In Portland, Oregon, the Trail Blazers were seemingly on the verge of changing hands. According to various sources, longtime team owner Jody Allen was being offered a huge deal (worth over $2 billion) to sell the Blazers to Nike founder Phil Knight.
On Tuesday morning, Allen sent a statement to the basketball world addressing the rumors of a sale and reaffirming her role and stake in the Blazers and Seahawks.
“As chair of both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks, my long-term focus is building championship teams that our communities are proud of. Like my brother Paul, I trust and expect our leaders and coaches to build winning teams that deliver results on and off the court and field.
As we’ve stated before, neither of the teams is for sale and there are no sales discussions happening.
A time will come when that changes given Paul’s plans to dedicate the vast majority of his wealth to philanthropy, but estates of this size and complexity can take 10 to 20 years to wind down. There is no pre-ordained timeline by which the teams must be sold.
Until then, my focus — and that of our teams — is on winning.”
Statement from Jody Allen pic.twitter.com/oAezfb398o
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) July 5, 2022
Under Allen, the Trail Blazers haven’t been the most successful franchise. Even with a core of Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic, they only have a few Conference Finals appearances to show for it.
And now, in the aftermath of a highly disappointing campaign, Portland will have to work hard if they want to start being taken seriously in the West.
Throughout her tenure running the organization, Allen hasn’t shown the willingness to spend what it takes to build a title-contending team around Lillard. Fans are hoping this is the year she finally spends money.
All the while, Phil Knight will have to keep waiting for his chance to make the team his own.
