The Blazers started play during the 1970-71 NBA season, along with the Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

At 6 ft 4 in, Geoff Petrie could play either guard or forward positions and was a long range shooter. He played in two All-Star games and in 1971, the Trail Blazers' first year in existence, was named co-Rookie of the Year with the Boston Celtics' Dave Cowens after averaging 24.8 points per game.

From April 9, 1977 through November 16, 1995, the team sold out 814 consecutive home games, the longest such streak in American major professional sports at the time, and only since surpassed by the Boston Red Sox.

In 1977-78, the Trail Blazers won 50 of their first 60 games, as Bill Walton averaged 18.9 points, 13.2 rebounds 5.0 assists and 2.5 blocks in 58 games. Walton then suffered a broken foot, ending his regular season. He nonetheless won the 1978 NBA Most Valuable Player award and the Sporting News NBA MVP, as well.

At 7 ft 6 in, Slavko Vraneš is one of the tallest players in NBA history. In early January 2004, he signed a ten-day contract with the Trail Blazers. Before his contract expired, he played one game, in which he recorded 1 missed field goal and 1 personal foul.

Looking for help at center, the Blazers used the #2 pick on Sam Bowie. Although Bowie had missed two full collegiate seasons due to leg injuries, the Blazers took him while Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton were all still on the board. Bowie suffered a series of leg injuries that limited his production for the team, missing the entire 1987-88 season due to injuries. Bowie is now considered one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history.

The 1976-77 NBA season started with the ABA-NBA merger. Portland had benefited from the resulting ABA dispersal draft as they acquired Spirits of St. Louis power forward Maurice Lucas to partner with Bill Walton, and the Philadelphia 76ers had signed ABA All-Star and 3-time ABA MVP Julius "Dr. J" Erving, who had taken the New York Nets to the ABA title the previous year. After the Trail Blazers defeated the 76ers 4-2 and Bill Walton was named finals MVP, Erving called Walton's performance "an inspiration," and 76ers power forward Maurice Lucas said of Walton's post-game thrown jersey that was sent into the rushing crowd of fans, "if I had caught the shirt, I would have eaten it. Bill's my hero."

The Nike Blazer silhouette (named in honor of the Portland Traiblazers), which debuted on the feet of Geoff Petrie in 1972 (and hit retail the following year), marked the brand's first major move into basketball-specific sneakers, putting the big, bold side swoosh front and center for swish after swish.

Mike Rice's outspoken demeanor resulted in his 1994 ejection from a Portland Trail Blazers game while working a radio broadcast. As Rice tells the story: "At the time, Steve Javie, the official, was a young official. That previous week he had kicked out a mascot, a fan, and kicked somebody else out, a trainer or something like that. He was on a roll that week, he had made a call, and I looked on the monitor and saw it was a bad call on Cliff Robinson. I kind of put my hands like that [two hands over his head] and he ran over. Cliff thought he was going to call a technical on him, because Cliff was standing there doing the same thing. He ran by Cliff and that's when he kicked me out of the game -- the rest is history."

A 6'7" center/forward from Tennessee State University, Lloyd Neal spent his entire NBA career with the Portland Trail Blazers. Though undersized for his position, he endeared himself to fans with his hard work and tenacity, and he averaged a double-double (13.4 points, 11.8 rebounds) during the 1972-73 NBA season. After his career was cut short by a knee injury in 1979, the Blazers retired his #36 jersey.