Enjoy the legacy of Paul Allen

BY STEVE BRANDON/PORTLAND TRIBUNE/Trail Blazers owner was a man of many interests and a love for the NBA game and his team

Paul Allen, in some ways, we hardly knew ye.

But without a doubt, we came to know, and love what you left us.

Allen, owner of the Trail Blazers for three decades, died Monday afternoon at age 65. He had been in a repeat battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The Blazers were in Portland for 18 years before Allen took over from majority owner Larry Weinberg in 1988, but it was Allen who carried the franchise deep into the modern era of the NBA.

It was Allen who gave the city year after year of mostly exciting/playoff teams and the best basketball players the organization could get or buy with his money.

It was his financing that created the Rose Quarter and what is now the Moda Center, without which Portland would be minor league.

Allen was fair game for critics and the buck often stopped with him — and he had his fair share of other business interests that fizzled — but the Microsoft co-founder was a billionaire who wasn't afraid to try, to explore … and who in many ways gave more than he got.

As an NBA owner, he never got the championship he dearly wanted to see the Blazers win.

He never got to be the host owner of an NBA All-Star Game.

Publicly, he rarely complained about those or other things, other than the occasional battle over a lease or business venture.

He gave his Blazer general managers regular access to his checkbook, even setting an NBA record for highest player payroll.

He was one of the first to give his teams (the Blazers and NFL Seattle Seahawks) a private plane. He provided his coaches, players and staff with the best in facilities, including the Blazers' current practice home and offices in Tualatin.

He was a basketball wannabe and the ultimate fan, in many ways. He used to have the Blazers visit his Mercer Island home and shoot around with him on his private basketball court.

But that barely begins to tell the story of who Paul Gardner Allen was, both to Portland and to his native Seattle, and to the Blazers and Seahawks and to the NBA and NFL — and more importantly to the people close to him and the numerous causes he cared about.

Judging from how he spent his time and his money, the man seemed interested in just about everything (with the exception of an NHL franchise).

And while he had a small circle of trusted colleagues and friends, he cast a large net as a philanthropist and researcher.

That all stemmed no doubt from his relationship with his beloved mother. Faye G. Allen was a legend as well and frequent attendee of Blazers games with her son in his early days as the owner. He even made sure there was a furnished apartment built inside the Rose Garden for her use.

A former teacher, it was Faye who instilled in young Paul a love for learning, books, reading and sports.

She died in 2012, at age 90, of complications with Alzheimer's disease, and that drove Paul to fund studies on the human brain via the Allen Institute for Brain Science.

The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation gave to countless projects.

It was all part of his "vision for a better world," a phrase used by the foundation. Allen eagerly supported many scientific pursuits, notably in the exploration of space and the oceans. And in education, the arts, health, the environment, science fiction … the list goes on and on and on.

But beyond basketball (and computers), his happiest moments may have come from music. He was a diligent, accomplished guitar player who loved to rock out with others and all but worshipped the late, great Jimi Hendrix, also from his native Seattle. Allen founded the Experience Music Project in 2000 in Seattle, now known as the Museum of Pop Culture.

Allen of course lived a life worthy of someone with great resources. He enjoyed his travels, his yachts, his parties, the people who came to hobnob with someone who in general was an understandably private person.

In his early days as Blazers owner, the NBA scene was much different, much smaller. Allen could roam the concourse at a summer league in Los Angeles almost unrecognized, and chat with reporters while munching on his popcorn.

That gradually changed, as security became tighter and the mingling less frequent.

It all added to the mystery of the ultra-wealthy owner.

It couldn't help but make one wonder: What was he thinking when he put his hand on his chin while in his customary spot behind the backboard? Who was in his entourage tonight? Who was the lady seated next to him? What would his conversation be like after the game with coach P.J. Carlesimo, or coach Mike Dunleavy or coach Maurice Cheeks, or coach Nate McMillan, or coach Terry Stotts, or with his latest GM?

Stotts and the current Blazer players will suit up Thursday at Moda Center to open the 2018-19 NBA season against LeBron James and the hated Los Angeles Lakers.

But now it cannot be a night for rivalries or hate.

It must be a celebration of the unforgettable life of Portland's most famous basketball fan, and of all he invested into his team.

It will be a night to enjoy what he loved so much — an NBA game, with amazing pro athletes, in a first-class arena and amid fans who make it a lively environment.

Whether you will be watching the game on TNT at home or at Dr. Jack's, or from your seat at Moda Center, be like Paul, and do what he would want you to do.

Go get a nice big bag of popcorn, sit back and appreciate the Blazers and the NBA and the legacy of Paul Allen.

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