The Portland Trail Blazers Mount Rushmore
Which Blazers deserve to be immortalized?
The Portland Trail Blazers have had an interesting 47 years.
Since becoming an NBA franchise in 1970, the Blazers have seen their fair share of disappointments, soul-crushing “what-ifs,” scintillating “almosts,” and a lone NBA Championship in 1977.
They’ve only have reached the Finals three times and gotten that single ring, but there are PLENTY of larger-than-life figures in Blazers history worthy of finding themselves on the franchise’s Mt. Rushmore.
Alas, there’s only room for four faces on that mountain. To kick things off, we have to start with the single greatest player in Trail Blazers history.
Bill Walton
There has never been a more impactful player in Blazers franchise history than Bill Walton. Period.
Yes, his career was too short, and his star may have burned too brightly, too quickly, for too little time, as injuries robbed the league of one of the most dynamic and multifaceted big men it had ever seen. But none of that diminished how much he meant to the Blazers.
That Walton was without a doubt the best player on the Blazers’ only championship team is just the beginning. Walton helped recast the center position as one not only one of length and force, but one of grace and skill. His full-court passes in transition were nirvana; Kevin Love’s outlets make a fair modern-day comparison.
Walton also blocked shots (averaging 2.6 BPG during his time in Portland from 1974 through 1978), passed (4.4 APG), rebounded (13.5 RPG), and scored (17.1 PPG) while shooting over 50% from the field.
From the high post, Walton surveyed the floor looking for cutters, able to throw bounce passes, entry passes over the top, and handoffs with aplomb. He could also set multiple screens on the same play, make his own cuts, bank home 15-footers, back into his man for a hook, and leap off multiple bounces for putbacks and offensive rebounds.
Beyond box stats, Walton was the soul of the Blazers. He cared. He worked hard. He played every game like it was his last, and cliches aside, never took a play off, even as his body (and, disputably, the Blazers’ medical staff) betrayed him.
There’s a reason why BBallBreakdown called Walton “the best center in NBA history,” and while you don’t need to agree, you need to respect why he’s in the conversation, and why he ought to headline any Trail Blazers’ Mt. Rushmore at LEAST until they get another title.
Dr. Jack Ramsay
Without Coach Jack Ramsay, there is no Bill Walton. At least not as we know him.
Ramsay’s coaching philosophy was summed up in a quote that now hangs, alongside an overblown image of Ramsay’s signature, in the office of current Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts:
“Teams that play together beat those teams with superior players who play more as individuals.”
A simple phrase and a simple concept, and yet revolutionary both then and now. When everyone is involved and feels like they can contribute, you get better effort from everyone on both sides of court. And if this sounds a lot like how Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr approaches managing his superteam, you’d be right.
After taking the helm in 1976, Jack Ramsay took the Blazers to their first playoff appearance in franchise history on his first try… and ended up winning the title.
Their Finals opponent was a talent-laden Philadelphia 76ers team that featured another “Dr.” by the name of Dr. J, or Julius Erving. That 76ers team may have had more star power, but their sets were predictable, without much flow, and heavy on the ISOs.
Ramsay’s teams, by contrast, featured multilayered actions with multiple screens, cutting, ball movement, and a “work for the best shot” approach that at times saw the ball careen between Walton and Lucas, back to Walton, to Twardzik, and back to Walton for the fake and a bounce pass to Gross for the finish.
Poetry in motion.
After winning a ring in ’77, Ramsay coached for another nine seasons, only capturing another two playoff series. Along the way, there was turmoil: Bill Walton, jealousy between other players and their contracts, and the growing pains of a league breaking free of its past and pushing towards a future that saw Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and later Michael Jordan pull the NBA toward the modern day.
Ramsay’s spirit has remained in Portland, and will not only never be forgotten, but will continue to be a guiding light for coaches and players alike.
Clyde Drexler
Drexler was drafted No. 14 overall in the 1984 NBA draft, a year ahead of Michael Jordan. The rivalry between the two that followed would define the NBA in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
While he played three years under Coach Ramsay, Drexler didn’t overtake Kiki Vandeweghe as the Blazers’ leading scorer until the ‘87–88 season, when Drexler averaged 27 points, 6 dimes, 7 boards, and 2.5 steals per game.
By then, “Clyde the Glide” was a household name in Portland, and that spread around the NBA and the country as his dominance continued. From becoming a starter during the ‘86–87 season until he forced a trade to Houston in 1994, Drexler averaged 23 points, 6 assists, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.1 steals while throwing down impossible dunks, making eight All-Star teams, 3 three All-NBA teams, and wining a gold medal with 1992’s Olympic Dream Team.
Clyde also led the Blazers to their first Finals appearance in 13 years in 1990 before losing to the Detroit Pistons, and again made the Finals in 1992 only to lose to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Sandwiched in between was a 63–19 regular season in ‘90–91 (still a franchise record for regular season wins, and the Blazers’ only 60-win team) and a disappointing Western Conference Finals loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Throughout the late ‘80s and into the ‘90s, there was debate about whether Drexler or Jordan was the better player, culminating in what would have made for raging Twitter debates (had the Internet been around) and even spawning the 1992 “Bulls vs. Blazers and the NBA Playoffs” video game for Super Nintendo.
