I forgot to post this as promised on Monday. At the tail end of my chat with Tom Penn, I asked him about the Honor Terry Porter movement, and whether we as fans might see TP's jersey retired this year. Here's what Mr. Penn had to say.
Blazersedge: We've been trying to do a little campaign to Honor Terry Porter and hopefully lobby for his jersey retirement. Would you have a stance either in favor or against his jersey retirement?
I was not aware of that. A lobbying campaign?
Blazersedge: Well... we've reached out to various writers and fans and people who knew Terry and asked for their thoughts regarding his potential jersey retirement. Our goal is to see his jersey retired in the near future and I am seeking a statement from you whether or not 1) Mr. Porter is worthy of jersey retirement and 2) whether you have any plans in the near future to retire anyone's jersey?
I can't give you a direct opinion on that because I've not involved in that process or discussion but I can tell you Terry Porter was a hell of a player, a terrific NBA coach and an overall terrific ambassador for the NBA. He's a class act. I don't know him personally but I've always admired the way he played.
Blazersedge: Who is involved in the decision process?
Frankly I don't know.
Blazersedge: I would assume Mr. Allen has the final authority on that?
I don't even know if that's true. I honestly don't know. I was with a franchise [Memphis] where we never had a situation where we could retire a jersey and I'm relatively new here so I don't quite what our process is.
Hmmmmmm. Well. Hmmmmmmmmm. Not sure what to make of this. Perhaps this is just smokescreen?
Coincidentally, at the Practice Facility today I saw a great framed photo of TP30. It reminded me, once again, that Terry Porter's #30 should be hanging in the rafters.
Let's get it done, Blazers. We're past due on this.
-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)