When the Portland Trail Blazers swept the NBA’s best regular season team on their way to the 1977 NBA championship, the first-year head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers declared that the Blazers “were blessed with great personnel and they’re going to be good for a very long time.”

That was just one of the times Jerry West’s seven-decade life in the NBA intersected with the Trail Blazers. The man who built both the Showtime and Shaq-Kobe Lakers could reasonably be seen as one of the greatest obstacles to the Blazers ever winning a second championship.

On this episode of the Oregonian Sports podcast, Bill Oram and Brenna Greene discuss West’s legacy and how it intertwines with the history of the Trail Blazers.

Also discussed:

• Abrupt ends to the season for both Oregon and Oregon State baseball

• The Blazers pivotal offseason and whether now is the time to trade Anfernee Simons

• Whether trading up in this draft makes sense for the Trail Blazers front office

Listen to the full episode here:

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