- Location: Portland, Oregon, USA
- Home court: Moda Center
- G.M: Joe Cronin
- Coach: Chauncey Billups
- Star: G Damian Lillard
- 2021 Season: 48-34, lost to Warriors in Western Conference first-round series in five games.
- NBA Titles: One, 1977
- Greatest Player: Clyde “The Glide” Drexler
- Factoid: From 1977 through 1995, the Trail Blazers sold out 814 consecutive home games, the longest streak in American major professional sports at the time.
There are many cities and franchises that can claim a passionate love affair that defies comprehension. But no team, in any of the four major North American sports franchises, has a more devoted, more loyal, more passionate love story than the only NBA franchise in the great Northwest.
Portland doesn’t have an NFL team, an MLB team, or an NHL team. But the TrailBlazers are all theirs and you couldn’t RIP them apart if you had some heavy machinery and TNT.
This was love at first sight. The Trail Blazers were woeful in their first season in the NBA (1970-71). But in a game against the mighty Lakers, Portland guard Jim Barnett hoisted an ill-advised shot that tied the game.
Bill Schonely, the team’s play-by-play voice, exclaimed, “RIP CITY!”
Amen.
The Trail Blazers lost that game and many more in their first four seasons but by the mid-70s the team began winning and the fans came flocking. From 1977, the year Portland won its lone NBA Title, till 1995, the Trail Blazers sold out every game.
RIP CITY was the hottest destination in the NBA.
The Trail Blazers have a seminal player in Damian Lillard, a guard who can knock down 3’s from the Washington State line and locate the basket with the precision of a drone.
Portland is trying to surround Lillard with enough talent to make a playoff run in RIP CITY! Should that happen, Portland once again becomes the chicest address in the NBA.