Portland Trail Blazers
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A new Netflix "Untold" documentary is coming soon
Netflix has unveiled a trailer for its documentary about the contentious ‘Jail Blazers’ era for the Portland Trail Blazers.
The streaming giant released a clip of Untold: Jail Blazers on Tuesday, providing a two-minute teaser of what will be released April 14.
The trailer includes archival footage of the NBA team amid its early-2000s controversies, along with current-day interviews with former players Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire and Bonzi Wells.
“When I went back to Portland after I was traded,” Rasheed Wallace says at the beginning of the clip, “I knew I was gonna get booed. I ain’t think I was gonna get booed like that.”
The documentary is the latest installment of Netflix’s “Untold,” a series that delves into varying sports scandals. This time, “Untold” will explore a troublesome Trail Blazers team that was “immature, petty, but so good” according to the interviews.
Netflix to Explore Chaotic Era of Blazers Basketball
Portland Trail Blazers
GettyNetflix to air a documentary over a winning, yet troublesome era for the Portland Trail Blazers
During the 1990s, the Portland Trail Blazers could be summed up using the opening line from Charles Dickens’ classic novel “A Tale of Two Cities.”
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
The Portland Trail Blazers surged up the standings while a trio of their star players consistently found trouble off the court.
The Netflix series Untold: Jail Blazers reveals how the team handled inner turmoil while achieving consecutive Western Conference Finals appearances.
Dubbed by sportswriter John Canzano as “the greatest sociology experiment in sports,” the Jail Blazers era spanned from about 1999 to 2003.
The team’s rise began when Portland acquired soon-to-be All-Star Wallace from the Washington Bullets in 1996.
Wallace finished runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year in 1998. He followed that up with back-to-back All-Star campaigns in 1999 and 2000.
While fueling a winning era of Trail Blazers basketball, Wallace also earned a reputation as a hard-nosed, physically imposing player.
During his stint in Portland, he set a still-standing league record for most technical fouls in a single season (41).
In the midst of his stardom, Wallace and his teammate Stoudamire were arrested for marijuana possession. The Blazers duo had misdemeanor marijuana charges dropped after agreeing to plea bargains.
“Can you guys just stay out of trouble?” Colin Cowherd recalls thinking about the team at the time. “I’m a sportscaster, I’m not a crime reporter.”
Jail Blazers Were A Force in the West
Portland Trail Blazers
GettyPortland Trail Blazers made consecutive WCF appearances in 1999 and 2000
One of the more interesting aspects of the documentary is seeing how Portland thrived despite its off-court antics.
Portland was twice on the verge of the NBA Finals at the turn of the millennium.
In 1999, Portland defeated the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz before being swept by the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
The team famously blew a 13-point, fourth-quarter lead against the Lakers in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals in 2000.
The franchise has not advanced that far into the playoffs since.
Untold: Jail Blazers, the third of the four-episode Untold season, is available on Netflix beginning April 14.