Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers remain one of the best “small market” teams in professional sports. As an NBA franchise, the Blazers won an NBA Championship and produced many winning seasons. All-time greats like Bill Walton and Clyde Drexler -the latter owning many Blazers’ team stats records- have represented the franchise.

In recent seasons, Portland has managed to stay competitive and make the playoffs, though not much else. Damian Lillard has been a perennial All-Star but the team continues to re-tool around him, making it hard to trust it on the NBA odds board.

General Information

Conference & Division

• Founded: 1970
• Conference: Western
• Division: Northwest

City: Portland, Oregon

Stadium: Moda Center

Championships & Titles

Years:

• NBA Championship
• 3 Conference Championships
• 6 Division Titles

Portland Trail Blazers All-Time Records

Most points all-time:

• Clyde Drexler, 18,040

Most rebounds all-time:

• LaMarcus Aldridge, 5,434

Most assists all-time:

• Terry Porter, 5,319

Most steals all-time:

• Clyde Drexler, 1,795

Most blocks all-time:

• Mychal Thompson, 768

Most wins all-time (coach):

• Jack Ramsay, 453

Portland Trail Blazers Stats & Team History

While the Trail Blazers began like most expansion teams, it quickly ascended to the top of the NBA. The Blazers selected Bill Walton in the 1974 NBA Draft and then Maurice Lucas, during the 1976 dispersal draft due to the ABA-NBA merger. In the same year, they hired Jack Ramsay as the head coach.

With this foundation, Portland made the playoffs for the first time in 1977. Led by Walton, the Blazers upset both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers to win its first and only NBA Championship. This unexpected title run birthed “Blazermania,” where the team began a record-breaking sellout streak of 814 straight games until 1995.

The Blazers followed up their title-winning season with 58 wins in the next. Walton won MVP but suffered a debilitating foot injury, and Portland was upset in the playoffs. The superstar center then demanded out of Portland while Lucas also left in 1980.

Portland still remained an “okay” team until it drafted Clyde Drexler in the 1983 NBA Draft. Nicknamed “Clyde the Glide”, he would go on to become an eight-time All-Star with the franchise, and a runner-up for MVP in 1992.

With Drexler leading the Portland Trail Blazers’ team stats, the franchise endured ownership turmoil to become a powerhouse in the league. The Blazers made two NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992 while winning at least 51 games for four straight seasons. However, the NBA title eluded them.

By the mid-90s, Portland declined and Drexler left the team. The Blazers rebuilt by acquiring younger talent like Rasheed Wallace. Along with veterans like Scottie Pippen and Steve Smith, Portland became a contender again by the late-90s. The team even came close to returning to the NBA Finals in the 2000 NBA Playoffs but squandered a 16-point lead and lost to the Lakers.

For the first half of the 2000s, the Blazers became infamously known as the “Jail Blazers”. The roster was littered with troubled players like Bonzi Wells and Zach Randolph. But by 2006, the Blazers began to ascend again, with young stars in LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy.

Though Roy’s stint would be cut short by a career-ending injury, Aldridge kept the Blazers in contention. In 2012, Lillard joined the franchise and promptly became its best player. To this day, Lillard’s prolific exploits have endeared him to the fans. But winning an NBA title does not seem to be plausible yet.

Portland Trail Blazers FAQs