This upcoming year is the 50th season in existence for the Portland Trail Blazers, and as such the team has quite a bit in store for us.
The Blazers already released a first look at the court they will be playing on this season. It harkens back to the very first court that Portland played on back in 1970 during the first year of the team’s existence.
Now, the Blazers are offering fans a chance to relive the 1977 NBA championship with none other than Bill Walton.
In a release posted to social media on Tuesday, the Trail Blazers said that fans will be able to go on a celebratory bike ride with Big Red himself. The route will follow that of the original championship parade, going from Veterans Memorial Coliseum on the east side of the Willamette River and ending in downtown Portland at one of the several park blocks.
Via Twitter:
Ready to ride down memory lane? Relive the Championship parade as you Bike with @BillWalton! We’re teaming up with @Biofreeze and @SundayParkways Aug. 25 at 2 p.m. as we bike from Veterans Memorial Coliseum to Terry Schrunk Plaza for a special announcement. Come enjoy the ride! pic.twitter.com/czgl5CYjd9
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) August 20, 2019
This is pretty incredible given that things didn’t end well between Walton and the Blazers organization. There was a lot of back-and-forth about Walton’s foot in 1978, and it ended with the San Diego native sitting out the 1978-79 season, eventually signing with the Clippers in 1979. Things have calmed since then, but this is still nice to see.
No word yet on what the Blazers plan to reveal, but my guess is that it will be some kind of retro jersey that features the vertical BLAZERS wordmark a la the kind Walton wore in ‘77.