DC Above All
The Washington Wizards began as the Chicago Packers in 1961, spent 10 seasons in Baltimore and finally landed in Washington as the Capital Bullets in 1973-74 and the Washington Bullets in 1974-75.
After achieving moderate success for a decade, the Bullets developed into a championship unit in the 1970s, built around rugged center Wes Unseld and talented scorer and rebounder Elvin Hayes. Washington made it to the NBA Finals four times during the 1970s and defeated the Seattle SuperSonics for the NBA championship in 1977-78.
The Bullets were a model of consistency through the ’80s, establishing an NBA record by winning at least 35 games in each of 22 consecutive years (from 1967-68 through 1988-89). A seven-year postseason drought ended in 1996-97 when the Bullets advanced to the playoffs, losing a hard-fought series to the Chicago Bulls. The final game of that series, a 96-95 loss on April 30, 1997, marked the end of an era.
On May 15 the team officially became known as the Washington Wizards. At the same time, the team prepared for a move from suburban Landover, Md., to MCI Center in downtown Washington under the ownership of Abe and Irene Pollin. Today, the F Street block that Verizon Center sits on is named Abe Pollin Way in honor of his contributions to the franchise and the Washington D.C. area. His 46 years of ownership marked the longest tenure in NBA history.
Ted Leonsis took over as majority owner of the Wizards from the Pollins in June 2010 as part of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which also owns and operates the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and Verizon Center. Since then, the Wizards have returned to the playoffs and now stand as a perennial contender in the Eastern Conference with a strong young nucleus.
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