The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) was a men's professional basketball minor league in the United States from 1946 to 2009.
Arvydas Romas Sabonis is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and businessman. Recognized as one of the best European players of all time and one of the best big man passers in the history of the game, he won the Euroscar six times and the Mr. Europa Award twice. He played in a variety of leagues, including the Spanish ACB League, and spent seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Playing the center position, Sabonis won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics, in South Korea, for the Soviet Union, and later earned bronze medals at the 1992 Olympic Games and 1996 Olympic Games representing Lithuania. He retired from professional basketball in 2005. Sabonis was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 1986 NBA draft, but he did not play his first NBA game until 1995, at the age of 30.
Terry Linn Stotts is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2012 to 2021 before most recently spending an offseason as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2023.
Kelvin Ransey is an American retired collegiate and professional basketball player of the 1970s and 1980s, respectively.
Scott William Brooks is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the top assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, he won an NBA championship with the Houston Rockets in 1994.
Bernard Thompson is an American retired professional basketball player. At a height of 6'7", he played as a small forward-shooting guard, from Phoenix, Arizona. Thompson played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 1984 to 1989.
Kelvin Parnell Upshaw is an American former professional basketball player. He is a 6'2" 180 lb (82 kg) guard and played competitively at Chicago's Marshall High School, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and the University of Utah. He played 120 games in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1988 to 1991 averaging 5.4 ppg, 2.1 apg and 1.2 rpg in 12.6 mpg.
The Portland Trail Blazers are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The franchise entered the NBA in 1970, and is one of two major league franchise in Oregon. The Trail Blazers sold out 814 consecutive home games from 1977 through 1995, the second longest such streak for American professional sports teams which was broken July 9, 2011, by the Dayton Dragons. The team has played their home games at the Moda Center, since the 1995–96 NBA season. The Trail Blazers are owned by the Paul G. Allen Trust chaired by Jody Allen, since the passing of owner Paul Allen in 2018. Since the team joined the NBA in 1970, it has won one NBA championship, three conference championships, six division championships, and has appeared in the NBA playoffs 34 times.
Charles Alexander Jones is a retired American basketball player and current college basketball coach who played for four seasons in the National Basketball Association. Primarily a forward, he played for the Phoenix Suns, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Washington Bullets during his NBA career.
The 1995–96 NBA season was the 26th season for the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association. After spending their first 25 years at the Memorial Coliseum, the Blazers began playing at the new Rose Garden Arena this season. The team acquired the eighth overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft from the Detroit Pistons, and selected Shawn Respert out of Michigan State University, but soon traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for top draft pick Gary Trent out of Ohio University. Rookie center Arvydas Sabonis from Lithuania, who was drafted 24th overall by the Blazers in the 1986 NBA draft, would finally make his debut in the NBA. The Blazers held a 24–24 record at the All-Star break, and struggled playing below .500 afterwards, posting a 26–34 record as of March 5. However, they would win 18 of their final 22 games to finish the season with a 44–38 record, which was the same record as the previous season. The team finished fourth in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference, making their 14th straight trip to the postseason, and 19th in 20 years.
The Pensacola Tornados was a basketball team that played in Pensacola, Florida in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1985–1991.
The Portland Trail Blazers are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The franchise was founded in the 1970–71 NBA season. The team made their first draft pick in the 1970 NBA draft and have selected 279 players total. The franchise won its only NBA championship in 1977, when the team was led by their 1974 first overall pick, Bill Walton, as well as multiple other former draft picks who went on to have their numbers retired by Portland. Many of the players selected have gone on to have accomplished careers while playing for the team. Clyde Drexler and Damian Lillard hold multiple Blazer records and are first in many stats. Along with Walton and Drexler, two other draft picks, Dražen Petrović and Arvydas Sabonis, went on to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame after their playing careers ended, with Petrović being inducted posthumously.
Scott Thompson is an American former basketball player. He is one of the best players in University of San Diego history and was named the conference player of the year of the West Coast Athletic Conference (WCAC) in 1987.
Marcus James Kennedy is an American former professional basketball player. He was a second round NBA draft pick and played professionally in several countries.
Perry Young is an American former professional basketball shooting guard who played one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Chicago Bulls during the 1986–87 season. He was drafted by the Trail Blazers during the third round in the 1985 NBA draft from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Terry Brooks is an American former basketball player known for his collegiate career at Alabama State University. A guard, Brooks played for the Hornets from 1985 to 1989. During his career he scored well over 2,000 career points, including Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC)-leading 23.1 per game in 1987–88 and 24.6 per game in 1988–89. In those two seasons he scored 624 and 721 total points, respectively. As a junior he led the league in free throw percentage at 81.8%.
Reginald Jordan Perry is an American professional basketball player for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Reginald Gene Cross is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball with the Miami Dade Sharks and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. Cross was selected in the 1987 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers but never played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He instead played professionally in the American Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in France, Spain and Turkey. Cross is the most recent player from the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors to be selected in an NBA draft.
Ronnie Williams was an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Florida Gators. Williams played professionally in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and United States Basketball League (USBL).
