Abe Pollin Dies
The NBA has lost its longest tenured owner. Abe Pollin has passed away, aged 85. The very popular sports mogul, best known for firing Michael Jordan and for also being credited for initiating the revival of downtown Washington. Arrived 75 years ago, the son of a Russian metal worker, named Morris Polinovsky. Pollin worked through decades with unstoppable will to rise to the top of the business world, philanthropy and sports.
Pollin even spending $220 million out of his own pocket to build a sports and entertainment arena which would change the face of downtown Washington for ever.
When Pollin fired Michael Jordan he was harshly criticized for doing so, and when asked by the Associated Press about his decision he said:
“I agonized over it for days and nights, thinking, ‘What is it that I have to do?’ ” he recalled. “I’m going to think very hard about these decisions and make the best decisions that I think are best for the franchise.”
Jordan deemed Pollin’s decision as “callous” after not allowing Jordan a chance to state his case or to outline team plans. It all ended after about 20 minutes.
Pollin later recalling: “I had made my decision … and that was it,” “I felt by sticking to my decision, I would have less embarrassment for him because if I had made him lay out some of his plans that he had maybe in mind that he was going to do for the team, and then I would say, ‘I’m not accepting them,’ I thought I would hurt him worse. So I tried to be as gentle as I could with Michael because I have great respect for him.”
Pollin’s decision to change the name of his team from “Bullets” to “Wizards” to promote peace was recalled to The New York Times as follows:
“They heard I had a tennis court,” Pollin said. “They asked if I would like to play with the new ambassador, Yitzhak Rabin. Oh, boy. We became friends. His wife. My wife. Our children. Last summer I took my whole family to Israel to see him. It’s a tremendous loss.”
At that time Pollin was planning to move the team from Maryland to the proposed arena in Washington.
He said about changing the name “I stood in the place where Rabin spoke,” Pollin recalled. “It was a peace gathering. He was about to leave, but he walked back again. They were rejoicing for peace. I walked those steps. I realized it was time to get this done.”
Pollin’s death was after battling a rare neurological disease.