Blazers Shower Terry Stotts In Celebration After His 500th Career Victory

Terry Stotts showed up to postgame media availability looking like he'd just gotten out of the shower. The Trail Blazers coach didn't need a quick rinse after watching from the sidelines as his team notched an impressive win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, though.

Stotts' wet hair, damp clothing and cheery disposition were the results of a raucous locker-room celebration that commemorated his 500th win as an NBA head coach.

🚨 wholesome content 🚨 pic.twitter.com/fEoAy8FvKJ
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) March 20, 2021

Stotts moved to a record of 500-472 over his 13 seasons manning an NBA sideline, the last nine of which have come in Portland. Making the longevity of his success especially meaningful is that Stotts got off to a rough start as a head coach, going 52-85 during a season-and-a-half with the Atlanta Hawks in the early 2000s before returning to the assistant ranks.

“It’s pretty special,” Stotts told reporters of his 500th victory. “After my first two years in Atlanta I didn’t think I’d get to 100. I’ve been in the league a long time and I’m very fortunate, especially here in Portland, the players that we’ve had and what we’ve been able to do here in Portland for nine years. Obviously it’s pretty special.”

Stotts has received a lot of flak locally of late despite guiding Portland to the fifth-best record in the Western Conference while C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic have spent the season's majority sidelined by injury. Most of that criticism stems from the Blazers' immense struggles on the defensive end of the floor, where they rank second-to-last in points allowed per 100 possessions.

Frustration gleaned from Portland's porous defense isn't limited to the fan base, either. According to The Athletic's Jason Quick, the team's dispiriting play on that side of the ball "has become a topic with ownership in Seattle."

It's safe to say Jody Allen wasn't expecting the Blazers to transform into an elite defensive team in 2020-21. The defensive ceiling of a roster featuring small guards like Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum is inevitably middling, and the presence of minus defenders like Enes Kanter and Carmelo Anthony further lowers it. A tweaked scheme and additions of Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr. were never guaranteed to push Portland to a top-10 defense.

Improvement is probably coming. The Blazers' defensive intensity regularly wanes, and they're often slow to make in-game adjustments – trends that recent games suggest may be dissipating. If Nurkic isn't Portland's best defender, he's certainly its most important.

But even if the Blazers continue lagging behind expectations defensively, there's just no overlooking Stotts' popularity with his players, as their joyous celebration of his career achievement makes abundantly clear. Don't forget it the next time discussions about Stotts' future are running rampant in Rip City.

READ MORE: C.J. McCollum's Return Reminds of Portland's Problems To Come Defensively