.

- Houston Rockets 2008-09 Power Dancer Calendar- $9.24

- Wizard Girls 2008-2009 Calendar - $10.00
This full year, 12×12 calendar features all of your favorite Wizard Girls. All proceeds benefit the Wizards’ Care charity.

Comcast has added the Houston Rockets On Demand channel at no additional cost for its digital cable customers.

Through a partnership with Fox Sports Houston, the channel will feature the Making of the Houston Rocket Power Dancers in addition to 30-minute game highlights

NBA dancers are “more than eye candy, these entertainers help sell tickets, extend the brand” according to David Sweet of MSNBC SportsBiz.

“In other major sports, dancers per se don’t exist, but cheerleaders are often an important part of franchises. Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders have been featured on “The Colbert Report,” while the smarts of Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders were tested on the show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” Though baseball games are not known for their rah-rah attitude, the Dodgers-Padres spring training event in China in March featured a group of cheerleaders. Perhaps more surprising, the Washington Redskins’ cheerleaders performed at cricket matches in India this year.”

NBA dancers are important to sell tickets and season ticketholder retention:

“The Luvabulls are an extremely important part of our game presentation, which goes a long way in season-ticketholder retention,” said Chicago Bulls Director of Game Operations Jeff Wohlschlaege”

Most NBA teams are producing swimsuit calendars. Five teams in 2007-08 season issued calendars. Sales of these calendars have soared and they are usually one of the top selling items in the team shop. Dancers are usually out before the games signing autographs and taking photos with fans to help sell and promote their calendars.

In New Jersey, Net’s season-ticketholders can have lunch with dancers as part of their package.

“Taking the appeal of dancers to a different level, the franchise also boasts the NETSational Seniors – more than a dozen dancers mostly in their 60s who performed at a handful of games this season (they have yet to unveil a swimsuit calendar). Across the league, there’s the Pacemates in Indiana, the Automotion in Detroit and, of course, the granddaddy of them all, the Laker Girls, which launched showbiz careers for the likes of Paula Abdul.”

NBA Dance Team is looking for writers that are interested in cheerleading. If you are a current NBA cheerleader, or aspiring cheerleader and would like to share your experience or love of writing please contact us.

The dance bracket is back at NBA.com. The past two years, the Heat dancers won the majority of the votes. I won’t be surprised if they take the title again. That’s the only thing going for them right now. You can vote here.

Here is a list of all the 2008 NBA dancers swimsuit calendars. Only handful of teams issued calendar this year. Let me know if I missed any.

Eastern Conference:

• A-Town Dancers Wall Calendar - $9.99
• Boston Celtics Dancers - n/a
• Charlotte - n/a
• Chicago Luvabulls - Free poster in PDF format.
• Cavalier Girls Calendar - $13.92
• Detroit Pistons Automotion - $13.00
• Indiana Pacemates - n/a
• Miami Heat Dancers - n/a
• Milwaukee Bucks Energee Dancers - n/a
• New Jersey Nets Dancers - n/a
• New York City Dancers - n/a
• Orlando Magic Dancers - n/a
• Philadelphia 76ers - n/a
• Toronto Raptors Dancers - n/a
• Washington Wizards Dancers - $5 (offers 20 different calendars featuring one dancer per calendar)

Western Conference:

• Denver - n/a
• Dallas Mavericks Dancers - $12.99
• Golden State Warrior Girls - $12.00
• Houston Rockets Power Dancers - $9.24
• LA Clippers - n/a
• LA Lakers - n/a
• Memphis Grizzlies - $10
• Minnesota - n/a
• New Orleans -n/a
• Portland - n/a
• Phoenix - n/a
• Sacramento - n/a
• San Antonio - n/a
• Seattle Sonics Dancers - $14.99
• Utah - n/a

Atlanta Hawks dance team A-Town Dancers revealed their beach photo on their website. You can go to their site and browse through tons of very sexy photos of their beautiful dancers. These photos are very provocative and they are out to promote their new 2008 wall calendar.

The Warrior Girl Swimsuit calendar is out and can be purchased online at the Warrior team shop. The Calendar is priced at $12.

You can view behind-the-scenes video of the calendar shoot below:

Another video from NBC 11 site I found on Soo Photography site:

The Wizards announced 17 dancers to be on the 2007-08 Wizards Dance Team after the final round of the Dance Team Auditions at Verizon Center in front of hundreds of Wizards fans, friends and family members.