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 the 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.
Chauncey Ray Billups is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Billups spent the majority of his 17-year basketball career playing for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he won the NBA Finals MVP in 2004 after helping the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals, and was given the nickname "Mr. Big Shot" for making late-game shots with Detroit. The Pistons retired his No. 1 jersey in 2016. After playing college basketball with the Colorado Buffaloes, he was selected third overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. A five-time NBA All-Star, a three-time All-NBA selection and two-time NBA All-Defensive selection, Billups also played for the Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Clippers during his NBA career.
Michael Lloyd Miller is an American basketball coach, former professional player who is the boys' basketball head coach at Houston High School in Germantown, Tennessee, as well as being a sports agent. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after being selected by the Orlando Magic in the first round of the 2000 NBA draft with the fifth overall pick. Miller was named the NBA Rookie of the Year with the Magic in 2001 and was voted NBA Sixth Man of the Year with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2006. He won two consecutive NBA championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.
David Vanterpool is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his playing career, he earned an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection during the 2003–04 season, while playing with Montepaschi Siena.
Ernest Maurice "Kiki" VanDeWeghe III is a German-born American-Canadian former professional basketball player, coach and executive who is an advisor for the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, he was a two-time NBA All-Star.
The 1978 NBA draft was the 32nd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1978, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York, before the 1978–79 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip. The Indiana Pacers won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Kansas City Kings, who obtained the New Jersey Nets' first-round pick in a trade, were awarded the second pick. The Pacers then traded the first pick to the Portland Trail Blazers before the draft. The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. Before the draft, five college underclassmen were declared eligible for selection under the "hardship" rule. These players had applied and gave evidence of financial hardship to the league, which granted them the right to start earning their living by starting their professional careers earlier. Prior to the start of the season, the Buffalo Braves relocated to San Diego and became the San Diego Clippers. The draft consisted of 10 rounds comprising the selection of 202 players.
The 1976–77 NBA season was the 31st season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Portland Trail Blazers winning their first NBA Championship in franchise history, beating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the NBA Finals.
David Bruce Wohl is an American former basketball player and coach, and the former general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers. A 6'2" guard who grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey and played collegiately at the University of Pennsylvania, Wohl was selected in the 3rd round of the 1971 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He played for six different teams over a seven-year career, including the 76ers, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Buffalo Braves, the Houston Rockets and the New York/New Jersey Nets. He was traded from the 76ers to the Trail Blazers for Dale Schlueter on October 2, 1972.
Christopher Quinn is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the top assistant coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
John Kevin Crotty is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'1" point guard from the University of Virginia, Crotty was undrafted, but played in 11 National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons from 1992 to 2003. After retiring from the NBA, Crotty moved into sports broadcasting with the Miami Heat.
Chris Wallace is an American professional basketball executive and scout who is the director of scouting for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Erik Jon Spoelstra, nicknamed "Coach Spo", is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Spoelstra is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the league and one of the greatest of all time. He has won two NBA championships as the head coach of the Heat. A Filipino American, Spoelstra is the first Asian American head coach in the history of the four major North American sports leagues and the first Asian American head coach to win an NBA title.
Kim Galen Hughes is an American former basketball player and coach. He played professional basketball in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the New York / New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, and Milwaukee Bucks between 1975 and 1981. Hughes served as the interim head coach for the Los Angeles Clippers for 33 games in 2010. On July 4, 2015, he was fired from his position as an assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Mason Alexander Plumlee is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He primarily plays the forward and center positions. As a freshman in 2009–10, he was a back-up forward for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team's national championship team, playing with his older brother Miles. He was a 2009 McDonald's All-American in high school. During his senior year at Duke, he also played with his younger brother Marshall. He was selected with the 22nd overall pick by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2013 NBA draft. Plumlee was also a member of the United States national team that won a gold medal in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
The 2012–13 NBA season was the 67th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 30, 2012, when the 2011–12 NBA champions Miami Heat started the season by hosting the Boston Celtics. The 2013 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 17, 2013, at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The regular season ended on April 17, 2013, and the playoffs began on April 20, 2013 and ended on June 20, 2013, with the Miami Heat defeating the San Antonio Spurs in seven games to win the 2013 NBA Finals.
Patrick Bergin Connaughton is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he primarily plays as a shooting guard.
The 2016 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2016, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN, and was live streamed for the first time in NBA draft history by The Vertical. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The draft lottery took place during the playoffs, on May 17, 2016. This was the first time since the lottery system was introduced in 1985 that all NBA teams that missed out on the playoffs remained in the exact spots they were designated, meaning the 10-win/72-loss Philadelphia 76ers received the No. 1 pick, the Los Angeles Lakers kept the No. 2 pick, the Boston Celtics via the Brooklyn Nets got the No. 3 pick, and everyone else stayed in their same spots based on the regular season standings from the 2015–16 season.
