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A new Untold docseries episode revisits a memorable chapter of NBA history
In the late 1990s, a trio of Portland Trail Blazers stars made headlines for their play on and off the court
Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire and Bonzi Wells recall that their fans turned on them as their personal drama increased
For a few years beginning in the late 1990s, the Portland Trail Blazers found success against opponents while a trio of their star players consistently found trouble off the court.
The new Netflix docuseries episode Untold: Jail Blazers highlights how the franchise ran afoul while achieving consecutive Western Conference finals appearances in 1999 and 2000 — thanks to the antics of Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire and Bonzi Wells.
Through interviews with the former players and sports pundits, Jail Blazers, premiering April 14, looks back on the historic chapter in the NBA — dubbed by sportswriter John Canzano as “the greatest sociology experiment in sports.”
The team’s rise began when Portland acquired soon-to-be All-Star Wallace from the Washington Bullets in 1996.
“It was like someone dropped the base on this franchise,” Canzano says.
Credit: Netflix
But as the power forward powered the team to its winning ways, he also earned a reputation for his hard-nosed mentality, setting a still-standing league record for most technical fouls in a single season (41).
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, legal trouble loomed when Wallace and Stoudamire were arrested for marijuana possession, and the players also grabbed headlines for threatening a ref (Wallace) and cursing out their coach and making obscene gestures towards fans (Wells).
“They were immature, petty, but so good,” Canzano says.
All of which tested both Blazers fans’ and their beat writers’ patience.
“These fans turned on me,” Wells, now 49, recalls in the doc.
“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.”
Untold: Jail Blazers, the third of the four-episode Untold season, is available on Netflix beginning April 14.
Read the original article on People