Abe Pollin

Abraham Pollin (December 3, 1923 – November 24, 2009) was the owner of a number of professional sports teams including the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL), the Washington Mystics in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the Washington Wizards in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Pollin was the longest-tenured owner of an NBA team, holding the Packers/Zephyrs/Bullets/Wizards franchise for 46 years.

Biography

Pollin was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 3, 1923 to Jennie and Morris Pollin. When he was 8, Pollin's family moved to the Washington area from Philadelphia. Pollin graduated from The George Washington University in 1945 and took a job with his family’s construction company for 12 years. The Pollins launched their own construction company in 1957.

A successful construction contractor in the Washington area, Pollin headed an investment group that bought the then Baltimore Bullets in 1964. He moved the team to the Washington area in 1973 after building the Capital Centre. In 1996, Pollin announced that he was changing the team's name because he felt the name "Bullets" had too many negative connotations. "Our slogan used to be 'Faster than a speeding bullet,' but that is no longer appropriate," Pollin told the press. A "name-the-team" contest yielded the name "Wizards."