Darnell Valentine can’t stop pushing. He can’t stop running. Valentine can’t stop wanting to be the best. Not now, not after realizing his lifetime NBA dream, not after winning the starting point guard battle over Fat Lever last season, not after painfully missing 35 games with a broken foot, and certainly not after rebounding from that injury by playing the best basketball of his pro career in the playoffs.
Valentine, now entering his third NBA season with the Portland Trail Blazers, wants more.
Much more.
That’s why he’s been sweating and running all offseason while knowing he’ll have to beat out Lever again for the starting job and help the Blazers build on their playoff success last year, where they lost in the Western Conference semifinals to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Darnell will run all day; you run with him or you’re left out,” Portland teammate Calvin Natt said. “He’s been running six or seven miles each morning (all summer). If Darnell starts, we’ll run more with more fast breaks.”
Valentine was rewarded with his hard work by earning the starting point guard spot. But he was not the clear winner. Lever was a great player in own right, and the two guards couldn’t really separate much between each other.
Valentine started the first 34 games before being injured at the start of the New Year, missing 14 games. He resumed play on Feb. 5 as Lever continued to start for eight more games before Valentine replaced him in the starting lineup for the remainder of the season.
Valentine started 60 of 68 games, averaging 10.2 points (down from 12.5 ppg last season), 5.8 assists (decrease from 6.2 apg), 1.9 rebounds (down from 2.5 rpg) and 1.6 steals (2.1 spg in 1982-83) in 27.8 minutes per game (27.6 mpg last year). His shooting percentage also decreased from 45.4 percent to 44.7 percent and Valentine’s free throw percentage was slightly down, too, from 79.3 to 78.9.
Lever, meanwhile, started 22 of 81 games and averaged 9.7 points, 4.6 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 24.8 minutes per contest.
I remember once reading that Portland center Mychal Thompson said Valentine kept worrying about Lever and looking over his shoulder at him, while Lever didn’t mind splitting time with D.V.
In any case, the two point guards made a great tandem to pair with star shooting guard Jim Paxson (team-high 21.3 ppg) with rising rookie and first-round draft choice Clyde Drexler backing him up. Valentine marveled at Paxson’s skills, a great, creative shooter who was a master of moving without the ball.
“He surprises me. Some of the shots he’s able to make are incredible,” Valentine told The Sporting News. “He’s always looking for ways to catch you off guard. Even in practice, he’s looking for ways to invent his own plays.”
My dad and I used to lament how Valentine would dribble the ball upcourt, then pass the ball and stand in the corner while the other players ran set plays. Portland coach Jack Ramsay ran a very complex and sophisticated offense. He was very structured in games and also practices.
“It’s so complicated, even some of the veterans don’t know the plays,” Lever said about the offense. “With Ramsay, you either have to know what you are doing and be great at faking it.”
Valentine tied his career high with 24 points in a win over Houston on Nov. 8, 1983, while adding five steals in 39 minutes. He also dished a career-high 15 assists during a loss to Denver on March 11, 1984, while recording a career-high 43 minutes in a thrilling 156-155 four overtime defeat to Chicago five days later.
Portland improved its record for the second straight year (48-34) and finished in second place in the Pacific Division.
Valentine saved his best for the playoffs, just like last season, but even better this time. He averaged 18.4 points and 8.4 assists in 35.6 minutes during a five-game first-round series to Phoenix (Suns won 3-2). Valentine, who shot 50 percent from the field and a blistering 91.4 percent at the free throw line (32-35), exploded for a game-high 29 points in a Game 3 loss, including making 15 of 16 free throws, while adding 10 assists in 36 minutes. He followed that game by posting 16 points and 13 assists in 41 minutes while helping Portland win and tie the series at 2-2.
I remember jumping out of my chair in my parents’ family room watching Game 3, seeing Valentine on fire dominating the game. Not known as a scorer, Valentine seemingly scored and penetrated the lane at will. I kept yelling at the TV, “Get the ball to Darnell, get the ball to Darnell.” And his teammates did. And then I recall how heartbroken I was when the Blazers lost 106-103. But I was still thrilled that D.V. had his coming out party in the playoffs.
Unfortunately, the Suns (41-41 in regular season and fourth place in Pacific Division) upset the Blazers in Game 5, forcing Ramsay and Blazer management to reevaluate their franchise.
Portland then made a very controversial and blockbuster trade, sending Lever, rugged 6-6 star forward Natt, 6-10 center Wayne Cooper and two draft picks to Denver for 6-8 scoring machine Kiki Vandeweghe, who was third in the NBA in scoring last season at 29.4 points per game.
Blazer’s Edge wrote on April 11, 2020, that “it was the most audacious move the franchise had ever made.”
Ramsay and general manager Stu Inman defended the trade. The UPI reported that Ramsay said Vandeweghe “will give the Blazers perimeter shooting from the front line, a quality Portland lacked last year.”
“To complement the players we have now, there was no better player available than Vandeweghe,” Ramsay said.
“Maybe along with Bernard King of New York he is the best offensive forward in basketball,” Ramsay added. “We are getting a player who can score from the outside, who can drive for the basket, who can run the floor well and who is a good passer, all of which are qualities we really need in our front line, and it has been very difficult for us because we lacked them.”
Inman called Vandeweghe “as consummate a small forward as there is in the league at the offensive end of the court.”
“As we are seeing in the playoffs, there is so much double-teaming that kicking the ball back to people who can flat-out drill it is helpful.”
With Lever gone, Valentine was the only point guard on the Portland roster. Ramsay said the Blazers need a backup “who can run the break well, maybe a little better than Fat could, and give us some outside shooting.”
While it remained to be seen if the Blazers would make another trade for a point guard or select one in the 1984 NBA Draft, one matter now remained certain: Darnell Valentine had to be feeling pretty good that he no longer had to look over his shoulder at Fat Lever.
Little, though, did Valentine, Portland and anyone in the league know at the time that Lever would emerge as an All-Star with the Nuggets and one of the best all-around point guards in the NBA.
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