My Favorite Reporting Moments from the Trail Blazers’ Season: Part 1

My first season as a Portland Trail Blazers beat writer is one I’ll never forget.

The job was the biggest professional challenge of my young life — a graduate course in sports reporting full of long nights, lots of learning and constant pressure on my comfort zone. It was also the realization of a childhood dream to cover my hometown team full-time and on-site, the same franchise I grew up watching and reading about in the morning paper.

To me, there’s not a more meaningful story to tell in sports than the Portland Trail Blazers. What an honor to get the chance.

My work for the 2024-25 season began back at Media Day in September. Then the schedule took me through training camp and practices at the team’s Tualatin facility, over 40 preseason and regular-season games at the Moda Center, and various other events. It all came to a sudden close on April 13, when the Blazers finished the season with a 36-46 record, failing to qualify for the NBA Playoffs.

As a way of formally reflecting on all those experiences, I decided I would share a countdown of my favorite reporting moments from the lot. I should specify that “favorite” doesn’t necessarily mean “positive” for the Blazers or even for me. Rather, the countdown is a list of the most interesting or memorable moments to be a part of over the 2024-25 campaign. By doing this exercise, it’ll give us all a chance to revisit some of the most interesting characters, moments and games from another year in Rip City.

15. Klaus Wins a Toyota

Out of all the people I heard speak this season, including All-Star players and championship-winning head coaches, not many had more swagger than Klaus Becker. I’m, of course, talking about the 23-year-old Blazers fan who nailed the Toyota Half-Court Shot to win a new car.

Becker’s one shining moment came on Oct. 25 during Portland’s second game of the season against the New Orleans Pelicans. At a timeout in the third quarter, Becker stepped onto the court donning a Brandon Roy jersey. He nodded his head a little as the crowd encouraged him with a cheer, then he let it launch from a solid two feet behind the line. The shot was an absolute bullseye, and Becker celebrated by tapping his wrist to remind everybody he was operating on Dame Time.

The make won Becker a Toyota Highlander Hybrid. It also snapped a streak dating back to 2017 of 94 straight misses in the Toyota Half-Court Shot challenge. The feat gave me an early and unique chance to put Blazer’s Edge’s re-established press credentials to use: I got an exclusive interview with the man of the hour in the concourse during the fourth quarter.

Winning a car in front of thousands of strangers because you make a faraway basketball shot is at once awesome and ridiculous. Becker came across as somebody who knew how to give that bizarre moment in the spotlight its proper gravitas. He said that he knew the shot was true before it even hit the net.

“As soon as it left my hand: Water,” Becker said with bravado.

Then he complemented that confidence with a moment of humorous humility.

“I drive my dad’s car, so this is great for me,” he said. “This is really great. I think my dad’s gonna be really excited.”

That’s showmanship. That’s owning the moment. That’s tact. Nobody else made a Toyota Half-Court Shot over the remaining 80 games, truly making Klaus Becker 1 of 1 this season.

No. 14: The Chillest Win in Franchise History

The Blazers lost some horrendous games over the course of the season, especially in the first half. The two worst losses came at home by margins of 45 and 42. Not only were those games painful to sit through, but the atmosphere at the Moda Center was tense. Boos broke out at various points and fans seemed restless, frustrated that the team wasted their night.

With those low points as a reference, there was something so pleasant about the Blazers’ 141-88 home win over the Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 22. The 53-point victory, the largest in franchise history, was practically over from the opening tip. It made the atmosphere in the arena so light and peaceful, the second half felt more like Fan Fest than a regular-season game. In my recap from that night, I said you could’ve pitched a hammock and shut your eyes for the second half. I really do think it became an environment fit for napping. Not because of boredom. More in the way that one might doze off on the couch to the comfort and familiarity of sitcom reruns.

The game featured one of Toumani Camara’s best two-way performances of the season: 20 points on 7-9 shooting, 10 rebounds and six assists, while shutting down Hornets star LaMelo Ball (1-10 shooting, five points). He also had a nice highlight in the postgame press conference. The second-year forward typically brushed off praise this season with the media, focusing on how the Blazers can improve rather than resting on laurels. He did the same after the Hornets game when a reporter asked if he had ever won by that many points.

“I’ve lost by that much,” Camara responded.

The win wasn’t some grand statement. The Hornets were one of the worst teams in the NBA this year. It still made for a relaxing watch and continued a nice second-half trend this season where the Blazers usually took care of business against lesser teams.

Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

No. 13: Germany Comes to Rip City

One of the best parts about this job is it gives you a reason to connect with new people and hear their stories. That was the case at Portland’s preseason home game against German club Ratiopharm Ulm when I noticed a small but devout section of the opposing team’s fans in the crowd before tipoff. I approached the section, all wearing Ulm’s vibrant orange color, and asked for an interview. The first two women I asked made it clear they didn’t speak English, but they quickly grabbed another fan from the group, 24-year-old Simon Eigenmueller, who was happy to talk with me.

Eigenmueller explained he had traveled 5,213 miles from Frankfurt, Germany, to be at the Moda Center that night with his mom and his girlfriend. They were unwilling to miss the rare chance to see their hometown team play against NBA competition.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to an NBA game and also see your favorite team,” he said. “… It’s expensive, but as I said, once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Along with explaining their travel journey, Eigenmueller provided some analysis about Ulm and how their season was going in Germany’s highest level of professional basketball. Then you could hear him and his fellow Ulm fans all night, cheering and chanting as their club stayed in the game before bowing out in a 111-100 loss to the Blazers.

I was happy to give a small spotlight to such genuine fans.

Conor Bergin