PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – After the announcement the Portland Trail Blazers were going up for sale left some uncertainty for the franchise, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is sure about one thing: keeping the team in the Rose City.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, published Thursday, Sen. Wyden said he’s fighting to ensure the team stays in Portland.
“Nobody takes the Blazers team out of town unless they stomp all over me in broad daylight,” Wyden told the outlet. “Nobody moves Portland, unless they move it over my dead soul.”
DON’T MISS: Phil Knight no longer wants to buy the Portland Trail Blazers. Here’s why
“You may think that’s a little bit ‘stark.’ I think it’s understated. We’re keeping our team in Portland. Period. End of discussion, for Tim and anybody who asks,” Wyden added, referring to Rolling Stone Reporter Tim Dickinson.
Wyden’s interview with Rolling Stone comes after the senator sent a letter to National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver one day after the team’s upcoming sale was announced.
In his letter, Wyden advocated to keep Portland’s NBA ties.
“Portland, Oregon and the NBA have proven a winning combination since 1970 – with the city and our entire state teaming up to be a vital part of the NBA’s DNA for the last 55 years,” Wyden wrote to Silver. “With Trail Blazers ownership announcing its formal sale process of the team this week, I write as Oregon’s senior senator proud to represent my fellow Trail Blazers fans to say there is no place in America with a deeper base of hoops support than in Portland and throughout Oregon.”
Wyden’s comments come after the estate of the late Microsoft co-founder, and team owner, Paul Allen, announced they have started the process of putting the team up for sale.
The sale of the team is “consistent with Allen’s directive to eventually sell his sports holdings and direct all estate proceeds to philanthropy,” the Trail Blazers previously said in a statement.
Allen purchased the team in 1988 telling the Associated Press at the time that “for a true fan of the game, this is a dream come true.”
Allen died in 2018 at the age of 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Since then, his sister Jody Allen has served as chair of the Trail Blazers and trustee of the Paul G. Allen trust.
After the Allen estate announced plans to sell the team in May, rumors began to swirl, speculating that Nike Co-founder Phil Knight might take over as the next owner.
However, Knight shared that he was no longer interested, according to Bloomberg News.
“Five years ago, when I was a younger man, I had a great interest in being a part of the Portland Trail Blazers franchise,” he said in a statement to Bloomberg. “However, at my current age, I can confirm that I no longer have interest in acquiring the team.”
Early speculation stemmed from Knight’s bid to purchase the team in 2022, when he made an offer of $2 billion following the owner’s death in 2018. Jody Allen turned down Knight’s offer at the time, stating there were no ongoing discussions about the sale of her brother’s teams, which also includes the Seattle Seahawks.
The upcoming sale of the Trail Blazers comes as other NBA franchises are seeing “astonishing valuations,” according to Rolling Stone, noting the Boston Celtics were sold for $6 billion in March and the Lakers agreed to be sold for $10 billion earlier in June.
KOIN 6 News has reached out to the Portland Trail Blazers. This story will be updated if we receive a response.
