Rip City Project
Fansided

From Petrie to Glide to Dame: The All-Star history of the Portland Trail Blazers

By Matt George Moore

Geoff Petrie, player for the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team.
Geoff Petrie, player for the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team. /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 17
Next
PORTLAND, OR – 1987: Steve Johnson of the Portland Trail Blazers shoots against the Utah Jazz during a game played circa 1987 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Brian Drake/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR – 1987: Steve Johnson of the Portland Trail Blazers shoots against the Utah Jazz during a game played circa 1987 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Brian Drake/NBAE via Getty Images) /

STEVE JOHNSON

How many Trail Blazers fans, if asked who made the All-Star team in 1988 alongside Clyde Drexler, would know the answer?

Pat yourself on the back for the depth of your Rip City knowledge if you knew the answer was Steve Johnson. (You must be a Beavers fan, too.)

Steve Johnson
Steve Johnson /

A 6-foot-10-inch power forward/center from Oregon State University, Johnson doesn’t appear often in the Trail Blazers’ record books. And when he does, it’s for things like personal fouls (340 in 1986-1987) and turnovers (276 that same season). But he also shot a high percentage from the field; Johnson is eighth all time in field goal percentage (.540) for the Trail Blazers.

Johnson is perhaps best remembered in Rip City for being forced to play center when Sam Bowie was lost to injury.

And how did Johnson feel about that?

“Right after (Bowie) broke his leg,” Johnson said, “I remember sitting on the bench going, ‘Sheesh. We have to go out and find a center. And I looked at the situation and realized: Dang! It’s going to be me again! I don’t want to play center no more.”

In his lone All-Star season, Johnson averaged 15.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, but he missed the All-Star game itself due to injury.