Basketball is a sport with deep ties to the Pacific North West. The region’s two major basketball teams used to include the Seattle Supersonics and the Portland Trailblazers. Both had experienced many winning seasons and had very supportive fan bases. The Supersonics were NBA Champions in 1979 and have since been removed from Seattle, moved to Oklahoma City, and renamed the OKC Thunder. The Portland Trailblazers have been around since 1970 and actually sold out 814 consecutive between 1977 and 1995, a streak that led all American professional sports. Both teams have had a history of acquiring players born and raised in the PNW and this year’s Blazers team is supremely-talented for the second year in a row.
The greater Seattle and Portland areas have been great at teaching and coaching kids the game of basketball as well as important life skills. There are many different local AAU programs and highly competitive tournaments for young players to develop their skills. Seattle high school programs such as Rainier Beach High School, Garfield High School, Franklin High school, and Kentwood High School (Kent, WA) have all developed players that have been successful in the NBA. Portland’s Jesuit high school and Jefferson high school have also been premier programs that have developed some of the most talented athletes in today’s NBA.
Since the National Basketball Association started there have been 60 players from Washington state high schools who played in either the NBA or the American Basketball Assocation. The list of players currently on NBA teams includes Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson, Tony Wroten, Rodney Stuckey, Spencer Hawes, Martell Webster, Jason Terry, and Aaron Brooks. Back in the day even RMR’s hometown of Ellensburg had a super hooper! Byron Beck played at Kittitas high school in the early 60s before playing at the University of Denver as well as for multiple teams in both the ABA and NBA. Oregon has also had 29 players go pro with a solid list of players that includes Danny Ainge, Kevin Love, Damon Stoudamire, and recent NBA slam dunk champion Terrence Ross. Currently the NBA has 5 players from Oregon high schools. Mike Dunleavy, Terrence Ross, Terrance Jones, Kevin Love, and Kyle Singler. To me, that actually wouldn’t be a bad starting five if it really needed to happen.
Be sure to go support your old team or find a good rivalry game like Franklin vs Garfield or Kentridge vs Kentwood. You’ll enjoy the energy and see some of the top talent in the state of Washington! Below I have a couple highlight videos displaying awesome footage and highlights of many of these PNW athletes. I hope you enjoy reliving the game winners, crossovers, and dunks displayed by many of these local hoop legends.
LOCAL HOOP LEGENDS: PNW EDITION (No particular order)
1) John Stockton (Easily the best player from PNW all time)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr6Dxt9j_-k&w=420&h=315]
2) Brandon Roy (UW)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnGs57A-O0w&w=560&h=315]
3) Nate Robinson (Rainier Beach HS // UW)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTUwS3HtW2s&w=560&h=315]
4) Kevin Love (Lake Oswego, OR // UCLA)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJa0j-lJzio&w=560&h=315]
5) Terrence Ross (Jefferson HS // UW)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR_fO0j1QMo&w=560&h=315]
6) Jamal Crawford (Rainier Beach HS // University of Michigan)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haPEG-CAKsM&w=560&h=315]
7) Tony Wroten (Garfield HS // UW)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8_A6RFad1E&w=560&h=315]
8) Danny Ainge (N. Eugene HS // BYU)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMTu8-3xMYQ&w=420&h=315]
9) Aaron Brooks (Franklin HS // Oregon)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHLgrpBqUdQ&w=420&h=315]
10) Rodney Stuckey (Kentwood HS // Eastern Washington)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW6fQdEzlSs&w=560&h=315]
Feel free to list your top 10 PNW hoopers in the comments below! I enjoy learning about other talented ballers from the northwest.
