PORTLAND – Wednesday morning ahead of the Portland City Council Session at City Hall, the Trail Blazers organization was honored by the city.
Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts, along with President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey, and Senior Vice President of Venue Operations Chris Oxley sat in front of Mayor Ted Wheeler, Commissioner Nick Fisher, and the rest of the City Council while Wheeler proclaimed June 12th, 2019 Trail Blazers Day.
“This is a proclamation honoring the Portland Trail Blazers. I’d like to thank coach Terry Stotts and Neil Olshey, Chris Oxley, and the Blazers staff for joining us this morning. I want to congratulate the Blazer players for having a truly incredible season this year,” Mayor Wheeler said.
Mayor Wheeler addressed Stotts and Olshey directly in front of a packed house at City Hall in downtown Portland.
“I want to thank them for re-energizing the city," Wheeler said. "I just have to say this on a personal note, the Blazers played hard right down to the final buzzer and people in this city noticed it, people in this city were inspired by it and I thank you.”
It’s a special @trailblazers day at the Portland City Council session this morning #RipCity https://t.co/mHbbWtXcDB
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) June 12, 2019
Wheeler also shared his gratitude for the Rip City faithful.
“I’d like to thank the Blazers fans throughout the city for supporting the Blazers on their journey to the Western Conference Finals.”
“We’re so proud to have a team like the Portland Trail Blazers here and their entire organization and this is a proclamation on behalf of the entire Portland City Council honoring you for the great things you do in this community, not just on the court, but beyond, in helping to serve young people and people throughout this community all throughout this year,” Wheeler said.
Portland’s Mayor then read the proclamation that included a brief history of the franchise, mentioning Blazer greats, Clyde Drexler, Bill Walton and Terry Porter, along with honoring the Blazers late owner Paul Allen.
Wheeler finished the proclamation by stating, “Now therefore, I, Ted Wheeler, the Mayor of the City of Portland, Oregon, the City of Roses, do hereby proclaim June 12th, 2019 to be Portland Trail Blazers Day in Portland and encourage all residents to observe this day.”
"I @tedwheeler, Mayor of the City of Portland, OR, the City of Roses, do hereby proclaim June 12, 2019 to be: Portland Trail Blazers Day in Portland." 🌹🌹🌹🌹 pic.twitter.com/YySw8NJD5q
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) June 12, 2019
Before the Council took a photo to remember Trail Blazers Day, Olshey spoke to the public about how grateful he was for Paul Allen’s sister Jody Allen taking over the team this past season.
“No organization has a greater owner right now than Jody Allen… Her motivating us everyday led to us acquiring Rodney Hood, it led to acquiring Enes Kanter, it helped us see it through when Jusuf Nurkic went down and the adversity we faced,” Olshey said.
Olshey went on, saying, “I want to thank her in front of this body for everything Jody has done for our organization.”
Portland’s GM also formally announced that Damian Lillard received the NBA’s prestigious J. Walter Kennedy Award on Wednesday. The award is given annually to an NBA player, coach or staff member who has shown “outstanding service and dedication to the community.”
Coach Stotts finished the City Council address, by thanking them for the tremendous honor.
“I’ve been in the NBA for over 25 years… I’ve been to all the cities, know all the teams, and to be the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers in this city, with this fan base, we are very fortunate and as much as you appreciate what we do, we appreciate the city,” Stotts said.