1978–79 Portland Trail Blazers season

NBA professional basketball team season March 2026 August 2023 Portland Trail Blazers 1979 45 37 Pacific 4 6 Jack Ramsay Harry Glickman Larry Weinberg Memorial Coliseum KOIN KWJJ First round(lost to Suns 1–2) POR The 1978–79 Portland Trail Blazers season was the ninth season of the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). During the offseason, MVP Bill Walton demanded to be traded, citing unethical and incompetent treatment of his and other players' injuries by the Blazers' front office. He did not get his wish and sat out the 1978–79 season in protest, signing with the San Diego Clippers when he became a free agent in 1979.Red Hot and Rollin': A Retrospection of the Portland Trail Blazers' 1976–77 NBA Championship Season Love Matt 2007 Nestucca Spit Press Pacific City, Oregon 978-0-9744364-8-7 119 Before the draft, Larry Bird had just finished his junior year at Indiana State. However, he was eligible to be drafted without applying for "hardship" because his original college class at the Indiana University had graduated.http://www.nba.com/history/players/bird_bio.html Larry Bird Bio NBA.com Turner Sports Interactive, Inc September 27, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100901165029/http://www.nba.com/history/players/bird_bio.html 1 September 2010 livehttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UZsSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yvYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6476,1347273 If Blazers draft Bird, they won't wait year to sign him June 6, 2010 The Bulletin Bend, Oregon October 1, 2010 He initially enrolled at Indiana in 1974 but dropped out before the season began. After sitting out a year, he enrolled at Indiana State.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1998/bird/flashbacks/1988flash.html A Player for the Ages Frank Deford March 21, 1988 Sports Illustrated Time Warner Company October 1, 2010 September 30, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130930041901/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1998/bird/flashbacks/1988flash.html dead Despite being eligible for the draft, he stated that he would return to college for his senior season. His hometown team, the Indiana Pacers, initially held the first overall pick. However, when they failed to persuade him to leave college early, they traded the first pick to the Blazers, who also failed to convince him into signing; ultimately the Blazers used the first pick on Minnesota standout center Mychal Thompson.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Z_ceAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-pcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4896,1533338 Thompson picked first Alex Sachare June 11, 1978 Daily News Bowling Green, Kentucky October 1, 2010https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KMkmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xo4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=1801,1597729 Blazers Get No. 1 Pick June 9, 2010 Sarasota Journal Sarasota, Florida Lindsay Newspapers Inc October 1, 2010 As a result, the Blazers fell 13 games from their franchise-best record of the previous year, barely squeezing into the playoffs with a 45–37 record that earned them the sixth and final seed, only two games better than the Clippers. The Blazers were ousted from the 1979 NBA Playoffs after losing their best-of-three series to the Phoenix Suns, two games to one. Draft picks 1978 NBA draft Note: This is not a complete list; only the first two rounds are covered, as well as any other picks by the franchise who played at least one NBA game. Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 1 Mychal Thompson F/C Minnesota 1 7 Ron Brewer G United States Arkansas 2 24 Keith Herron G/F United States Villanova 2 44 Clemon Johnson F/C United States Florida A&M 5 110 Clay Johnson G United States Missouri Roster Portland Trail Blazers #000000 #FFFFFF #d1210a #FFFFFF 10 Ron Brewer G 6 4 180 Arkansas 30 Bob Gross F 6 6 200 Long Beach State 14 Lionel Hollins G 6 3 185 Arizona State 20 Maurice Lucas F 6 9 215 Marquette 36 Lloyd Neal F 6 7 225 Tennessee State 25 Tom Owens F/C 6 10 215 South Carolina 15 Larry Steele F 6 5 180 Kentucky 11 Willie Smith basketball G 6 2 170 Missouri 33 Ira Terrell F 6 8 200 Southern Methodist 43 Mychal Thompson C/F 6 10 226 Minnesota 13 Dave Twardzik G 6 1 175 Old Dominion 32 Bill Walton C 6 11 210 UCLA yes IN Jack Ramsay Bucky Buckwalter Regular season thumb|The Trail Blazers played their home games at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Season standings POR POR z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot Game log Playoffs Portland Trail Blazers 1979 yes #000000 #FF0000 Portland Trail Blazers First round no yes yes #FF0000 #000000 1 0 0 2 |- | 1 | April 2 | @ Phoenix | L 103–107 | Ron Brewer (26) | Thompson, Lucas (10) | Lucas, Brewer (5) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,660 | 0–1 |- | 2 | April 4 | Phoenix | W 96–92 | Ron Brewer (21) | Mychal Thompson (17) | Maurice Lucas (4) | Memorial Coliseum12,666 | 1–1 |- | 3 | April 6 | @ Phoenix | L 91–101 | three players tied (16) | Maurice Lucas (16) | Maurice Lucas (9) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,660 | 1–2 |- POR 1979 yes Awards and honors Mychal Thompson, All-NBA Rookie Team Ron Brewer, All-NBA Rookie Team Maurice Lucas, NBA All-Defensive Second Team Lionel Hollins, NBA All-Defensive Second Team Maurice Lucas, NBA All-Star References Category:Portland Trail Blazers seasons Portland Portland Trail Blazers 1978 Portland Trail Blazers 1978 Portland Trail Blazers Portland Trail Blazers