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.
Julius Shareef Abdur-Rahim is an American former professional basketball player who is the president of the NBA G League. Nicknamed Reef, he previously served as the director of player personnel for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the general manager of the Reno Bighorns, the Kings' minor-league affiliate.
Richard Preston Carlisle is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously served as head coach of the Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, Carlisle played for the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and New Jersey Nets. He is also one of only eleven people to win an NBA championship both as a player and as a coach.
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.
Bob Whitsitt is a former sports executive in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NFL). He has served as the general manager for three teams: the Seattle SuperSonics and Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA, and the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL. Whitsitt, commonly known as "Trader Bob" for his penchant for making blockbuster deals, has met with mixed success in both leagues.
James Andrew Jones is an American professional basketball executive and former player. He is both the president of basketball operations and general manager for the Phoenix Suns. He played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Joseph Donald Walsh Jr. is a front office adviser of the Indiana Pacers and a former professional basketball coach. He is also the former President of Basketball Operations for the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers.
Brandon Leray Rush is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, before being traded to the Indiana Pacers on draft day, after playing for Kansas for three seasons, including the 2008 championship season. He was selected as a Wooden Award All-American in both 2007 and 2008 as a Jayhawk. Rush has also played for the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, and Minnesota Timberwolves, winning an NBA championship with the Warriors in 2015.
The Portland Trail Blazers are a professional basketball team in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Trail Blazers are currently celebrating their 50th NBA season. The franchise owner is Jody Allen, who assumed ownership upon the death of her brother Microsoft co-founder and Vulcan Inc. chairman Paul Allen, in 2018.
The 2009–10 Portland Trail Blazers season was the 40th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the playoffs, the Trail Blazers lost to the Phoenix Suns in six games in the First Round.
Neil Olshey is an American basketball executive who most recently served as the general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Prior to that, he was general manager and vice president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The 2010–11 Portland Trail Blazers season was the 41st season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Richard Cho is an American basketball executive who currently serves as the Vice President of Basketball Strategy of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association. Prior to the Grizzlies, Cho was the general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers and the Charlotte Hornets, and the assistant general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Cho was the first Asian American general manager in NBA history.
Tom Penn is an American sports executive.
The 2004–05 NBA season was the 35th season for the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association. During the offseason, the Blazers acquired Nick Van Exel from the Golden State Warriors and signed free agent Joel Przybilla. The Blazers played around .500 for the first two months, but started to struggle losing 11 of their 15 games in January. Head coach Maurice Cheeks was fired midway through the season with a record of 22–33. He was replaced by general manager Kevin Pritchard, who acted as interim coach for the remainder of the season, in which the team went 5–22. For the second year in a row, the Blazers did not qualify for the playoffs. The team's overall record of 27–55 was their worst since 1973–74, their fourth season of existence.
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.
Omari Johnson is a Jamaican-American professional basketball player. Johnson played college basketball with the Oregon State Beavers and graduated from high school at Susan Miller Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, California. He has played professional basketball in the NBA, the NBA G League, Canada and Spain.
Wade Manson Baldwin IV is an American professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague.
