I am so incredibly hyped up for the start of the NBA Playoffs right now. The Blazers/Rockets series tips off in just a couple of hours. Portland secured home court advantage during the very last game on the NBA season schedule by clobbering so-called division winner Denver on the home floor. Portland finished tied with Denver with 54 wins on the season, improving by 13 wins over last year's 41-41 mark. I don't think I have a season recap in me right now that wouldn't be full of !!!!!!s and OMG!s, so I'll stick to talking about the cards. First up are the last two cards of the 50 pack that I bought at an early season game. Portland did surpass 50 wins, so I had to dig up some extra goodies for this post.
This was the only duplicate in the box. As you can see, I didn't really have the foresight to save anything particularly amazing until the end of the season. I think this design was a pretty solid one for Upper Deck's second set.
From my own Blazers binder, here's a Terry Porter Fleer rookie card. Porter was going into his 3rd NBA season when this came out, but Fleer did not include him in their legendary first set. You can only fit so many players into a 132 card set, I suppose.
Another past Blazers playoff hero: Brian Grant. This isn't the Brian Grant that most Blazers fans would recognize, though. This shot was from before the lockout season where Grant apparently got bored and grew out some dreadlocks, which he became well known for. Grant went toe-to-toe and elbow-to-face with Karl Malone in a brutal playoff series in 1999 in a matchup that Malone should have won. Malone didn't win, and neither did his team, as Portland went onto the Western Conference finals before eventually losing to San Antonio.
Another Blazers playoff legend: the late, great Kevin Duckworth. This also happens to be one of the best basketball cards in all of history. Just look at it and try to tell me about one that's better.
That's right! World Champions! The Blazers are due! Exclamation points!!!!$$$!!
I am so incredibly hyped up for the start of the NBA Playoffs right now. The Blazers/Rockets series tips off in just a couple of hours. Portland secured home court advantage during the very last game on the NBA season schedule by clobbering so-called division winner Denver on the home floor. Portland finished tied with Denver with 54 wins on the season, improving by 13 wins over last year's 41-41 mark. I don't think I have a season recap in me right now that wouldn't be full of !!!!!!s and OMG!s, so I'll stick to talking about the cards. First up are the last two cards of the 50 pack that I bought at an early season game. Portland did surpass 50 wins, so I had to dig up some extra goodies for this post.
This was the only duplicate in the box. As you can see, I didn't really have the foresight to save anything particularly amazing until the end of the season. I think this design was a pretty solid one for Upper Deck's second set.
From my own Blazers binder, here's a Terry Porter Fleer rookie card. Porter was going into his 3rd NBA season when this came out, but Fleer did not include him in their legendary first set. You can only fit so many players into a 132 card set, I suppose.
Another past Blazers playoff hero: Brian Grant. This isn't the Brian Grant that most Blazers fans would recognize, though. This shot was from before the lockout season where Grant apparently got bored and grew out some dreadlocks, which he became well known for. Grant went toe-to-toe and elbow-to-face with Karl Malone in a brutal playoff series in 1999 in a matchup that Malone should have won. Malone didn't win, and neither did his team, as Portland went onto the Western Conference finals before eventually losing to San Antonio.
Another Blazers playoff legend: the late, great Kevin Duckworth. This also happens to be one of the best basketball cards in all of history. Just look at it and try to tell me about one that's better.
That's right! World Champions! The Blazers are due! Exclamation points!!!!$$$!!
Brian Grant was on our flight from Portland to Denver about ten days ago. He was seated in first class, of course.
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