By late this afternoon, I still had given exactly zero consideration to the Washington Wizards ever landing the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft Lottery tonight.
If everyone else had a lucky charm, that was mine – simply refusing to acknowledge that the possibility existed.
A few hours later, I’ll take all the credit. No, not really. But I got the feeling that things were turning Washington’s way when the first eight teams in the lottery went in order. And once the Wizards knew they would at least hold the fifth pick or better, it was gravy.
“How bout them apples?” was the e-mail I just received from one Wizards staff member.
Defying the odds and at the same time communing with the spirit of late Wizards owner Abe Pollin, Washington jumped from the fifth-best odds to claim the first pick in the June 24 NBA Draft — giving them the rights to claim Kentucky freshman point guard John Wall. Some others may say Ohio State’s Evan Turner will have a chance, but it’s pretty clear for now that the draft board doesn’t look that way.
But tonight seemed less about Wall and Turner than it was about the Wizards franchise officially turning the corner after quite possibly the worst season in its history. Pollin passed away, the team stunk, Gilbert Arenas brought guns into the locker room and got suspended and convicted for it, even Josh Howard blew out his knee after former cornerstones Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison were traded away.
Apart from the looming questions over Arenas working his way back into the team, no longer should anyone around the organization feel obligated to talk about last year because of the promise that lies ahead. And that promise was graciously bestowed on the team by the Pollin family even though they’re selling the team to Ted Leonsis.
Sure, it was luck, but to have Irene Pollin represent the Wizards at the lottery earlier this evening couldn’t have been better scripted. She was able to make good on her famous, nervously-spoken promise to the Verizon Center crowd last month, and the organization was able to let the Pollin family own the spotlight one more time. They certainly never deserved to have this past season be the lasting memory for their near half-century of ownership of the team.
Keep in mind also that the Pollins also dismantled the Wizards in February, giving them $21 million in cap space this summer. Yes, that was a business decision, too, that may have also been inspired by the sale of the team. But what should be remembered is that while Abe Pollin tried very hard to win one more championship last year and couldn’t, he’s given the team every opportunity to do so even though he’s gone.
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