The next basket by the Blazers would tie the “mighty Lakers.” “All of the sudden the game changed,” he said.īefore long, he said, the tide had turned in Portland’s favor. The Schonz famously coined the phrase “RIP City” during the team’s first season when the Los Angeles Lakers, lead by Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, came to town for the first time.Īs Schonely told it in a 2015 interview with OPB, the crowd was into the game, despite the fact that the Trail Blazers were down by more than 20 points. Know to many as “The Schonz,” his more than 2,000 broadcasts carried the team through wins and losses, year after year - some that still resonate today.
Legendary broadcaster Bill Schonely has died.
