There is currently no active National Basketball Association franchise that utilizes a bear as its primary team name or mascot branding. While the Memphis Grizzlies—a grizzly bear being a large species of brown bear—are based in the NBA, no team is officially named the "Bears." The bear remains a common mascot in collegiate athletics across the country, but in the professional basketball landscape, the branding convention favors other animal identifiers, mythical creatures, or thematic concepts rather than a simple bear moniker.