Atlantica - 01.03.2001, Page 33

One team. One dream. That’s the mantra (or marketing
campaign) of this year’s Portland Trail Blazers, a
team that came within a dog’s whisker of making,
and most likely winning, the NBA Championship last year.
The Blazers’ title hopes were foiled by its hated rivals, the
Los Angles Lakers, in a crushing defeat that came in the sev-
enth and deciding game of the Western Conference Finals.
How bad was the loss? Even non-sports fans can appreciate
Portland’s devastating setback – blowing a 15-point, fourth-
quarter lead – that caused Scottie Pippen to say his team
played like “cowards” down the stretch. For Blazer
Maniacs (myself included) the debacle was more painful
than the dissolution of a long-term relationship. You know
the feeling, when the stomach aches with emptiness.
In the offseason, management used the deep – some say
endless – pockets of billionaire owner, Paul Allen (who
amassed his fortune at Microsoft with his buddy, and co-
founder, Bill Gates), to beef up the squad for another run at
A T L A N T I C A 3 1
NBA
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