NBA TV provided the Portland Trail Blazers the spotlight during last night’s “Rip City Revival” documentary. Here are four potentially-overlooked takeaways from the film.
After five weeks of painting Michael Jordan’s dominance for public display, NBA filmmakers took a trip Northwest to commemorate one of the legendary teams just a tier under, during NBA TV’s “Rip City Revival” documentary, with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Talk about efficiency. In just an hour, the film sufficiently found time to capture the emotional connection between the Oregon fanbase and an on-the-rise Blazers team in its most nascent form, as well as parsing the heartbreak that came with oh-so-close losses over that three-year reign.
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It isn’t quite LeBron James’ level dominance in say, advancing to eight straight NBA Final rounds, but there should absolutely be a documentary for any team who has three consecutive Western Conference Finals appearances, especially given just how rugged the West was in this time frame.
Within that, are tons of thoughts. Wonders of what could’ve been — hello, Drazen Petrovic — and what almost was. A hope that even with far less advertisement and press in comparison to The Last Dance, that the public would come to some sort of appreciation for the likes of Terry Porter, or even understand that Clyde Drexler’s entire 15-year career shouldn’t be defined by 238 minutes in the Hell in a Cell against Jordan in 1992.
All of that remains to be seen. But in the meantime, there’s tons to talk about. Here were four quick, potentially under discussed takeaways from one young fan’s view of the Rip City Revival.