Warriors continue to underperform

Last Friday evening, as reports began circulating that he might miss more than half of the coming season, Bill Walton left a Portland, Ore. clinic with a cast on his left leg. With the addition of the cast, the puzzle of what had happened to Walton, what had made him demand to be traded from the Trail Blazers, grew even more complicated. The sudden move left some friendships strained. It also left the city's basketball fans stunned. Just 14 months before, Walton was leading a raucous victory parade through the streets of downtown Portland after the Trail Blazers had won the National Basketball Association championship.

The initial shock came after a secret meeting in Chicago on Aug. 1 when Walton, who was voted the league's MVP last season, demanded that the Blazers trade him as soon as possible to a team of his choosing, which, late Sunday night, he announced was the Golden State Warriors.

Blazermania gathered steam in the 1977-78 season. Memorial Coliseum's 12,366 seats were sold for every game, and the spillover was lining up to watch on theater TV. By the All-Star break the Blazers were 40-8 and had won 44 straight at home. They were a good bet to break the NBA record of 69-13 and sweep through the playoffs to become the first team since the 1969 Celtics to win back-to-back titles. And they were being compared with the all-time great teams.

Through Feb. 28 they were 50-10, but that night, while the Blazers were beating their archrivals from Philadelphia 113-92, Blazermania went into a holding pattern. Walton fell heavily on his left ankle, aggravating an earlier injury, and had to leave the game. Later it was learned that Walton actually had been bothered by pain in his right foot.

Portland Trail Blazers fans ‘couldn’t be more proud’ of this team as ‘unforgettable’ playoff run comes to an end: National reaction

At the time of his trade to Toronto last summer, Leonard potentially staying north of the border felt like a pipe dream, as he reportedly wasn’t thrilled at the idea of playing for the Raptors. But according to recent comments from Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson (widely regarded as Uncle Dennis), those feelings had nothing to do with the city itself.

In Leonard's sophomore season, he averaged 15.7 points and 10.4 rebounds[7] as the Aztecs finished with a 34–3 record and won back-to-back conference tournament championships.[8] Leonard and San Diego State would once again make the NCAA tournament.[9] This time, SDSU would advance to the Sweet 16 where they lost to eventual national champion UConn.[10] Leonard was named to the Second Team All-America and would forgo his final two seasons at San Diego State to enter the 2011 NBA draft.