NBA, NHL Team Owner Pollin Dead at 85; Businessman Also Did Philanthropic Work

Washington D.C. (AHN) – Washington Wizards owner, Abe Pollin, who brought the single NBA championship to our nation’s capital died Tuesday at the age of 85. Pollin’s company, Washington Sports & Entertainment, made the announcement but did not disclose any further details. Pollin has been suffering from supranuclear palsy, a brain disorder that limits movement and the ability to remain balanced. In 2005 he had heart bypass surgery and in 2007, he broke his pelvis. As the NBA’s longest tenured owner, Pollin has been the majority owner of the Wizards for 45 years. Pollin graduated from George Washington University of Washington D.C. in 1945. He worked for his family’s construction company for 12 years until he started his own in 1957. As a successful contractor in the D.C. area, Pollin headed the group to purchase the Baltimore Bullets in 1964. He moved the Bullets to Washington in 1973. In 1996, Pollin spearheaded a campaign to change the name of the Bullets because of the negative connotations it held in what was considered the nation’s murder capital for many years. A contest was held where “Wizards” was eventually chosen.

According to Pollin himself, his greatest accomplishment was the building of the Verizon Center. He risked most of his fortune for the arena, which helped revitalized a previously impoverished downtown D.C. area since its opening in 1997. The Bullets won the NBA title in 1978 and Pollin vowed he would not sell the team until another championship was brought to Washington. Pollin’s other accomplishment, the Capital Centre, where the Bullets played in Landover, MD was the country’s first sports venue that included luxury boxes and a large replay screen. Along with the Washington Wizards, Pollin was majority owner of the NHL’s Washington Capitals and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.

He was also known as a charitable man, paying for affordable housing and helping to start a local Boy’s and Girl’s Club according to a blog in the Washington Post. Pollin is survived by his wife Irene, his sons Robert and James, and two grandchildren.