Rip City Project
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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. /
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PORTLAND, OR – MAY 2: Portland Trail Blazers fans hold up a ‘Rip City’ sign in the fourth quarter of Game Six of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Houston Rocketsduring the 2014 NBA Playoffs at the Moda Center on May 2, 2014 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR – MAY 2: Portland Trail Blazers fans hold up a ‘Rip City’ sign in the fourth quarter of Game Six of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Houston Rocketsduring the 2014 NBA Playoffs at the Moda Center on May 2, 2014 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /

KERMIT WASHINGTON

Perhaps better known for a punch that nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovich and for legal troubles that plagued his post-playing career, Kermit Washington was a Trail Blazers All-Star in 1980.

Kermit Washington
Kermit Washington /

A 6-foot-8-inch, 230-pound power forward out of American University, Washington was the fifth overall pick of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1973. He was acquired by the Trail Blazers in 1979 as part of a deal that compensated Portland for the then-San Diego Clippers’ signing of Bill Walton.

Washington played three years in Portland; he made an incredibly high percentage of his shots while wearing the Blazers uniform, and he was a prodigious rebounder. And during his 1979-1980 All-Star season, he averaged 13.4 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.

Injuries derailed Washington’s career, though, and he retired from basketball in 1982. He attempted a comeback with the Golden State Warriors in 1987, but played in just six games.