First and foremost, Harry, rip city two thanks you for taking the time to do this interview with us. From all of us at the site, we wanted to offer the deep appreciation we have for you. You of course were a co-founder of the Portland Trail Blazers. Without you we would not be here, rooting for the best team in the NBA. We have compiled questions from the many members of the rip city sports two forum. Everyone is very interested and very eager to hear your unique perspective on the Blazers during and after your time with them. Lets get to it! Before you landed an NBA franchise for Portland, you were negotiating to have an ABA team here. Q: How close did that come to happening? Are you glad it didn’t? There was never any real interest here. We have all heard the story about your raincoat and how it played a large part in the Blazers becoming a team in the NBA. Q: Where is your legendary raincoat now? We made a duplicate of it, and it’s in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. I have no idea where the original would be. There is so much rich history when it comes to the Blazers. It all of course begins with the 1970 NBA draft. Q: Had Petrie not been available who would have been the very first Blazer (of the players still available)? Geez I don’t remember. That was an exceptionally good draft that brought Bob Lanier, Pete Maravich, Dave Cowens, Rudy Tomjanovich. That was a very good draft, we would have gotten a great player. The NBA has changed quite a bit since 1970, from how the game is played, to how the teams are run, to how the league is run. Q: Please describe the 1970s' smaller NBA team staffs: Typically, the majority owner was team President, the minority owner was GM, and there was one Assistant Coach. We had a very, very small staff. We had a bookkeeper, a secretary, a ticket manager. I remember we ordered furniture at a factory in Southern California and they went on strike, and so we worked out of orange crates for about month. It was interesting. Q: Can you compare being an owner in the 1970s to now. How about the GM? Today we have many millionaires, even billionaires, nowhere like back then. When I came into the league, GMs dabbled very little in radio and TV, and now it’s a very big department of every team in the league. The Blazers of course won their only championship in 1977. There is no fonder memory for Blazer fans. Q: Aside from the Blazers’ 1977 championship, what is your fondest memory? The two Conference Championships we won with Drexler, Porter and Buck Williams. Those were very exciting teams. Another big moment in Blazers history that is often discussed by fans is the 1984 draft. The Blazers of course picked Sam Bowie with the 2nd pick in the draft. They passed on Michael Jordan. Q: At the time how hard was the decision between Bowie and Jordan? Very, very difficult. But at the time as you’ll recall, we needed a center badly. We had Jim Paxson going out and Clyde Drexler coming in. We needed a center more than a guard. In retrospect, yeah I would have taken Jordan, but we were able to move Bowie for Buck Williams, so it was a pretty good move in the long run. Q: If Jordan wasn’t next on your board, who was? Charles Barkley. That was a good draft. The Blazers have experienced a great amount of adversity through their history. There has been a lot of eras. A lot of deep runs for the O'Brien trophy. It has proved elusive. Q: What do you think about the current Blazers team and what do you think is needed to become contenders in the near future? I’m not the right guy to ask, but I think we have a great guard combination. It is interesting to look back and forward through the eras at the many different players that sported the red, white, and black. In the forum, we often have fun debating over who the best players were. We would like to hear your thoughts. Q: Who's your Top 3 Blazer players of all time? Walton, Clyde and Petrie. We didn’t have the 3-point shot at the time, but if we did Petrie would probably be our all-time leading scorer. Q: Name your all-time Blazers Starting 5 + a 6th Man + Coach. Walton-Buck Williams/Lucas-Bob Gross-Drexler-Hollins/Porter-Lloyd Neal (6th)-I like all the coaches. Speaking of furious debates we would like to get your take on the following Q: Michael Jordan vs Lebron James? Oh boy that’s a tough one. I guess I would pick LeBron. Q: What are your thoughts on super teams? Are they the downfall of the league? What bothers me is teams that are trying to buy their way into championships instead of drafting and using trades. I don’t think you should be able to buy your way into a championship. Here at the forum, we are a close knit community. We are hardcore fans of the Blazers. We consider each other like a family of sorts. We share the same camaraderie with all who are associated with the Blazers. We hope that life is treating you well. Q: What are you up to these days? I listen to a lot of books, watch a little television, follow my Oregon Ducks closely, and can hardly wait for the season to start. I still enjoy watching the ball go through the hoop. Q: Is anyone going to play you in the new Judy Garland movie? Why was she the end of your entertainment, concert endeavors? Was it just the no show or were you just more passionate about sports? That was so long ago. All I know is she made a sports promoter out of me. There are several veterans on the rip city two forum. We all thank you for your service during World War II. We would with great respect, like to ask, on behalf of our S2 veterans, some questions pertaining your time in the war. If you do not wish to answer these questions we understand completely. Q: If it's alright, could you tell us about the battle at Herrlisheim (which was regarded as the division's "baptism of fire")? Did you participate in the battle? If so, what was the fighting like? Were there any memories that stood out? Yeah, we lost most of the battalion. Many were casualties of an intense battle. Q: Do you recall General Patton? What did you think of him? I read that Patton took control of the 12th at one point and spoke high praises regarding the division. I only served under him for one week. Harry, again thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us. We wholly appreciate your contributions to the Blazer’s franchise. Thank you and your raincoat for that fateful February day in 1970. We are in your debt. Rip City Two Thank you very much. I hope to see you very soon. Harry
A huge thanks to @Chris Craig for editing and formatting all our crazy questions and to Aaron Grossman for making this happen!
This interview and the forum are going to be featured in Sunday's game program. Thank you for everyone who contributed questions.
