NBA fans in Portland are just starting to panic about their new billionaire owner. They are missing a huge clue sitting right next door in Raleigh. Hurricanes fans and media have already lived through the Tom Dundon playbook. They know exactly what happens when this owner takes control. The Portland Trail Blazers are now seeing massive layoffs in the front office. They also face the loss of their broadcast team and players left behind. It is not a mystery to anyone in North Carolina.
Joe Ovies, a voice for the local fanbase, pointed out this exact situation recently. He said on social media that the NBA needs to talk to Hurricanes fans. “Dundon has a playbook,” Ovies wrote, noting that the owner needs his own version of Rod Brind’Amour and Ryan Tulsky to succeed. But the NBA is different from the NHL. The lesson here is clear and painful. Dundon cuts costs to the bone, and fans feel the sting first.
The Broadcast Mess Happened Before
Portland fans are upset about the team not bringing back certain broadcasters. They think this is a new problem. It is not. Hurricanes media and fans saw this exact drama play out before. The team had multiple TV hosts and a full radio crew. They even ran their own TV network for a while. Then the regional sports networks collapsed. The team shipped the broadcasters out before the season was even over. Per Canes Country, the local fanbase knew this was coming long before the news broke.
Chip Alexander, a veteran reporter, actually gave an interview on a Portland radio station about this. He warned them about the owner’s ways. But the NBA has largely ignored the nearly 200,000 people who watched the Hurricanes victory parade. That crowd knows the owner’s ticks intimately. They know he is annoyed by spending money. The phrase “El Cheapo” was used by Bill Simmons to describe Dundon. Simmons is a huge NBA fan and a prolific podcaster. He borrowed the name from Bob Barker, who used it on The Price Is Right. It fits the owner perfectly.
Why This Matters
This situation matters because Portland is making the same mistakes again. Billionaires do not need defending, but they do need scrutiny. Dundon made his billions by getting people to spend money. Now he is in a position to take that money back out. The fans in Raleigh saw the front office shrink. They saw the media team get cut. They know the playbook. Portland fans are just starting to fret over the direction of their team. They are seeing the effects of his ways now.
The lesson is simple. Reach out to the people who have done this before. Cory Lavalette, Ryan Henkle, and Aaron Beard are among the reporters who know the truth. Sara Civian and the rest of the team at Canes Country have the inside story. They have been annoyed by this owner too. But they survived it. Portland needs to learn from the Hurricanes. The owner is the same. The playbook is the same. The only difference is the league. Fans in both cities need to watch the money closely.
Tom Dundon does not care what you think about him. He just wants to get your money. The Portland Trail Blazers are now in the eye of the storm. The Hurricanes media knows the storm from the inside. They have the map. It is up to the NBA fans to ask for it. The cost of ignoring the warning is too high. The layoffs and the cuts are just the beginning. The real cost is the loss of trust and the loss of the team’s soul.
