Paul Allen’s owner cred takes a hit with the firing of Kevin Pritchard

It’s hard to question the actions of a guy who’s won big at the game of life the way Paul Allen has.  He helped build Microsoft, cashed in, bought two pro sports teams (Seattle in the NFL and Portland in the NBA) and has given away more money to charity than the entire populations of some small towns will make in their lifetimes.

As a sports owner, he’s avoiding being branded a total douchenozzle, something that can’t be said for guys like Daniel Snyder and Donald Sterling.  In Seattle he nearly brought the city a Super Bowl title a few years back, but his greatest achievement might be the fact that he kept the Trail Blazers in Portland.

You see, the citizens of Portland love them some Blazers.  But the powers that be in the city have always been reluctant to do anything to help the franchise out.  Without a penny of public funding or even naming-rights revenue, Allen spent over $250 million to build the Rose Garden, which was the NBA’s Taj Mahal of arenas when it opened in 1995.

For a reminder of what can happen when both a city and a team’s ownership can’t get a new arena funded, refer to what happened in Seattle with the Sonics.  I don’t think Allen’s contribution to the sports culture of Rip City should ever be shortchanged, the guy saved pro basketball in Portland.

Which is why I kind of hate to take him to task over the firing of GM Kevin Prichard, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do. By cutting ties with one of the sport’s brightest minds, Allen has made what amounts to be a Steinbrenner-esque move.

Remember a few years ago when the Trail Blazers were known as the Jail Blazers? Fans in Portland didn’t know whether to cheer those teams or run in fear from them. Think about this: earlier this decade, Portland decided to put Ruben Patterson, ‘Sheed Wallace and Damon Stoudemire ON THE SAME ROSTER. That’s the equivalent of putting the Joker, the Penguin and Catwoman on the same cell block in Arkham Asylum.

Starting in 2006 as assistant GM, Pritchard unloaded the dead weight and replenished the roster with guys like Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Fernandez. In 2006-07, the Blazers won 32 games, but have won 104 the last two seasons combined, making the playoffs both times.

And now he’s out of a job.  How did it come to this?  The whole affair is confusing because there doesn’t appear to be a specific HR misstep or rumor of tyrannical behavior to explain the firing.  There has to be some dirty laundry here, but the famously low key Allen isn’t airing it.  Hell, he didn’t even attend the the post-firing press conference, that chore was left to team president Larry Miller.

I’m guessing that no dirty laundry will be aired by Pritchard, either, not after he released this syrupy sweet open letter:

Portlanders take great pride in their basketball team and it’s great to see that love and passion back. I’m glad I was able to play a small part in making that happen, but understand our comeback was a total team effort led by our owner and not me.

Speaking of Portlanders, I want to thank our great fans. Everywhere I went for the past seven years I received nothing but the most positive feedback about how much this city loves its team. I knew every night that we stepped on the court at the Rose Garden that our fans would make the difference and without question having the best fans in the NBA is a huge advantage.

I’ll always look back fondly on Portland and the many great memories and all the lasting relationships I made here. Yes, ultimately, I’m tearfully sad to be leaving Portland and incredibly disappointed that I won’t be able to help see this thing through to the end. But rest-assured wherever I end up I’ll be keeping a close eye on Portland and cheering the team on because I will always consider myself a Trail Blazer.

Thank you, Portland. You’re the best. You have a great owner, great players, a great coach, a great team president, a great president emeritus and a great front office. In other words, you have a great team and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. (The Oregonian)

With nothing specific to point to, I can only speculate, so here goes.  Stories of Allen’s social awkwardness abound, so did Pritchard’s reputation as the organization’s golden boy get to be too much for the owner to take?

If  pettiness like this was at the heart of the firing, then that’s pretty worrisome for Blazer fans.  They’re 22 years deep into the Allen regime, and the guy might be drifting into Howard Hughes territory.  For the record, Hughes never owned any teams that won championships.