The Portland Blazers formally introduced their new head coach Micah Nori on Thursday. Nori has been a lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves for the past five seasons. After the Blazers lost coach Tiago Splitter to the Bulls last week, Portland hired Micah.
While Nori doesn’t like to make promises, he offered one guarantee about the Blazers’ upcoming season during his press conference.
“To this fanbase, to Rip City, I finally get to be on this side of it after 28 years of coming out here and just seeing all the red, seeing all the noise — it’s just a very, very tough place to play,” Nori said. “I’m super excited to be a part of it and I can promise you that every single night — and I don’t like promises and guarantees, but — we are going to be a team. We will play hard for 48-plus, we are going to play smart for 48-plus, and we’ll play together for 48-plus.”
A message to Rip City
pic.twitter.com/S4ubSGnyzN
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) June 25, 2026
Splitter led the Blazers to 42 wins last season, which was a six-game improvement from the season prior, and they secured the 7th seed in the first-round of the playoffs.
Micah Nori’s honest take on accepting the Blazers job
Blazers head coach Micah Nori is looking forward to the challenge that comes with taking on his first NBA head coaching job. With 15+ years of experience as an assistant coach with four other NBA teams, including the Raptors, the Kings, the Nuggets, and the Pistons, before his time with the Timberwolves, Nori felt this was an offer he couldn’t pass up.
“The way I look at this is, opportunity,” Nori said in an interview with Sean Highkin. “For 28 years, the first 25 years I never had an agent. I never look at money or years. I know that if I’m successful, the rest of these things will take care of themselves.”
Nori and the Blazers will look to build off their playoff appearance.
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