The Portland Trail Blazers are a professional basketball team in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Trail Blazers are owned by Thomas Dundon. His predecessor, Jody Allen, assumed ownership of the team upon the death of her brother Microsoft co-founder and Vulcan Inc. chairman Paul Allen, in 2018.

The Trail Blazers' rallying cry is "Rip City", coined by play-by-play announcer Bill Schonely during their inaugural season. The team holds the NBA record for most consecutive sell-out games – set between April 9, 1977, and November 16, 1995.

The Trail Blazers have retired several players jerseys, including Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame members Clyde Drexler and Bill Walton. Jack Ramsay, who was the Trail Blazers head coach from 1976 to 1986, had the number 77 retired in honor of Portland's only NBA Finals victory in 1977. Portland has had four NBA Rookies of the Year; Geoff Petrie (1971), Sidney Wicks (1972), Brandon Roy (2007) and Damian Lillard (2013). The only NBA Most Valuable Player that earned the award as a member of the Trail Blazers was Bill Walton in 1978.

Background and franchise opening

Harry Glickman got interested in creating an NBA team in his hometown of Portland, Oregon as soon as the Memorial Coliseum was opened in 1960. The league commissioner at the time, Maurice Podoloff, refused on the grounds that Oregon was too far. Given that in the 1960s new commissioner J. Walter Kennedy expanded the league into the West, on February 6, 1970, the NBA board of governors granted Portland – along with Buffalo and Cleveland – the rights to a franchise in return for a $3.7 million admission. Glickman got the money from real estate magnates Robert Schmertz of New Jersey, Larry Weinberg of Los Angeles and Herman Sarkowsky of Seattle – who was recommended by Dick Vertlieb, then general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics.

1970–1974: Early franchise history

The Blazers started play in the 1970–71 NBA season, along with the Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team was led by coach Rolland Todd, brought from the University of Nevada, and was based around Geoff Petrie, a first-round choice in the 1970 NBA draft out of Princeton University, and LeRoy Ellis, whom they acquired in the 1970 NBA expansion draft. In their first season, the Blazers finished with a 29–53 record, which was the best of the three new teams in the NBA. Petrie was named co-Rookie of the Year after averaging 24.8 points per game.

The next season, the Blazers won only 18 games, but rookie Sidney Wicks was named Rookie of the Year after averaging 24.5 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game. The following year, the team used the first pick in the NBA draft on LaRue Martin and the Trail Blazers finished at 21–61.

1974–1979: Bill Walton era The Blazers did not beat their first season's record until they drafted Bill Walton from UCLA in 1974. In the first two years, under coach Lenny Wilkens, the Blazers improved, but still did not post a winning record (nor did they make the playoffs). In the 1976 off-season, Wilkens was fired and replaced with Jack Ramsay. In that off-season, four-time All-Star Sidney Wicks was sent to Boston and the team acquired forward Maurice Lucas in the dispersal draft that occurred when the American Basketball Association was acquired by the NBA.

1977 championship

In the 1976–77 campaign, the Blazers posted their first winning record, going 49–33 under the leadership of Ramsay. Bill Walton led the NBA in both rebounding and blocked shots, and was named to the All-Defensive first team. The team—Walton at center, Lucas and Bob Gross at forward, and Dave Twardzik and Lionel Hollins at guard—made the playoffs for the first time. The Blazers won the NBA championship in their first time in the playoffs. After defeating the Chicago Bulls (who were a Western Conference team at the time) and the Denver Nuggets (a surviving ABA team) in the early rounds, the Blazers defeated the favored Los Angeles Lakers, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in four consecutive games. They then went on to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 4–2 for the championship. Following his dominating performance, Walton was named MVP of the NBA finals.

The team started the 1977–78 season with a 50–10 mark, and some predicted a dynasty in Portland. Walton was named the league's regular season MVP and both he and Maurice Lucas were named to the NBA All-Defensive first team. A rash of injuries set in, however, most notably an injury to Bill Walton's foot that ended his season and would plague him over the remainder of his career. The team struggled to an 8–14 finish, and lost to the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1978 conference semifinals. That summer, Walton demanded to be traded to a team of his choice (Clippers, Knicks, Warriors, or 76ers) because he was unhappy with his medical treatment in Portland. Walton was never traded, and he held out the entire 1978–79 season and left the team as a free agent thereafter. Maurice Lucas left the team in 1980, and the Blazers "dynasty" was finished.

The early 1980s

Despite the loss of several key players due to injury (most notably Walton, who left the team in 1979), the team continued to play competitive basketball. The sellout streak continued. The team continued to make the playoffs every year except for one (1981–1982), and on several occasions advanced past the first round. However, the NBA's Western Conference at that time was dominated by the L.A. Lakers (with a few Finals appearances by the Houston Rockets).

In the 1978 draft, the Blazers (for the third time in their history) landed the #1 pick in the draft; and selected Mychal Thompson, a center originally from the Bahamas. Over the next several years; the team acquired several other players who some thought could form the nucleus of a championship contender—Jim Paxson, T. R. Dunn, Fat Lever, and Wayne Cooper.

