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Johnny Davis, according to Jack Ramsay

Johnny Davis, a six-foot-two-inch guard, played for the Portland Trail Blazers for two seasons, from 1976 through 1978. He attended Murray–Wright High School in Detroit, Michigan, and was among the top 10 high school basketball players of all time in the Detroit Public Schools league. He was an outstanding guard at Dayton University, where he averaged just under 20 points a game in his three-year career before entering the NBA Draft in 1976.

At the time, the Blazers were working toward becoming a running team, and it needed speed in the backcourt— quickness in advancing the ball and penetrating the paint, aggression on defense, and shooting accuracy from fifteen to twenty feet. Stu Inman, the Blazers’ director of player personnel, suggested looking at Johnny Davis. Portland picked him during the second round, the twenty-second pick overall. He turned out to be one of the best draft choices in Blazer history.

At training camp, a guard corps of Lionel Hollins, Dave Twardzik, Herm Gilliam, and Davis quickly established itself as a near-perfect blend of pressure defense, fast-break execution, and scoring at the hoop and from the edges. Those guards and wingmen Bob Gross, Larry Steele, and Wally Walker formed a relentless running attack that was initiated by the basket defense and rebounding of Bill Walton, Maurice Lucas, and Lloyd Neal.

Davis became the fourth guard during the regular season. He played in 79 games, averaged about 18 minutes of playing time, and scored 8 points a game. The team’s level of play improved as the season progressed, and he was one of the reasons for it. In Game 5 of the second round of the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets, Twardzik sprained an ankle and was sidelined indefinitely. Walton and Hollins both thought that Davis was ready to step into Twardzik’s spot, and he started in Game 6. He was sensational, speeding past the Denver guards (Mack Calvin and Fatty Taylor) as if he had been shot from a cannon. Davis was the Blazers’ leading scorer in that game and was the catalyst in a decisive win.

Many years later, Davis said: “I remember it like it was yesterday. I felt relaxed, knowing that, as a starter, I didn’t have to rush my game and try to get everything done in a short time. And then the game seemed to open up for me. I don’t usually keep stats in my head, but I do for that game. I had 25 points, 7 assists and 4 steals.” The win was huge for the Blazers, allowing them to advance to the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Davis remained in the starting lineup for the rest of the playoffs. He wasn’t a rookie anymore.

In the L.A. series, the defensive pressure that Davis and Hollins exerted against the Lakers guards (Don Chaney, Lucius Allen, Bo Lamar, and Earl Tatum), along with Walton’s superior play against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, were the pivotal factors in the Blazers’ sweep of that series. Davis was also solid in the NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. He started every game, averaging 35 minutes, 10.5 points, and 3.3 assists. In the closing seconds of Game 6, it was Davis who chased down Walton’s tip toward the backcourt of a George McGinnis’s missed jumper, which saved the Blazers’ 109–107 victory and the NBA championship.

Davis loved to reminisce about the 1977 and 1978 Trail Blazers. “One of the things I remember most about that team,” he said, “was the willingness of the players to accept their roles. Everybody wanted to start and competed very hard during practice. But once the rotation was set, the players on the bench rooted for the guys playing ahead of them. You don’t see that very often on an NBA team.” He continued: “Another thing that impressed me was the collective intelligence of that group. We had a new and complex system to learn, but everybody understood what they had to do on offense and defense—and did it. There was a connection established with the players and coaches of that team that will never be severed.”

The Blazers traded Davis to the Indiana Pacers in the spring of 1978 in order to move up in the draft to select Mychal Thompson. Walton was injured, and Portland needed a big man.

Portland Trail Blazers, 1977-1978. OHS Research Lib.