He owns the pro basketball team the Washington Wizards and globetrots with star player Michael Jordan, but Abe Pollin still makes time to support Israel. Recently, thousands of Washington, D.C.-area Jews were surprised to answer their phones and hear Pollin's voice. In a recorded message, the Wizards owner asked callers to support the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington's Israel Emergency Campaign.

In 1997, as part of an antiviolence campaign, Pollin changed his team's name from the Bullets to the Wizards. The assassination of his friend Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin prompted him to pick a more peaceful name for his team.