Old '77 Blazermania article

[PtldPlatypus]

I just happened upon NBA.com's "encyclopedia" and noticed this old article about our '77 title team. Especially for someone who wasn't around 32 years ago, this was fascinating, and well-written.

http://www.nba.com/encyclopedia/blazermania.html

I especially liked this line:

Ramsay discovered that special feeling soon after he arrived in Portland from Buffalo, where he had guided the Braves to the playoffs in the previous three seasons. After meeting with his new players, Ramsay prepared to depart but was stopped by Walton.

“Coach, there’s one more thing,” Walton said. “Don’t assume we know anything.”

Sure seems like it was a special dynamic back then.

 

[chris_in_pdx]

Search through the old Sports Illustrated articles on their archive:

After beating the Lakers in the WCF in 1977
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1092432/index.htm

During the Championship Series in 1977
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1092491/index.htm

After winning the Championship in 1977
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1092515/index.htm

The 1977-78 NBA Season Preview - Blazers
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1092959/index.htm

Maurice Lucas - The Enforcers article
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1092961/index.htm

This may be my favorite of all the artices... during the 1978 season when the Blazers were destroying the league like few others in history:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1093313/index.htm

 

[BenDavis503]

Awesome links and thanks both! I love reading about old NBA. I just found out they used to have 1 on 1 tournaments at the all star break!
Crazy!

 

[chris_in_pdx]

My favorite line from all of these articles:

Whatever the case, somebody from this division (The Pacific) again should eventually win the (1978) NBA championship, surely handing out several of what Seattle's Slick Watts calls "voodoo-whuppins." Explains Slick, "You get whupped and whupped and whupped again, and you never know what does the whuppin'."

Somebody should let him in on it. Blazermania does the whuppin'. Nobody does it better.

This continues to be an inside joke between my brothers and I to this day.