Portland is a weird city, and Portlanders love to remind people about it. If one were to watch Portlandia (like a certain sister of mine), they would get a certain opinion of the Rose City/Bridge City/Stumptown/Beervana. But what you would never get is the Rip City culture.
And who’s to blame them? The stereotypical “hipster” is what most people think about when they think Portland. And the stereotypical “hipster” does not seem like much of a sports fan.
Maybe a casual soccer fan, because that is a pretty niche group. But basketball is so…mainstream.
Enter Rip City. Blazermania. Trail Blazer fans are some of the most loyal, and at the same time the most starved, fans in the NBA. Dr. Jack Ramsay and the 1977 NBA Champions! From 1977 to 1995, the Blazers sold out the Rose Garden for every game. That’s 814 games, the longest sold-out streak of any major American professional sport.
But since the early 1990’s, the Blazers have been verging on general irrelevance. Now I know that many fans will hate to hear that, and I am braced for negative feedback from that, but the Blazers played in the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, and only won 4 playoff series in 22 years. The last time the Blazers won a playoff series was in 2000, when they beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round and the Utah Jazz in the second round.
But this is the NBA, being “just good enough to make the playoffs for several years” is a waste of time.
Sure, Brandon Roy was a great player when he was healthy. And sure LaMarcus Aldridge has been an All-Star caliber player for the greater part of a decade. But in professional sports, you need to win the title – or at least get close. So for twenty years, the Blazers have been generally irrelevant.
Then the Blazer picked an average-sized, Big Sky Conference State point guard from Weber State by the name of Damian Lillard. Lillard had scouts raving, but had no big-time college hoops stats to fall on.
But on Friday May 2, Lillard made a play that was potentially the most historically relevant for the Trail Blazers since 1992.
With just two seconds left, Chandler Parsons drained a two pointer that gave the Rockets a 98-96 lead. The fans in the Rose Garden were mentally preparing themselves for a loss, and a trip to game seven in Houston.
As one of those people, I can say that my heart sunk when I saw that the ball was going to Lillard. I was sure it was going to Aldridge for a lay-up. That’s their last second play.
But then he hit the three. And the Rose Garden erupted. The Blazers fans were high fiving and hugging. I’m shocked that we didn’t storm the court, quite frankly.
Then, in something that I consider even more powerful, Lillard grabbed the mic and said, “RIP CITY!”
The fans got louder. It was easily the loudest I’ve ever heard anything. Lillard was already a fan favorite. Old and young fans loved him. Now he was cementing himself in Trail Blazer Lore.
Lillard entered the NBA with something to prove. He’s been told he can’t make it all of his life. No big colleges gave him the time of day in high school. Many thought he was too short.
He was a unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year and won the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. Lillard averaged 19.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game.
In only his second year in the Association, Lillard competed in not one, not two, but every major NBA All-Star Week event. Lillard put the “all” in All-Star Week as he appeared in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest, the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, and the NBA All-Star Game.
In his second year in the NBA, Lillard averaged 20.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.5 rebounds per game. He’s become the official No. 2 scorer on the Blazers after Aldridge.
Lillard is a rare talent that truly excels at both passing and scoring. In the modern NBA, many point guards like to score before passing (Jeremy Lin, Stephen Curry, and Russell Westbrook) and some are passers who don’t shoot the ball often (Ricky Rubio and Jason Kidd).
Lillard reminds me of Tony Parker in many ways. In his career, Parker averages 16.7 points, 5.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game – numbers that are almost identical to Lillard. But even more so, Parker is the second best player on his team behind Tim Duncan, a power forward. But even more so, Parker is capable of carrying the slack if Duncan is not playing well.
They also play very similarly. Both Parker and Lillard excel at running the lane and hitting lay-ups, and can shoot from three-point range as well as anyone in the NBA.
Lillard is a true talent and that was cemented on May 2’s game six win over the Rockets. There is a chance of a dynasty here in Portland, and they can start hanging the number O number in the rafters.
Lillard is officially Portland royalty.
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