Team:
Portland Trailblazers
Sport: NBA Basketball
Background: The Portland
Trail Blazers are a National Basketball Association
team based in Portland, Oregon.
Founded: 1970
Home Arena: Rose Garden
Arena
Uniform colors: Red and black
Logo design: Five parallel
red lines slant right and upward from the
bottom and curve left to meet five parallel
white lines that curve downward and leftward
from the top. It is supposed to represent
trails being blazed.
NBA Championships: 1977
Owner: Paul Allen
Early Franchise history
On February 6, 1970, the NBA board of governors
granted the Blazers franchise, after the Blazers
paid $3.7 million to join the league. In that
year, the Buffalo Braves and the Cleveland
Cavaliers also joined the league. The team
was based around Geoff Petrie, a first round
draft choice, and the 6'10" (2.08 m)
tall LeRoy Ellis, who they picked up in the
expansion draft. Their first season the Blazers
finished with a 29-53 record, which although
generally poor was the best out of the three
new teams to the NBA. The next year, the Blazers
won only 18 games, but rookie Sidney Wicks
was named Rookie of the Year of the NBA. The
Blazers did not beat their first season's
record until they drafted Bill Walton from
UCLA.
