McKenna Koon Oregon State University

Terry Porter Calls Portland Home

--Former Blazer returns to Portland, focuses on family

The former Blazer taking in game against the Sacramento Kings at the Rose Garden Arena with his daughter Brianna (far left), son Franklin, wife Susie and son Malcolm

More than a decade after leaving Portland, Terry Porter is back in the City of Roses hoping to raise his family and reunite with the Trail Blazers, the team with whom he started his professional basketball career in 1985. Porter, his wife Susie, daughter Brianna and sons Franklin and Malcolm, looked at other cities to call home after he was released as head coach of the Phoenix Suns in 2009, but the final call was up to his teenage daughter, Brianna. I always looked at Portland as a place we wanted to move back to, Porter said, so when my daughter chose it we were very glad. The decision to stick around Portland was easy when Porter was hired by the Trail Blazers as a broadcaster last October. Porter joined the team to call 76 games during the 2010-2011 season, working as a sideline commentator and studio analyst. Porter has a good history with Portland. In the decade that he played for the Blazers, Porter made his mark on the record book. The 6-foot-3 Wisconsin native is still the

franchise leader in assists with 5,319, and three-pointers with 773. Porter is also second to Clyde Drexler in points, field goals, and steals. In 2008, the Blazers retired his No.30 jersey.

Porter and family at his jersey retirement ceremony on Dec.17, 2008 at the Rose Garden Arena

In addition to playing for the Blazers, Porter joined the Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs in his 17 years in the NBA. In the same year that Porter retired, he was hired as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings. It s unusual to get asked to be an assistant coach right after being a player, said Todd Stucky, a long-time friend and golfing buddy of Porter s That really speaks volumes about his personality and character as something that players can look up to. Porter and his family stayed in Sacramento for a season before returning to his hometown of Milwaukee, where he served as head coach of the Bucks and stuck around for two seasons. In 2006, the Porters left Wisconsin and headed to Detroit, where he joined the Pistons as an assistant coach for two seasons before being hired

as head coach by the Suns for the 2008-2009 season where he coached for four months before being released. There s always disappointment when a father loses his job, Porter said. To deal with that we talked through it with our kids and said How do you learn from this situation and move on? and made it a life lesson. Porter has made an impression on the sports community in his 26-year career in the NBA, but it s not his sheer athletic ability that makes Porter stand out to his friends and family. What makes the 47-year-old father of three different from other professional athletes is his character. He s just a very authentic person, said former Blazer player Michael Holton. His his yes is his yes, his no is his no. He s he s not going to laugh if he doesn t think something is funny. Holton played with Porter on the Blazers during the 1987-88 season, and is now working again with his friend of 25 years, this time as a studio analyst during the games. I love working with Terry, Holton said. We have a fellowship kind of friendship. Working on the reporting end of basketball has given Porter the ability to not only stay connected to the game, but also to spend more time with his family at their home in the Dunthorpe neighborhood of Lake Oswego. But staying in one city was not always an option for the Porters. Because I had to travel so much for games, (my wife) had to be the rock, Porter said. Any success of my kids I owe to her. Life many professional -athletes, Porter and his wife had to make the decision early in his career about whether or not they would move as a family, or if Porter would commute.

We always said that we would stay and move together as a family unit so we could do things like dinners as a family and spending time together when I wasn t traveling, he said. In professional athletics, when players are on the road for games, they are often portrayed as hard-partying womanizers, or even adulterers. Porter is an example of a man who does not fit into a stereotype. He s really a pretty straight-laced guy, Stucky said When he s on the road, he s not out at night clubs or anything. He doesn t fit the mold of a typical pro athlete. The youngest of six siblings and son to a Wisconsin factory worker, Porter has placed his family at the center of his life. . His daughter went to four different high schools in four years because of moving, so when it was time for his son Franklin to enter his freshman year at Jesuit High School in Portland, Porter decided that he didn t want that for his sons. My daughter turned out to be a great gal, but we re committed to staying here for our boys sake, Porter said. This is my home now. Porter and his family have continued friendships in the Portland area while they were away through visits and social networking. With his family welcoming the city of Portland, and the Blazers welcoming Porter back to their NBA family, he said the move was an easy transition. When Porter is not broadcasting or working at the Blazer games, he enjoys watching movies with his wife, going to his kids sporting events, and is an avid golfer and new member of Portland s Waverly Country Club. Maintaining his character and a career in professional sports is something that comes naturally for Porter. In 1993, he received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award and can be summed up by the words dependable and integrity by his friends. Porter has earned respect from his peers in the past quarter century by

sticking to his convictions about character and family, and shares that wisdom with current NBA athletes. When I talk to players now, Porter said, I just say you gotta be true to who you are. Whatever future role he takes in the Blazer franchise, Porter has said that he will do what is best for his family, and is confident in saying that Portland is, and will continue to be, home.