Many NBA players are from slums, and without basketball, they could become regulars in prison, and even some players who have changed their fate through basketball may face jail time after entering the NBA.
In the summer of 2001, the Blazers hired Maurice Cheeks as head coach, and Cheeks was also an NBA player who was very good in defense and very technical, he won championships, was named to the All-Star, All-Team and All-Defensive Team several times, and was a Hall of Fame player.
After retiring, Cheeks worked as an assistant coach for many years, and when he was an assistant coach at the 76ers, he gained the respect of Iverson, to know that Iverson is an unruly player, but he thanked Cheeks affectionately when he won the first regular season MVP, which shows that Cheeks is good at getting along with players, and the Blazers value his ability in this aspect the most.
At that time, the Blazers had many troublesome players, and many people advised Chiks not to take over the Blazers, and he took up his post with confidence, and Cheeks' confidence came from his expertise in controlling the emotions of players. During his coaching period, he had a soft spot for players with talent but personalities, which led to more and more problem players in the team, making the Blazers a notorious team known as the "Portland Trail Blazers".
During that time, with the exception of Adavis Sabonis, Chris Dudley and Scotty Pippen, the rest of the players had brought negative news to the team, and these players were constantly causing trouble and could go to jail at any time, and even several players had already been in prison.
Ruben Patterson: Patterson's father and sister both liked to take drugs, and from the time he was sensible, his father went to jail, and he lived with his mother, who was busy from morning to night to support her children, and had no time to educate her children, which led to Patterson being contaminated with many vices.
After entering the NBA, Patterson showed a steady ability to score and rebound protection, and his passing vision was good, but his piercing attributes made him a tramp in the NBA. In 2000, he was arrested on charges of raping a nanny, and later he was arrested for abusing his wife and was a regular in prison.
Sean Kemp: Kemp has been an All-Star six times and was a very good interior player, but he was willing to degenerate late in his career, addicted to cocaine and alcohol, and had to leave the team for rehabilitation due to poor physical and mental state.
Quintel-Woods: Wood was accused of illegally possessing marijuana, and later arrested again for participating in dog fighting, believed to have abused animals.
Damon Stoudemire: Stoudemire is only 1.78 meters tall, the bounce is very outstanding, nicknamed "Little Flying Squirrel", he has averaged nearly 20 points per game for 3 seasons, is a very inspirational player, but also a player who makes the coach very headache.
He has faced multiple charges for violating relevant regulations for possessing marijuana, including speeding after smoking marijuana, and trying to carry 1.5 ounces of drugs through airport detectors, etc. He was locked up for 4 days and paid a deposit of $250,000 before being released, and he had to undergo drug tests from time to time before being dropped.
Rashid Wallace: Wallace, known as the "Roaring Heavenly Lord", has received many technical fouls because of many disputes with referees, is the player with the most technical fouls in NBA history, and he also intimidates the referees after the game.
He and the "Little Flying Squirrel" drove back to Portland late at night, were found to have drugs in the car, and both were taken to the police station for record-taking, and later indicted by the police.
Zach Randolph: If you've only seen Randolph from the Grizzlies, you'd think he's a cute fat guy, but he was a very bad player before he joined the Grizzlies.
During the Blazers period, he took a leave of absence from his coach, saying that his aunt had died and was going to his aunt's funeral, but later the media photographed him hanging out in nightclubs, and he also fought with his teammate Patterson many times.
In addition to the above, there are Bunzi Wells, who was arrested for attempted rape, Eric Barkley, who was arrested for abusing the police in a bar, and others, most of the players on this team have bad deeds, even portland local fans have boycotted them, portland fans have erected placards on the bustling streets, "Boycott the Blazers, we need teams that can beat the Lakers, not beat women and lawsuits", which clearly shows the Blazers' attitude of supporters intolerable.
It is a very magical thing that such a team with many contradictions between players, constant trouble off the court, and is not supported by fans has made the playoffs for two consecutive years, which shows that head coach Maurice Cheeks does have two brushes.
In the 2003-2004 season, the Blazers began to purge problem players, they sent away Rashid Wallace and Bonzi Wells, and by 2005, the team had sent all the problem players away, and the history of the Portland Prison Team has since turned the page.