1970 - 1971 Here Come the Blazers

As a lifelong fan of my hometown Portland Trail Blazers, a decade ago I began collecting basketball cards of my favorite team.  My collection is not about future inflation in value of pictures on cardboard but more to do with my enjoyment of the hunt and, more importantly, my love of this franchise.  This blog is intended to be an homage to the last 5 decades of the Blazers, it's players, and the basketball hobby, all in one.

Of course, there's no place to start but the beginning. The Blazers came into being in 1970 when the NBA board of governors granted Portland, through local area sports promoter Harry Glickman, a franchise for a $3.7 million admissions tax. To raise the money for the $3.7 million admission tax, Glickman associated himself to real estate magnates Bob Schmertz of New Jersey, Larry Weinberg of Los Angeles and Herman Sarkowsky of Seattle.  Two weeks later, on February 24, team management held a contest to select the team's name and received more than 10,000 entries. The most popular choice was "Pioneers," but that name was excluded from consideration as it was already used by sports teams at Portland's Lewis and Clark College. The name "Trail Blazers" received 172 entries, and was ultimately selected by the judging panel, being revealed on March 13 in the halftime of a SuperSonics game at the Memorial Coliseum. Derived from the trail blazing activity by explorers making paths through forests, Glickman considered a name that could “reflect both the ruggedness of the Pacific Northwest and the start of a major league era in our state.” Despite initial mixed response, the Trail Blazers name, often shortened to just "Blazers", became popular in Oregon.

Along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Buffalo Braves (now Los Angeles Clippers), the Trail Blazers entered the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team, under coach Rolland Todd. Portland took the floor for the first time on October 16, 1970, and defeated Cleveland, 115-112. Guard Jim Barnett scored the first point in Blazers history by sinking a free throw at the 9:18 mark of the first quarter.

Portland ended it's first season with a 29-53 record, the best of the new expansion teams. Buffalo was 22-60, and Cleveland struggled at 15-67.
 

The 1970-71 Blazers were presented by Topps (Base set 175 cards (NBA) Size: 2½ × 4-11/16 in.)

 as follows:

• Leroy Ellis was a 6'10" center from St. John's university.  Over the course of his career, Ellis recorded 10,176 points and 8,709 rebounds.  He joined the Blazers after being selected from Baltimore in the expansion draft and was in the starting lineup for Portland's first game.  He continued playing basketball long after his professional career ended, including being a part of several Senior Masters Games national championship teams in Portland.  Ellis died of prostate cancer on June 2, 2012, at the age of 72
• Stan McKenzie was a small forward/guard who played college ball at NYU.  He was a durable player who played in all 171 games during his 2+ seasons with the Blazers.
• Dorie Murrey was a 6'8" forward from Detroit who played just 2 games for the Blazers before being traded to Baltimore for a second round draft choice.

• Gary Gregor was a 6'7" forward/center from UNC who missed the first 31 games of the Blazers inaugural season after tearing a knee ligament during training camp.
• Dale Schleuter was a 6'10" center selected in the expansion draft from San Francisco.  Schleuter played back up to Leroy Ellis during the 1970-71 season.
• Fred Hetzel is a 6'8" forward center from Davidson College and though his card denotes him as a Blazer, he didn't play a game for Portland.

• Rick Adelman played college ball for Loyola in California.  He was selected by the Blazers in the expansion draft from San Diego and played 3 seasons for the Blazers.  Adelman is now more well known after coaching in the NBA successfully for 20+ years, currently with the Minnesota Timberwolves.  It's also worth noting that the Adelman family lived in our town growing up and I saw him frequently at school and sports functions.
• Ed Manning, father of NBA star Danny Manning, was a Blazer for just the 1970-71 season but played 79 of the 82 games that year.  Manning has remained active in the NBA as an assistant coach and scout.
• Jim Barnett, scorer of the Blazers first ever point (it was a free throw), was an All-American at the University of Oregon. Barnett is currently in his 27th year of broadcasting for the Golden State Warriors.

A remark on the cards themselves, these skinny and long cards were no doubt an attempt by Topps to reflect the height of basketball players and to differentiate the cards from their baseball and football versions.  The back of the cards all contain the requisite stats and blurbs, as well as a cartoon and "fun fact".  My favorite was that of Jim Barnett:

Course, back in the 1970's, players didn't make enough money from basketball and endorsements during the season so they had to supplement their income doing other jobs.  In Jim Barnett's case, that involved selling insurance.

And speaking of Jim Barnett, while playing for the Trail Blazers in 1971, Barnett attempted a rushed long-range shot against the rival Los Angeles Lakers. His shot went in, prompting Blazers play-by-play announcer Bill Schonely to exclaim "Rip City! All right!" The phrase "Rip City," the meaning for which Schonely has no explanation, nonetheless caught on and became synonymous with the team and the city of Portland.