Walton, Drexler, Lillard: A look at the Trail Blazers’ First Team All-NBA stars

When the league released the list of 2017-2018 All-NBA players, Rip City had yet one more reason to bow down before the greatness that is Damian Lillard.

It’s been a heckuva week for Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard

First, ESPN announced that Dame was the 51st most famous athlete in the world. (He’s made the list three years straight.)

Then, the Rip City blogosphere was awash in stories about Lillard wanting to have another meeting with Blazers owner Paul Allen. (Update: Lillard seems to be saying that’s hogwash.)

But the biggest news hit the virtual front pages on Thursday when Dame was named First Team All-NBA.

Lillard joins Portland legends and Hall of Famers Bill Walton and Clyde Drexler as the only Blazers in history to earn that distinction.

Bill, Clyde, and now Dame. pic.twitter.com/8e3RBL838w
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 25, 2018

Lillard, Dame, Dolla

Lillard joins Anthony Davis, James Harden, LeBron James and Kevin Durant on the First Team.

It’s been 26 years since a Portland player — Drexler — made First Team All-NBA. And a glance at Lillard’s stats show why he was the one who ended that quarter century drought.

From NBA.com:

"Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers (26.9 ppg/6.6 apg/4.5 rpg/91.6 FT%): He tied for fourth in the NBA in scoring average, the highest finish by a Portland player since Clyde Drexler was fourth in the 1991-92 season. Lillard had the NBA’s third-highest free throw percentage and tied for sixth in three-pointers made with 227."

So Lillard can add another trophy to his already impressive collection: Rookie of the Year, All-Rookie, three-time All-Star, First Team All-NBA.

Drexler, Clyde, Glide

Drexler was arguably the second-best player in the league during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Everybody in the league was chasing after Michael Jordan, and Drexler was the only player anywhere near that level.

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During his 1991-1992 First Team All-NBA season, Drexler played in 76 games. And he averaged 25 points, 6.7 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 0.9 blocks per contest.

The Glide was joined that year on the First Team by Jordan, Chris Mullin, Karl Malone and David Robinson.

Drexler also made the All-NBA Second team three times and the Third Team twice.

Walton, Bill, Big Red

We have to go back even further into Rip City history to find our next First Team All-NBA player: Bill Walton in 1977-1978. (He made the Second Team once — during the Blazers’ 1976-1977 championship season.)

In ’77-’78, Walton averaged 18.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, five assists, 2.5 blocks and one steal per game. He only played in 58 games that season, as injuries were beginning to pile up for the Blazers’ big man. Those injuries would ultimately derail much of his career, as well as his relationship with the Portland Trail Blazers franchise.

Walton also won league MVP that season — the only Blazers MVP ever. His fellow All-NBA First Teamers that season: Julius Erving, Truck Robinson, George Gervin and David Thompson.

Next: The All-Star history of the Portland Trail Blazers

Three Blazers

So, as you can see, there are only three: Bill, Clyde and Damian.

All-NBA First Teamers.

Two out of three in the NBA Hall of Fame.

And Lillard — an unheralded player when he emerged from relative obscurity out of Weber State University — compiling a resume that should one day land him in the Hall alongside those other Blazers greats.