Me too. He was connected to my family and I had the privilege to spend several holidays with him. I miss him.
Geoff Petrie Damian Lillard Maurice Lucas Terry Porter Buck Williams Honorable Mention: Jerome Kersey Brandon Roy Bill Walton Jim Paxson Lloyd Neal
Sabonis, Brian Grant, Pippen, Roy, Lillard - I am 38 and started watching in the early 90s. I have vague memories of watching the '92 finals with the Blazers vs. Jordan's Bulls.
Damian Lillard Clyde Drexler Derozan Petrovic Rasheed Wallace Buck Williams Sixth man would be Steve Smith
Grant, Kersey, Lucas are definitely top 3 favs. Add Lillard and probably Sheed to round out my top 5.
1. Lillard . . 2. Sabonis 3. Porter 4. Bates 5. Kersey I'm 54 years old. I've been going to games since my dad bought season tickets in 1974. Now my son and I go to games.
Couple of tidbits. Met Larry Steele at a Portland Beavers game in late 70's, got autograph. When the Blazers practiced at Green Meadows in Vancouver, met Billy Ray. I was a huge fan, and i tell my girlfriend, that's Billy Ray Bates. He looks at me and goes "she doesn't know who i am". He was a confident dude. Oh so fun to watch. Walked to work, saw Darnell Valentine. Went over to say hi. He was so cool and walked the rest of the way with me to the Plaid Pantry i worked at. Did security at a building where Kenny Carr had business. He was super nice. Jerome Kersey got his car tricked up at one of my customers i delivered too. He was super cool and cordial. That's who he was . Taken way too soon. Worked at Petco for a while. Sold a couple of dog houses to Kevin Duckworth. Big Duck had some big Rotties. Also left way too soon. Moved to Denver and saw Calvin Natt at the grocery store. He was an intense dude. Big Raider Fan. Maybe working with stiffs at his mortuary made him kinda coarse. Terry Porter is a teddy bear. Just a 1st class guy. Side note: Brooke is as sweet as she seems. What a wonderful person full of light. Took pictures with my daughter and me. I was so nervous. That happens sometimes when you have a crush on someone.
I wish Drazen would have had a better experience in Portland. He didn't like sitting behind Drexler. Being on the bench made him miserable according to Vlade Divac. As it turns out, he ended up being a sensational player. Taken way too soon. Man! I just don't like Ainge. As a Blazer he was ok.
Moved to Portland in 2002, so had a good stretch of shit play to watch. But my list is more recent than most because of that. In no order, Roy, Rudy, Dame, Przybilla, and RoLo. I feel like I've probably liked others more for short stretches, but was frustratd enough by other stretches. Guys like Batum, Aldridge.
Looking back, Drexler traded for a beat up Yugo in ,Long in the tooth , Otis Thorpe was a low point, along with LaMarcus moving on when the franchise was really moving in the right direction. Man LA was so good as a Blazer.