We all laughed a few years ago. It was fun to joke around with. Hell we didn’t even have to make the jokes, they did it for us.

I’m talk about the Portland Trailblazers of 2000 to present day.They made O.J. look like a princess.

Too bad they don’t swap NBA teams for a season. Could you imagine those Blazers playing in Utah for a year.

They made headlines for getting DWI’s, smuggling weed into airports, fighting each other, cursing out refs, and starting the headband trend.

We loved it and you know the Portland owners secretly loved the publicity. And hell, their foundation had enough make-up to win a championship, so you forget all those silly miscues.

They had enought talent to dismantle the original Dream Team. Shawn Kemp, Rasheed Wallace, swingman Scottie Pippen, Damon Staudamire, Steve Smith, Bonzi Wells, and one of the best foreign centers of all time, Sabonis.

The only problem was Sabonis hated all of them. Probably felt like the only virgin guy at a Puffy party. His crafty skills hardly were utilized because his teamates never passed him the ball.

Their star power though was enough to defeat the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. Leading by 16 in the 4th quarter of Game 7, their invitation to the Finals and David Stern’s worst nightmare was looming.

But they blew it. Then they were never heard of again.

Now comes news that Greg Oden, this years top pick in the draft will miss his entire rookie season. Coupled with Lamarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, and Joel Pryzbilla, this enticing group of youngsters were supposed to be the next 1996 Timberwolves.

These Blazers are supposed to be the next Big Thing in an already star drowned Western Conference.

Who knows, maybe the Blazers luck will twist and they will land the #1 pick in next years draft. Add another piece to their already bright puzzle.

But I sure miss those days of 2000 and can only dream of a Blazers-Knicks Finals had NY defeated the Pacers and Portland held onto that 4th quarter lead.

Maybe next year.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 17th, 2007 at 5:20 pm and is filed under Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.