On Nov. 24, 2009, the Wizards were shaken by some very sad news. Longtime owner Abe Pollin, who was preparing to go see his beloved Wizards take on the Philadelphia 76ers, passed away at the age of 85. That kickstarted an emotional day at the Verizon Center, as the Wizards somehow held on when Louis Williams' wide-open game-winning 3-point attempt fell off the rim.
Tonight, nearly one year later, the Wizards will once again be playing the Philadelphia 76ers at the Verizon Center. According to Michael Lee of the Washington Post, the team will honor Pollin with a moment of silence during the game. Lee spoke to Abe's son Robert, who admitted this past year has been very hard for the family.
"Just like anybody, losing your father, especially if you have a great guy as a father, that's very hard," Robert Pollin said, "and on top of that, we had to go through the sale of the team -- starting almost immediately after he died, we had to start making preparations, looking into that. So it's been an unusual year. It's been a lot of difficult stuff. We have a lot of close friends that worked at the arena and had to say goodbye to all of that. But people go through much more difficult things and you have to go through it."
It remains unclear whether John Wall will play. If he cannot go, Gilbert Arenas will once again get the start.