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Proposal: remove player names from the jerseys

Over the weekend, I found Nate McMillan's reference to the adage, "It's amazing what you can do when no one cares who gets the credit" inspiring and motivating. It hearkens directly back to college basketball and John Wooden. It also makes a great deal of sense looking at the current composition of the Trail Blazers: most are college system guys with team first, player second backgrounds. And it is showing signs of success against the odds of all the stat junkies and star-makers.

Furthermore, because of the players' personal styles and Portland's lack of exposure, none of them generate All-star heat unless it's in the category of, "WTF, this guy over our guy? What are people thinking?" It's a Rodney Dangerfield attitude that goes straight back to coach's quote.

And so I have a proposal that serves everyone: remove the player names from the jerseys for the rest of the season. Make a statement. Get buzz by being anti-buzz. Sell more jerseys. Endear yourselves to the blue-collar attitude of our current socio-economic times. Throw cold water on the All-star ridiculousness. Show everyone that the Trail Blazers aren't about a superstar and a bunch of young talent. They are going to play team ball and that's enough for them. It may not win us any more games, but it will give us a point of differentiation from the rest of the league. It will bond this team further. And at the end of the day, it will sell more merch.