Eggers - Jail Blazers : how the Portland Trail Blazers became the bad boys of basketball

Copyright 2018 by Kerry Eggers

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Tom Lau

Cover photos credit: AP Images

Print ISBN: 978-1-68358-260-1

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-68358-261-8

Printed in the United States of America

To Stephanie, who held my hand, both literally and figuratively, through the entire process of writing this book. Love you, girl.

We had nobody going to jail when I was there. But Trail Blazer, Jail Blazerthats a good sound.

Bob Whitsitt

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INTRODUCTION: THE COLLAPSE

I am still stunned. It was like, Where did the lead go? We were up by 16 points, and it should have been over.

Damon Stoudamire

Outside Staples Center, the weather was seasonably warm for Los Angeles in late spring.

Inside the arena, the Los Angeles Lakers were feeling the heat.

The date was June 4, 2000, and the Portland Trail Blazers were attempting to become the seventh team in NBA history to come back from a 31 deficit to win a playoff series.

It was Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, a duel between what many experts believed were the best two teams in the NBA.

The Blazers were on the precipice of facilitating the Lakers first three-game losing streak of the season. More important, they were about to write a ticket to their first NBA Finals appearance in eight years.

Portland led 7155 late in the third quarter, with Rasheed Wallace running rampant at the offensive end, Steve Smith outplaying 21-year-old Kobe Bryant at shooting guard, and Arvydas Sabonis doing a serviceable job keeping Shaquille ONeal in check.

In New York, broadcaster Peter Vecsey was watching in the NBC studio.

I got on the phone and made my reservations at the RiverPlace Hotel in Portland, Vecsey says today. Done deal.

On the visitors bench, Brian Grant was salivating.

Im thinking, Man, were going to the NBA Finals, and were going to win a championship, the Blazers forward says today.

Teammate Jermaine ONeal looked into the stands, and I noticed some of the Laker fans were leaving the building, he says today.

Another Blazer, Antonio Harvey, was sitting behind the bench.

Im looking at my hand, and Im thinking there is a 100 percent possibility Ill be putting a ring on this finger on opening night next year, he says today. Were all thinking it. You could tell by the swagger of the team at that moment. We all felt like we were heading to the Finals and that we were going to win.

In the broadcast booth in the middle echelons of Staples Center, TV analyst Mike Rice reached for his cell phone and pulled out the antenna.

At the end of the third quarter, I was calling a friend in Indiana to make tee times, Rice says. Thats how sure I was that that team wouldnt fall apart and lose.

The final seconds ticked down in the third quarter, and the ball wound up in the hands of Lakers guard Brian Shaw at the 3-point line near the top of the circle.

Shaw overshot it and banked it in from 3, said Bob Costas, on the TV call for NBC along with Steve Jones and Bill Walton that day.

Even with the basket, the Blazers took a 7158 lead into the fourth quarter. After outscoring the Lakers 2919 in the third, they were in terrific shape to win the game and the series against a Laker team that had gone 6517 during the regular season, the best record in the league.

Behind the Portland bench, though, Joe Kleine was shaking his head.

When Shaw hit that shot, it made me feel very uncomfortable, the Blazers reserve center says today. It was lucky, and we didnt need the Lakers to get lucky.

Smith restored some order by scoring on a runner on Portlands first possession of the final period for a 7358 advantage. The Blazers edge was 7560 with just over 10 minutes to go. The Men in Black were still very much in charge.

But suddenly, the worm turned for the Blazers. Sabonis got his fifth foul and departed with 8:35 left. Wallaces shooting touch vanished, and it was contagious. Portland missed 13 shots in a row from the fieldsix by Rasheed. The Lakers used a 150 run to knot the score at 7575 with four minutes to go. Staples Center was a house of pandemonium.

Wallace finally broke the drought with a drop-over layup. But the 7-foot-3 Sabonis, who had returned to the Portland lineup, drew his sixth foul and was gone with 2:44 to play. Shaq made two free throws (he had hit 8-of-12 from the charity stripe), then scored on a bank shot to give the Lakers a 7977 lead.

At the other end, ONeal goaltended a Wallace jumper, and it was 7979 with 1:50 left. Bryant made a pair at the line, and Wallace missed two gifters at the other end. Kobe knocked down a long jumper, and Scottie Pippen missed a 3-pointer. Bryant drove past Pippen and tossed a lob pass to Shaq, whose one-hand flush gave the Lakers an 8579 lead with 41.9 seconds to go.

After a timeout, Wallace bombed in a long 3 to give the Blazers life with 34.1 seconds left; when the Lakers Ron Harper splits a pair at the line to make it 8682, Portland was still in it. Smith drove for a layup and picked up his sixth foul on Kobe, who helped out by clanking two free throwsthe Lakers missed 17 for the game. But Smith was short on a jumper at the other end. When Robert Horry sank a pair at the line for an 8882 lead with 17.8 seconds to go, it was all but over.

The Collapse was complete. The Blazers had blown a 16-point lead over the final quarter plus four seconds, getting outscored 3113 in the fourth quarter while missing 18 of 23 shots from the field. It was the biggest fourth-quarter comeback ever in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history.

I have never seen one quite like that, Jackson told the media afterward. My condolences to Portland. Also, my congratulations on a great season and a well-fought series.

In the Blazers locker room, heads were hung. Pippen, hunting his seventh NBA titleand his first away from the Chicago Bulls stablewas inconsolable.

Its tough to swallow, he told reporters, beginning a harsh self-appraisal. Im sure it will be all summer. We cant bring that fourth quarter back. Wish we could.

Headline in The Oregonian the next day: In This Macabre Horror Film, the Choke is on the Blazers.

Years later, Portland coach Mike Dunleavy would take issue with the choke label.

For now, he said, I believe if we had another game, wed win.

Unfortunately for the Blazers, it wasnt a best-of-nine series.

After exhausting his time with the media, Dunleavy said, Im going to go home, have a cold beer, and relax. There is no sense talking about wouldve, couldve, and shouldve.