1983–1994: Clyde Drexler era In 1983, the team selected Clyde Drexler, who would go on to a Hall of Fame career (eventually winning an NBA title with Houston).

Looking for help at center, the Blazers used the #2 pick in the 1984 draft to draft center Sam Bowie. Although Bowie had missed two full collegiate seasons due to leg injuries, the Blazers took him while Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton were all still on the board. Bowie suffered a series of leg injuries that limited his production for the team; he even missed the entire 1987–88 season due to injuries. Bowie is now considered one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history. The Blazers had far better luck with their second-round pick, Jerome Kersey, who would be one of the anchors of the franchise for a decade. That summer, the team sent Dunn, Lever, Cooper, Calvin Natt and two draft picks to the Denver Nuggets for forward Kiki Vandeweghe.

In 1985, the team selected point guard Terry Porter in the draft.

After several consecutive seasons of losing in the first round, the Ramsay Era ended in the summer of 1986 when the long-time coach was fired and replaced with Mike Schuler.

Summer of 1986

In the first round of the draft, the Blazers (who had two picks) selected forward Walter Berry out of St. John's and center Arvydas Sabonis out of the Soviet Union. Later in the draft, the team reached behind the Iron Curtain again, and chose guard Dražen Petrović from what was then Yugoslavia. Drafting two players from the Eastern Bloc was highly controversial—the Cold War was still going on, and some doubted that either player would be permitted to come play in the NBA. (The selection of Sabonis would become even more controversial in 1988, when the Lithuanian center was allowed to come to Portland to train, and then led the Soviet Union to a gold medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.)

After only a few months with the team, Berry was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for another rookie, center Kevin Duckworth.

1986–1988: Mike Schuler era Mike Schuler was hired prior to the start of the 1986–87 season as head coach of the Blazers. In his first two campaigns, the Schuler-led Blazers posted records of 49–33 (in 1986–87) and 53–29 (in 1987–88). Both teams made the playoffs (with home court advantage) but were defeated in the first round (to Houston in 1987, and to the Utah Jazz in 1988). In both years, the Blazers were among league leaders in scoring, but near the bottom of league rankings in defense and rebounding statistics.

The Schuler era was marked by several controversies regarding the starting lineup. The first such controversy occurred when Clyde Drexler won the starting guard spot over veteran Jim Paxson, who subsequently demanded (and got) a trade; eventually traded to Boston for Jerry Sichting. In the 1987–88 campaign, veteran center Steve Johnson was injured, and was replaced in the lineup by Duckworth, who went on to win the starting job from the foul-prone Johnson. As the team was winning, these controversies were glossed over at first.

1988–1989: The season of change and Paul Allen's ownership

At the conclusion of the 1987–88 campaign, the team was purchased by current owner Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft for $70 million from Larry Weinberg. The sale made Allen, then 35, the youngest team owner in all of the Big Four professional sports. The team quickly fell apart during the year, as the issue of who should start became paramount. In addition, a number of veterans were unhappy with Mike Schuler's coaching style; as a result the team limped to a 39–43 record and barely made the playoffs (where it was ousted by the Lakers 3–0 in the first round). Schuler was fired; assistant Rick Adelman was given the head coaching job on an interim basis.

That summer, Sam Bowie and a draft pick were traded to the New Jersey Nets for veteran forward Buck Williams, a respectable defensive and rebounding power forward. Vandeweghe was sent to the New York Knicks for a draft pick, and Johnson was taken by the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves in the expansion draft. Dražen Petrović was permitted by the Yugoslav authorities to come to Portland and join the team. For the second round of the draft, Portland selected a young forward from UConn, Clifford Robinson.

1989–1992: Return to the finals

With the exception of the championship year of 1976–77 (and the following season), the early 1990s is generally regarded as the greatest era in team history. In the 1989–90 campaign, the team posted a 59–23 record, and defeated the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, and Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference playoffs. The team was ultimately defeated by the defending-champion Detroit Pistons, led by Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas, 4–1.

That off-season, Petrović joined the New Jersey Nets, where he would perform at an All-Star levelNBA.com, 1993 All-Star Game Boxscore: West 135, East 132 (OT) before his death in an auto accident in 1993. To replace him, the team signed free agent guard Danny Ainge, who had won three titles with the Boston Celtics in the 1980s. In the 1990–91 season, the Blazers posted a 63–19 record—the best in the league and the best in franchise history. They ended the Lakers' nine-year reign over the Pacific Division and won home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The season ended when the Lakers defeated the Blazers 4–2 in the Western Conference finals.

In the 1991–92 campaign, the Blazers repeated as Pacific champions. They steamrolled through the Western Conference playoffs en route to a showdown with the Chicago Bulls in the Finals—one that they lost 4–2, and which cemented the reputations of both Jordan and Drexler (placing the latter firmly in the former's shadow).

1992–1994: End of the Adelman era