With the decade officially behind us, lets take a look back at the top 5 moments for the Washington Wizards over the past ten years.
From start to finish, this past decade was a wild ride for the Washington Wizards. They had their ups, they had their downs, and they had everything in between. At their height the Wizards had some of their best teams in over forty years lead by the backcourt duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal who earned the team the nickname “The House of Guards.”
The 2010s were a decade that saw the resurgence of D.C. basketball and reminded people that a city that once featured the likes of Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes could once again become a basketball town.
Although this decade had its fair share of ups and downs, there were moments that gave DC basketball fans a reason to smile again.
After a tumultuous end to the Gilbert Arenas era that took up a majority of the previous decade the Wizards needed a fresh start.
The Wizards defining moment to start the decade came at the 2010 draft lottery. After an awful 2009-2010 season, the Wizards came into the lottery with the 5th best odds of winning the #1 pick.
Being represented by Irene Pollin, wife of the Wizards late owner, Abe Pollin, the Wizards had some luck come their way. They won the lottery and ended up with the #1 pick in the 2010 NBA draft and the rest is history.
In the aftermath of that fortuitous lottery ball bounce, here are 5 moments in the past decade that reshaped D.C. basketball…