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.
Recent franchise history
After nine years as president and general manager,
Bob Whitsitt announced his departure from the Trail
Blazers on May 7, 2003, stating that he was retiring
to focus his attention on the Seattle Seahawks NFL
team. However, he had been the subject of continuous
criticism from the team's fans and both the local
and national press for team performance on the court,
as well as player legal troubles off the court. The
Blazers announced Steve Patterson as team president
June 18, 2003 and announced that John Nash would become
general manager on July 15.
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External links
Portland Trail Blazers official web site (http://www.nba.com/blazers/)
Official Portland Trail Blazers Summer Pro League
practice web site (http://www.summerproleague.com/)
