"When I think of Terry, I think of a warrior, a winner, and a first-class person. He is the ultimate professional. Here's a guy who went to a small NAIA school and rose up to become the Blazers' all-time assists leader.

A guy who was  never traded during his NBA career — which says everything about how valuable his teams considered him — and won pretty much everywhere he went, from the two Finals appearances with Portland to leading Minnesota to its first playoff berth and winning season, to competing for championships in San Antonio.

Unfortunately, he's the kind of guy whose numbers will always be used against him to say he's a step short of Hall of Fame quality, but whose teammates will probably say he was one of the most important components in their success.

I'm not sure what the criteria should be for retiring numbers -- it's hard to establish a hard set of rules in stone and have it be fair to everyone. But I will say that if the criteria makes room for Lionel Hollins to be in the Rose Garden's rafters, Porter should be there too."