Portland renames street after late Blazers coach Jack Ramsay

Prior to their October 17 exhibition game against Maccabi Haifa at the Moda Center, the Trail Blazers, along with the city of Portland, took part in a tribute to former Blazers Hall-of-Fame coach Dr. Jack Ramsay, who passed away on April 28 at the age of 89. 

In honor of the late Dr. Jack, the street near the former Rose Garden long known as North Winning Way, was officially renamed North Ramsay Way. 

Ramsay spent 20 years as an NBA head coach, half of them in Portland. With him on the sidelines, the Blazers missed the playoffs just once in 10 seasons, and won the franchise's first and only championship in 1976-77. Ramsay ranks 13th all-time with 864 coaching victories. 

"This is a great day for the city of Portland and the fact that Dr. Jack was memorialized will constantly be a reminder of things that are great about Rip City and the Portland Trail Blazers," said general manager Neil Olshey.

"I’ve said many times, the championship team epitomized what coaches strive for in a team," said current Blazers coach Terry Stotts. "Teamwork, togetherness, camaraderie and they were a fun team to watch. I can only hope to have my teams play in a similar manner to that."

"As someone who often experienced Portland from the passenger seat of a speeding car or the back of a convertible in a parade, it feels just right that the city honored my father with the naming of a street," said Ramsay's daughter, Caroline. "And also that the street was named 'Way' not street, road, avenue, court because my father, even though he was not a native of Portland, he embraced the Oregon lifestyle wholly. The Ramsay way of life was influenced by the Portland way of life, so this street naming is a beautiful way to honor the spirit of the man in the city that he loved."