Nobody was fooled: this wasn’t about two teams. It was about two players, without whom neither team would have made the Finals.
While Clyde ended his career in Houston where he earned a much-deserved ring, he will always be fondly remembered as the leader of a Portland Trail Blazers team that came oh-so-close to recapturing that feeling of ‘77.
Damian Lillard
*record scratch*
HOLD UP. How is DAMIAN LILLARD already on the Blazers’ Mt. Rushmore?
Simple: he’s the best Blazers player since Clyde Drexler.
Before we make this too complicated, consider this: the Blazers have only made the Western Conference Finals twice since 1992, right? And who was the best player on those teams? Rasheed Wallace? Damon Stoudamire? Maybe (a stretch) Scottie Pippen or (a massive stretch) Arvydas Sabonis?
Exactly.
Unless you wanna argue that Brandon Roy (whose career was cut short by injuries) or LaMarcus Aldridge (who wouldn’t have gotten out of the first round as a Blazer without Lillard) meant more to the franchise than Dame, then we can say that Dame is the best Blazer since Clyde.
But that’s not what earns him a spot among Blazers legends.
Everything else Lillard provides adds value to the fans and the team: His on-court leadership — as demonstrated by taking an overachieving team to two straight playoffs appearances — his community activism, and his reverence for (and strong loyalty to) the city of Portland on and off the court all make Lillard more valuable than his stats (22–6–4 so far for his career).
Under contract until 2021 without a team or player option, Lillard could be traded tomorrow and would still make the team’s Mt. Rushmore for all he’s done to push the franchise past the first round multiple times, embrace the city, and become an icon in his own right. Despite Portland being a smaller market, he gives shine to a city that hasn’t had much intrigue or polish as an NBA market.
Even with so much of Lillard’s NBA story left to be told, you can STILL rank him as among the Blazers’ most important players even today.
Honorable Mentions
Harry Glickman — Without Glickman, the team doesn’t come to Portland. Without Glickman, the team (even if it HAD come to Portland) may not have been named the Trail Blazers: after a naming contest, the fans’ first choice was the “Pioneers.”
While it’s tough to leave the person responsible for a team’s existence off its Mt. Rushmore, Glickman is probably better suited to serve as the bedrock upon which it rests, anyway. He served in some capacity with the Blazers from 1970 until he retired in 1994, and was famously a forgotten rain coat away from not securing the deal to bring a franchise to Portland at all.
If Mt. Rushmore had 5 faces, Glickman would be one of them.
Brandon Roy — Playing the “what-if” game isn’t much fun, particularly when you imagine a Roy/Oden/Aldridge big 3 dominating the NBA for over a decade.
Knees louise.
Roy pretty much single-handedly took the Blazers from the “Jail Blazers” era into a renaissance that saw the city of Portland (and Blazers fans all over) actually CARE about both the team and its players for the first time in a long time.
Brandon Roy saved the franchise, averaging about 20–5–5 for Portland through his prime.
Then his knees gave out.
If you haven’t watched Roy hobble out to turn a 23-point deficit into a Blazers win against Dallas in Game 4 of the 2011 Playoffs, do it now. You can see he’s hurting, but that doesn’t matter. He made it happen anyway.
Rick Adelman — Adelman’s history and the Blazers’ is woven from the same fabric. He was on the Blazers’ first roster as a player after being picked up in the 1970–71 NBA expansion draft, playing a few years in Portland before heading to Chicago.
He returned to the Blazers in 1983 as an assistant coach, survived Jack Ramsay’s departure in 1986, and became head coach in 1989 where Adelman served until 1994, coaching the Blazers to two NBA Finals and three Western Conference Finals, turning the franchise from perennial easy out to league-wide contender.
Those late 80s and early 90s teams may have been the best, most consistent, most fully-formed Blazers teams ever. That he didn’t bring a ring to Portland should do nothing to tarnish his legacy; if he had done it, it’s tough to imagine anyone else coaching the team until he decided to retire.
Bill Schonely — Schonely was the voice of the Blazers from their inception in 1970 through 1998. During that time, he did play-by-play on radio and television, only missing a few dozen games during his broadcasting career after suffering a heart attack.
Schonely coined the phrase “Rip City,” the most iconic phrase in franchise history and which is now a nickname for the city of Portland. After then-Blazers player (and current Warriors broadcaster) Jim Barnett hit a long jumper to tie the game, Schonely just sort of blurted it out before heading to a break. The producers, to their credit, decided not to cut it from the broadcast.
Affectionately known as “The Schonz,” Schonely returned to the franchise in 2003 and has been affiliated with the team ever since. Fans who catch Blazers games in Portland can often find him at Schonely’s Place inside the arena at halftime, but if you want to buy him a drink, act fast: pretty much everyone else wants to, too.
