Netflix is scheduled to release a documentary in early April focused on the late 1990s Portland Trail Blazers teams – or the “Jail Blazers” as they were commonly known due to public perception of many players on the team being associated with trouble off the court.
It brings to mind the 2020 documentary about the early 1990s Blazers teams, which was just a touch more positive.
Surviving starters Clyde Drexler, Buck Williams, and Terry Porter sat for extensive interviews with director David Trager. They discussed their bond as teammates, their love for the Portland community, and how badly they wanted to win a championship for the Rose City. And those feelings still linger more than three decades later.
The former Blazers greats also tugged at the heartstrings as they looked back on the lives of fallen teammates Drazen Petrovic, Kevin Duckworth, and Jerome Kersey. Former Blazer Cliff Robinson is mentioned throughout, but he passed away after production completed, so he was not referenced as a fallen player.
Three of the greatest players in franchise history talking about their firsthand experience in one of the best eras of Blazers basketball brings to life so many great memories. Those early 90s teams were so much fun to watch, could beat any team on a given night, and had the most successful three-season run in franchise history.
They never won fewer than 57 games in a season, made it to the NBA Finals twice, and played in three consecutive Western Conference Finals. Their 179-67 record over those three seasons with Finals appearances bookending the experience may never be matched. Throw in the 1993 season, which ended in a first-round exit and all but ended their short reign atop the West, and they were a whopping 230-98 in four years.
If not for running into three all-time great dynasties in three consecutive playoffs in the Detroit Pistons (runner up in 1988, champs in 1989-90), LA Lakers (champs in 1987-88, runner up in 1989, runner up in 1991) and the Chicago Bulls (champs in 91-93) who knows how many titles they could have won. The Trail Blazers only lost playoff series to those teams from 1990-1992, posting a terrific 34-24 record in the postseason but emerging with no championships to add to the one the 1977 team brought home.
Hearing your childhood heroes talk about each other and how much fun the game was for them makes you feel like a kid again. As you watch them talk over highlights of their fast breaks, stadium-shaking slam dunks, and unreal defensive stops, you want to break out old mix tapes and find the one with “Bust a Bucket” and listen to it while you play NBA Jam on your SEGA Genesis. You’ll probably need to get some stuff out of the attic to make this happen, and it may not even be your attic, but it’s never a bad time for an awkward dinner with your folks if the attic is the top level in their house.
There may not be a better Blazers era than the early 90s, but each era definitely has a home in the hearts of fans.
While I’m very curious to see what stories (and, for that matter, what version of those stories) come out next month in the Jail Blazers doc, I am more interested in being brought back to the good days when things were great. The late-90s teams were fun and definitely full of dreams, but they never reached the level the early-90s teams did.
Everyone had a favorite player in the late 90s and hoped that team could find a way to defeat the evil empire known as the Lakers, but there’s a reason everyone was so quick to love the Brandon Roy Blazers and later the Damian Lillard Blazers. I would gladly watch a doc on any era of Blazers Basketball. Still, I think Netflix is aware of the negative association with the late 90s teams and wants to cash in on the drama, rather than letting people revisit the best of times.
If you want to look at the biggest moment in Blazers history, check out this doc on the 1977 team and how they got the ultimate prize. ESPN recently produced a documentary on Bill Walton called “The Luckiest Guy in the World” that includes his time with Portland, but covers his whole career, so you’ll be limited to just his time here.
Some day, Portland will win a second title, and when that happens, we can review if that team is the greatest era in team history. Right now, my vote goes to the 90-92 teams. They may not have won a league title, but some teams don’t, and that doesn’t take away from their insane accomplishments. One team wins a title every year, but sometimes a team completely wins over their fans, and this team absolutely did that.
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