The much-maligned Trail Blazers of 20 years ago, commonly dubbed the Jail Blazers, have been the butt of jokes and target of scorn for years. Writing for Deadspin, local author Corbin Smith suggests that it may be time for Portland to reconsider the side-eye glares usually directed at Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire, Bonzi Wells, and the other players of that era:
It’s true that Rider was mostly a horse[crap] player and a troublesome teammate everywhere he played, but that was decidedly not true of many of the players that became the backbone of the post-Rider teams.