Fansided

Every NBA team’s biggest celebrity fan

By Brendon Kleen

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 22: Beyonce and Jay Z laugh during the game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on January 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 22: Beyonce and Jay Z laugh during the game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on January 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
23 of 30
Next
PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 14: (L-R) Executive producers and creators Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and Jonathan Krisel attend the IFC presentation of Brockmire and Portlandia on January 14, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images for AMC Networks)
PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 14: (L-R) Executive producers and creators Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and Jonathan Krisel attend the IFC presentation of Brockmire and Portlandia on January 14, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images for AMC Networks) /

Portland Trailblazers: Toni and Candace from Portlandia

If you don’t love Portlandia, it’s because you haven’t watched it. And if you’re a basketball fan who doesn’t love Portlandia, it’s because you haven’t watched the scenes featuring the Portland Trail Blazers. Two recurring characters from the show consistently have run-ins with the Blazers. Their names are Toni and Candace and they are the owners of a feminist bookstore called “Women and Women First”.

In one episode, the women treat a Blazers loss as an opportunity to empower the sideline dance team. In the process, they get an inside look at the Portland locker room, which includes cameos from LaMarcus Aldridge, C.J. McCollum, Damian Lillard and Robin Lopez. The store owners give outrageous advice to the team, including the idea that Lopez pretend to be on the other team to confuse the opponent. Lopez decides to go ahead and show us that he’s the best actor from that 2014 Portland team:

Toni and Candace are a beautiful part of the Blazers’ world. The actors who play them are Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, two comedians with a background in music. Neither is an athlete, so the use of the Blazers as part of a bit is even more hilarious. The characters are legitimately floored by the concept of basketball as something that would be cheered on by female dancers. However, they learn to love the Blazers. We see that later in the series, when Aldridge appears alone as the love interest of another character.

I appreciate Toni and Candace letting men in enough to develop a fondness for Portland’s basketball team, because it makes great comedy and somehow seems exactly perfect for the characters Armisen and Brownstein have created. Aldridge plays it with the perfect deadpan, and the whole thing is pretty funny. In the end, it was hard to nail down these fictional characters over Elizabeth Banks or any other traditional celebrity associated with Portland. But their fandom is impossible to argue.

Maybe as small business owners they’ve grown to love the nightly rigor of the NBA schedule. Perhaps they like the late starts Portland gets being so far West. Either way, they love their Blazers.

Home/NBA