Micah Nori didn’t just walk out of opening night with a win. He walked out drenched, grinning and carrying the start of a new Blazers tradition.
After Portland’s victory over the Phoenix Suns at Moda Center, the Trail Blazers’ first-year head coach got hit with a celebratory cold-water bath in the postgame locker room. Then came the surprise he unveiled with the game ball in hand from All-Star Damian Lillard: the team’s newest postgame prize, “The Knockout Punch.”
“This year we’re going to give out boxing gloves,” Nori said. “The Knockout Punch.”
That means The Box, the Blazers’ previous postgame reward, is gone. In its place is a pair of bright red Cleto Reyes “puncher’s gloves” with black laces, now waiting for whichever player the staff decides delivered the night’s most impactful performance.
The idea was born in a preseason brainstorming session, when the coaching staff was looking for a new way to celebrate wins and hard work. Nori said NBA teams have handed out championship belts and lockup chains before, and Portland used The Box last season to honor defense. This version, though, was built to be less predictable.
“We were trying to think of something that would allow everyone to have a chance,” Nori said. “A lot of times these things go to your best defenders or the guy who shoots the ball the most.
I don’t remember who brought it up, but someone mentioned the gloves and everybody was like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool.’ It could go to anybody.”
And that’s the point. Nori’s examples ranged from the obvious to the off-the-beaten-path: Dame dropping 35, Deni Avdija putting up 32, Sidy Cissoko making a late deflection and loose-ball play before knocking down free throws, or even a short burst like the one Micah Potter had against Golden State in the exhibition season.
“He didn’t play 36 minutes, but he impacted the game. He threw the knockout punch.”
The staff chooses the winner together after each victory, and the gloves are handed over in the locker room.
The first recipient was Lillard, who returned to Portland and sparked the Blazers right away. He scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the opening quarter, hit three of his six 3-pointers and helped power Portland’s stunning 43-12 first frame in the win over Phoenix.
The next game, the gloves went to Toumani Camara after a night built on defense, 19 points and a late burst that closed the door in Sacramento. Camara hit a pair of what he called “knockout threes” in the final five minutes, 10 seconds of that win.
After both players got the gloves, they signed them with the date written on the leather.
By season’s end, the Blazers plan to hand out a special prize to the player who finishes with the most knockouts: a pair of boxing gloves autographed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. The gloves are coming courtesy of Courtney Watson, Portland’s director of health and player performance, who used to train the undefeated welterweight champion.
When it was time to announce the first winner, Nori shouted through the wet locker room, “Q, you got it.”
Assistant coach Quinton Crawford held the gloves up high and answered with four words: “Welcome home, Damian Lillard.”
The room blew up in applause, and Lillard wore the gloves around his neck, smiling wide.
Camara said the reaction around the team has been immediate.
“It’s been good,” Camara said of the Blazers’ new tradition. “There’s lots of enthusiasm about it.
Everybody’s happy by the way we’ve been playing, everybody’s been having fun on the court. So I think that’s the most important.
And this is just another way to have fun. We have 80 more, man.”
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