Trail Blazers Have Attitude Deficit Disorder

You go to the games. You cheer during those big wins against the league’s best teams. The Jamal Crawford jersey is in pristine condition, carefully ironed before each trip to Buffalo Wild Wings. You read all the trade chatter as we approach the All-Star break.

But the reality is that deep down, and I’m sorry to say it, we all know that the Portland Trail Blazers are not going to win the NBA Championship this season.

There, I said it.

Why is that? Friends, put your detective hats on because we need to review history in order to predict the future. Let us examine the last ten NBA Champions:

2002: Lakers

2003: Spurs

2004: Pistons

2005: Spurs

2006: Heat

2007: Spurs

2008: Celtics

2009: Lakers

2010: Lakers

2011: Mavericks

Two things standout when you look at that list. The first is of course, star power. We’re not talking pretty good players or even very good players. No, we’re talking about true superstars. The best of the best. Each of these teams had them.

The Lakers had Kobe and Shaq, or just Kobe. The Spurs had Duncan and Parker. The Celtics had Pierce, Allen, and Garnett. The Mavericks had Nowitzki and Kidd. The Heat had Wade.

In fact, the one team on this list that seems to lack stars, the ‘04 Pistons, was actually packed. Four of the five starters were named to the All-Star team that year.

Portland? Congrats LaMarcus, but you’re not quite a true superstar in this league in the same sense that these other players are. Again, it pains me to say it, and who knows, maybe it won’t stay that way for long, but it’s the truth.

Obtaining a true superstar is incredibly difficult. Keeping them is even harder. (Hello Cleveland!) Portland is a small market town and so the Blazers will always struggle to compete for these players.

There is another way though. This list of past champions also reveals something else: Attitude. In recent years, the Blazers organization has seemingly been just as concerned with putting together a group of good citizens as it has been with putting together a group of good basketball players.

That right there is the problem.

Say what you will about the “Jail Blazer” era, but those guys fought in the playoffs. Guys like ‘Sheed or even Isaiah Rider. Look, we all know that they also had their issues off the court. Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I tune in to see a game, I want to see a “W,” not a role model. Basketball players should only be role models at playing the game of basketball. Nothing more, nothing less.

We almost had it. We all saw a bit of added aggression in Brandon Roy’s final moments in the Rose Garden as he almost single-handedly helped beat the Mavericks during Game 4.

There’s nothing wrong with having a Justice League-like virtuous group of players. The problem is if the team lacks the rough edge needed to win because of it. If you’re too soft, pay that Comcast bill because you’ll be watching the playoffs at home.

Let’s re-visit the list of past champions. Have you ever seen Kobe play? He has a competitive edge to him and a certain drive. Next time you watch a game, look our players in the eyes. They don’t have quite that intensity. The same can be said about the key players of those other championship teams.

Still not convinced? Perhaps you recall a guy named Michael Jordan. He wasn’t exactly the nicest guy, now was he? Had a bit of an (alleged) gambling problem off the court. Recently he divorced his wife due to certain indiscretions, to put it nicely. But boy did his competitive attitude help win ball games.

Without that attitude, our beloved team is bound to do exactly what we expect them to do: win a few games in the regular season (some even against top teams), probably make the playoffs, and then promptly leave said playoffs.

Look Portland, if you want to see a group of outstanding citizens, give up basketball and volunteer somewhere. It’s great that we want a nice basketball team. It really is. But this team needs a spark. It needs an edge. After all, Einstein once said that, “Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.”