The team formerly known as the “Jail Blazers” are making a documentary about themselves.
Damon Stoudamire, a member of those early 2000's Portland Trail Blazers teams, discussed details of the documentary, via Oregon Live's John Canzano:
“We've convinced people who haven't talked really about this before to partake in this. It will be the good and the bad … the bad arrest, players feuding with media, internal friction, we're not gonna hold back.”
As some may remember, the Blazers of the early 2000's had a roster full of stars. But what they were best known for, other than coming up short of a championship, was the fact that several of their players were arrested during that time period.
Stoudamire, Rasheed Wallace and Qyntel Woods were each cited for marijuana possession. Woods even pled guilty to first-degree animal abuse for staging dog fights in house.
While they were nicknamed the “Jail Blazers,” fans of Portland were extremely frustrated with the team's cast of troublemakers. The organization eventually cleaned house by the time the 2003-04 season arrived, forcing the Blazers to rebuild.
Stoudamire explained that the documentary is not meant to tear the franchise down, but shed light on the story of a team that won a lot of games:
“We're not trying to tear the franchise down,” he said, “… we were a young team that ultimately had all the ingredients to be special … a lot of people to point the finger at during that time, but the bottom line is we just didn't get it done. …”
The former 5-foot-10 point guard wants people to know that in spite of all of the bad, the team really left it all on the line to win:
“We left at least one finals appearance on the table. We can never make people forget the bad of that era. What we want, Oregonians especially, to know is we made mistakes, but we left it on the line for the town and basketball-wise the franchise hasn't had that success since we left.”
As of now, it's known that Stoudamire, Wallace, and Bonzi Wells will be involved with the documentary. It is not yet known where the documentary will be distributed.
Follow Us
Subscribe