Trail Blazers founder and president emeritus Harry Glickman passed away on Wednesday at the age of 96, according to a press release from the team. When the NBA granted Portland an expansion franchise back in 1970, Glickman put together the group of investors who would cover the expansion fee and become the club’s initial owners.
Gilckman headed up the Blazers’ business and basketball operations departments for more than a decade after the team joined the NBA, helping lead Portland to its first and only championship in 1977. He was one of the shareholders that sold the franchise to Paul Allen in 1988 and maintained an active role with the team until his retirement in 1994.
“The Trail Blazers have long been the beneficiary of Harry’s vision, generosity, and inspiration,” current Blazers owner Jody Allen said in a statement. “As the team’s founder and first General Manager, his leadership was instrumental in igniting our city’s pride and passion for sports. I am grateful for Harry’s many contributions to the franchise over the years. He will be missed by many.”
Here’s more on the Blazers:
- In a conversation with Lisa Robinson of Vanity Fair, Blazers star Damian Lillard said he thought he might be sent to the Knicks a few years back, admitting that he had “heard trade rumors.” Lillard also said he has some concerns about the NBA’s restart plans, but trusts that the league is taking the necessary precautions to “keep us safe.”
- Speaking to Robinson, Lillard expressed plenty of confidence about the Blazers’ chances in Orlando this summer. Asked about the possibility of moving up to No. 8 in the West and potentially playing the Lakers in the first round of the postseason, Lillard replied, “I think we could beat them.”
- Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony wants to learn more about the NBA’s safety protocols before getting fully on board with the summer restart, as he told Turner Sports during an #NBATogether stream on Wednesday. “As far as actually playing and going back down into Orlando, I’m still up in the air a little bit because we don’t have all the details.” Anthony said, per Scott Gleeson of USA Today. “We don’t know a lot of information, so until we have that, it’s hard to just commit to that 100 percent.”
Only in “Dame’s world” can the PTB ever beat the LAL… in the real world they have like 0% chance of it!
In the Disney-sponsored biodome playoffs, there is absolutely no way to know what will happen. No team has a 0 chance. These guys haven’t played for months. No fans. No home court advantage. The best team then probably isn’t the best team now. And every team always worries about injuries to top players in the playoffs, now a positive Covid test derails everything. It’s going to be nuts. Blazers, Nuggets, Rockets, Jazz, Sixers… any team could get on a roll in the weird environment.
Portland would have to make the playoffs first, which isn’t very likely. But those who still think that a Lakers/Bucks Finals is a foregone conclusion are in for a huge letdown. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if neither team made it, especially the Lakers in an insanely deep field in the West.
Blazers are healthy. But not beating Lakers. There are no guarantees this yr. The playoffs are going to be fun. I think Clippers are coming out west. I think Bucks are coming out East. But both can be beaten if not serious and prepared. After all this time off. Weird things can happen. So you better be prepared and serious every series.
The Blazers aren’t healthy missing their starting small forward, Rodney Hood. The playoffs will have the very oddest of set of circumstances, and if Roger Maris’ 61* got an asterisk what will a season have where teams didn’t play the same number of games during the regular season?