Pollin and Massenburg: Two for the Ages

Abe Pollin, the owner of the Washington Wizards, and Tony Massenburg, the team's recently signed free agent forward, have a common bond: longevity.

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Pollin, 83, begins his 43rd season as the owner of Washington's NBA franchise, by far the most senior owner in the league.

Massenburg, 40, is trying to win a job with the Wizards, which would be his NBA-record 13th team in 14 seasons, plus two seasons in Europe. If he makes the team, he would be the second-oldest player in the league behind Houston's Dikembe Mutombo (41). Massenburg missed the last two seasons, he said, recovering from an ankle injury incurred in a car accident.

"I'm healthy again, and just to be invited to try out for the Wizards is an accomplishment," the 6-foot-9 Massenburg said. "I am not your average 40-year-old man."

Massenburg joined the NBA in 1990 with San Antonio after a college career at Maryland during which he played for coaches Lefty Driesell, Bob Wade and Gary Williams.

"Who else can say that"? asked Massenburg, whose degree in human ecology might have prompted this thought from him: "You take care of your body because your body is your business."

Pollin's stewardship of the franchise includes moving it from Chicago to Baltimore in 1964 before settling the team in his Washington area home town in 1973.

A year later, he put an NHL expansion team on the ice that he sold to Ted Leonsis in 1999. He also built arenas in Landover and D.C with private funds. The con struction of 10-year-old Verizon Center was the catalyst for the downtown resurgence, perhaps Pollin's crowning achievement.

"The league has changed in so many ways over the years," he said in a telephone interview Friday.

"It's so big, important and worldwide. In 1968, when we drafted Wes Unseld out of Louisville, we needed a subsidy from the league to pay him $100,000 to keep him from the American Basketball Association."

Pollin's payroll today is at the league ceiling -- about $67.86 million -- with all-stars Gilbert Arenas (nearly $12 million a year) and Antawn Jamison ($16.36 million) counting on raises when their current deals expire at the end of the season.

"I'm proud of our players," said Pollin, who continues to battle health problems. "Not only are they good athletes, but I think they're good guys. If we don't have any injuries, we're going to go far in the playoffs this year."