Paul Allen’s Empty Statement

The Blazers’ owner addressed the mess in his team’s front-office, but essentially said nothing at all. This got some in the local media fired up, including John Canzano of the Oregonian: “Given that he could have ended the speculation on Thursday, I’m not sure we need to hear anything more from Allen. But I asked him at the end of the first half, as he headed into the room he uses as an office, if he’d mind going stronger with the comments on Pritchard. The Blazers owner waved me off and shook his head. I asked him if there was anything more he wanted to say to Blazers fans. He hurried off, waving his hands and shaking his head. He finally nudged one of his private security guards and pointed at me before disappearing into a room with a small group that included Vulcan executive Bert Kolde, who was puffing his chest out at me. After the door closed, a second security guard turned to me and said, ‘Keep writing what you write.’ Funny moment, that one. Because elsewhere in the arena during the game, a couple dozen fans were holding up ‘Fans (heart) KP’ signs, pointing them toward the court. An usher came up and told them to point the signs toward the TV cameras to their right. And they did. What we have here is a man who owns the team, but doesn’t know what it is to take ownership of it.”