The Portland Trail Blazers are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. The team played its home games in the Memorial Coliseum before moving to Moda Center in 1995. The franchise entered the league as an expansion team in 1970, and has enjoyed a strong following: from 1977 through 1995, the team sold out 814 consecutive home games, the longest such streak in American major professional sports at the time, and which has only since been surpassed by the Boston Red Sox and the Dallas Mavericks. The Trail Blazers are the only NBA team based in the Pacific Northwest, after the Vancouver Grizzlies relocated to Memphis and became the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001 and the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008.
Horace Junior Grant Sr. is an American former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for Michael Reinsdorf, the president and chief operating officer of the Chicago Bulls. He played college basketball at Clemson University before playing professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he became a four-time champion; winning three championships with the Chicago Bulls and one championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. Horace is the twin brother of former NBA player Harvey Grant.
Clyde Austin Drexler is an American former professional basketball player who currently works as the commissioner of the Big3 3-on-3 basketball league. Nicknamed "Clyde the Glide", he played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), spending a majority of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers before finishing with the Houston Rockets. He was a ten-time NBA All-Star and named to the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams. Drexler won an NBA championship with Houston in 1995, and earned a gold medal on the 1992 United States Olympic team known as "The Dream Team". He was inducted twice into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2004 for his individual career and in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team". Drexler is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players and greatest shooting guards of all time.
Terry Porter is an American former college basketball coach and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was most recently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Portland. A native of Wisconsin, he played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point before being drafted 24th by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1985 NBA draft. In Portland, he played ten seasons with two All-Star Game appearances. Porter spent 17 years in the NBA as a player. Following his retirement as a player in 2002, he began coaching in the league. Porter has twice been a head coach, first with his hometown Milwaukee Bucks and then with the Phoenix Suns.
Stephen Howard "Snapper" Jones was an American basketball player in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), and later a television analyst. He was a three-time ABA All-Star. Jones' brother Nick also played in the ABA and NBA. During his time in the ABA, Jones picked up the moniker "Snapper" but he never revealed how it came to be.
Antonio Robert Daniels is an American former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently the television color analyst for the New Orleans Pelicans on Bally Sports New Orleans and co-host/analyst on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
Kevin Jerome Duckworth was an American professional basketball player who played as center in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A native of Illinois, he played college basketball at Eastern Illinois University before being drafted in 1986 in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs. Before completing his rookie season with the Spurs, he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers where he spent most of his six seasons and was named the NBA's Most Improved Player and a two-time All-Star. After playing with three more teams he retired in 1997 and returned to Oregon where he would later work for the Trail Blazers' organization.
Rodney Strickland is an American basketball coach and former professional basketball player. He is currently the head coach at Long Island University. Prior to LIU, he served as the program manager for the NBA G League's professional path. Strickland played college basketball for the DePaul Blue Demons, earning All-American honors. He had a long career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing from 1988 to 2005. Strickland was an assistant coach for the South Florida Bulls, under Orlando Antigua from 2014 to 2017. He formerly served in an administrative role for the University of Kentucky basketball team under head coach John Calipari and was the director of basketball operations at the University of Memphis under Calipari. He is the godfather of current NBA player Kyrie Irving. Strickland was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame with the Class of 2008.
Tracy Lamont Murray is an American former professional basketball player who works as an analyst with the UCLA Sports Network for all of the games during the UCLA Bruins' basketball season. Tracy is also a part-time analyst on the Slam Dunk Show on ABC7 Los Angeles. He worked as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the 2015–16 NBA season.
William Edward Perdue III is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a member of four NBA championship teams, three with the Chicago Bulls (1991–1993) and one with the San Antonio Spurs (1999). Perdue was a Studio analyst for NBC Sports Chicago during their pre-game and post-game Chicago Bulls broadcasts until the channel's closure in 2024.
LaRue Martin is an American former professional basketball player. Martin was drafted first overall out of Loyola University Chicago by the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association's (NBA) controversy riddled 1972 NBA draft. He was drafted ahead of future Hall of Famers Bob McAdoo and Julius Erving. Martin has been discussed as one of the worst first overall draft picks in NBA history, but he moved on to forge a successful corporate career.
Fernando Martín Espina was a Spanish professional basketball player who was considered to be one of the best Spanish basketball players ever. Martín was 2.06 m tall, and he played primarily at the center and power forward positions. He was considered a talented all-around athlete. He was a five-time swimming champion in Spain, as well as being a highly ranked athlete in the sports of handball, table tennis and judo.
James "Hollywood" Robinson is a former American professional basketball player, most notably in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently the head coach of the Vegas Ballers of TBL.
The 1977 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1976–77 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. It was Portland's first NBA title. Bill Walton was named NBA Finals MVP.
Michael David Holton is an American former professional basketball player, and current television studio analyst for the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA. Born in Seattle, Washington, he played college basketball at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1979 to 1983, and was selected in the third round of the 1983 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, but began his NBA career with the Phoenix Suns in 1984–85. Holton, a 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m), 185-pound (84 kg) guard, also spent his career with the Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers, and Charlotte Hornets. He also played in the CBA for four teams in as many seasons from 1983 to 1992. He started 60 games for the expansion Charlotte Hornets. Holton briefly played for Great Taste Coffee in the Philippine Basketball Association.
Audie James Norris is an American retired professional basketball player and coach. Norris played for the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, from 1982 to 1985. His former teammate Mychal Thompson, who is the father of Klay Thompson, gave him the nickname "The Atomic Dog", because of his brutal in-game dunks.
Joe Binion is an American former professional basketball player who played briefly in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the North Carolina A&T Aggies, where he was a three-time conference player of the year.
Michael Thomas Rice Sr. is a former National Basketball Association color commentator, one half of the Portland Trail Blazers' television broadcasting team. A former player and coach, he is the only broadcaster ejected from an NBA game.
Brian Wheeler, commonly known by the nickname "Wheels", is a radio announcer and host best known for his work as the play-by-play radio announcer for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association from 1998 to 2019.
Anfernee Tyrik Simons is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played prep basketball for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He became the first American to enter and be selected in an NBA draft directly after graduating from high school since the league first implemented age restriction rules in 2005.
