Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers are a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association, based in Portland, Oregon. They are one of the city's two top-level professional sports franchises, alongside the Portland Timbers of the MLS.

The team started in 1970 as an expansion franchise. They have been to the Finals three times (1977, 1990, and 1992), winning their only title in 1977.

From 1977-1995 the team sold out every home game, a then record in all of professional sports. However, in 1995 the team, in order to quickly rebuild, obtained numerous players with off-court issues; the trend of obtaining problem players continued for over a decade, earning them the nickname "Jail Blazers" and threatening the team's viability in Portland.

The team has also had two disastrous drafts: the 1984 draft saw them select Sam Bowie at #2 (who would be repeatedly injured and retire early; the next pick in the draft was Michael Jordan) and 2006 saw them draft Greg Oden with the first overall pick (like Bowie, he would have injury issues; then rivals Seattle Supersonics would select Kevin Durant with the next pick).

## Retired Numbers[edit]

* #1 Larry Weinberg (Founder)
* #13 Dave Twardzik
* #14 Lionel Hollins
* #15 Larry Steele
* #20 Maurice Lucas
* #22 Clyde Drexler
* #30 Robert Gross
* #30 Terry Porter
* #32 Bill Walton III
* #36 Lloyd Neal
* #45 Geoff Petrie
* #77 Jack Ramsay

## Official Team Website[edit]

* Official Site of the Portland Trail Blazers

NBA Teams
|  | East  |  |  | Atlantic: |

* Boston Celtics
* New Jersey Nets
* New York Knicks
* Philadelphia 76ers
* Toronto Raptors

|

| Central: |

* Chicago Bulls
* Cleveland Cavaliers
* Detroit Pistons
* Indiana Pacers
* Milwaukee Bucks

|

| Southeast: |

* Atlanta Hawks
* Charlotte Bobcats
* Miami Heat
* Orlando Magic
* Washington Wizards

|

| West  |  |  | Southwest: |

* Dallas Mavericks
* Houston Rockets
* Memphis Grizzlies
* New Orleans Hornets
* San Antonio Spurs

|

| Northwest: |

* Denver Nuggets
* Minnesota Timberwolves
* Portland Trail Blazers
* Oklahoma City Thunder
* Utah Jazz

|

| Pacific: |

* Golden State Warriors
* Los Angeles Clippers
* Los Angeles Lakers
* Phoenix Suns
* Sacramento Kings

|