The Portland Trail Blazers hit the practice floor in Tualatin on Tuesday with two days of preparation before they host the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night. Interim coach Tiago Splitter said the team’s
136-131 win against the Golden State Warriors over the weekend gave the group a nice morale boost, but the message at practice was to keep their foot on the pedal.
“It’s always good when you win,” Splitter told reporters. “I’m just trying to advise them not to relax because that’s human nature. You relax after a win like that, and we don’t have space for that. We’ve got to … stay focused and work on the stuff that we gotta do. So that was the main speech today.”
Here’s more intel from Tuesday’s media availability session that included conversations with Splitter, center Robert Williams III and forward Toumani Camara.
The Box
Much of Tuesday’s conversations revolved around “The Box,” the new individual honor that Blazers coaches give out after a win to the team’s best defender that night. Each night’s winner gets to write his name on paper and place it in a wooden box, specially decorated with the Blazers pinwheel logo on all four sides and a padlock. The Blazer with the most submissions at the end of the season will win a mystery prize.
The idea draws inspiration from Camara’s signature celebration where he draws an imaginary box with his hands after a big defensive play, symbolizing how he put the opponent in a box. Splitter unveiled the tradition after the Warriors win on Sunday, and Blazers forward Sidy Cissoko got the honor of putting his name in The Box first.
Splitter explained on Tuesday how he wanted a creative way to recognize defense, and a physical manifestation of Toumani Camara’s celebration seemed like a fitting way to do it.
“I tried to think a little bit outside of the box, and I thought about Toumani, one of our best defenders, and the sign that he does with the box,” Splitter said. “I thought that was something funny to do, interesting. The guys would like it. … First of all, everybody rewards offense. How many points you score, how many assists, blah, blah, blah. So I wanted something that [showed] we were proud of guarding people, to stop people. And sometimes it might just be one play, one [drawn offensive foul] that you have or something. So just trying to have that mentality of going there and guarding and having that pride — one-on-one pride, rebound, box out, all those little bits.”
After brainstorming the concept, the coach initially tried to build the thing himself. He said he collected supplies from Home Depot and tried his hand at woodwork in the garage, but he didn’t like his prototype. That’s when he had the organization step in and help design the finished product you see today.
“It didn’t look that good,” Splitter said with a smile. “So that one looks better.”
After its creation, The Box had been traveling with the Blazers during recent stops in New Orleans and Memphis, but it was hiding inside a plain cardboard shipping box. Splitter was waiting for a win to uncover the mystery, and the extended wait only garnered more curiosity from the players about what could be inside.
“We didn’t know what it was,” Williams said. “We thought someone won an award or something, and we were trying to figure out what award it was.”
The only player who knew the secret was Camara. Since the ritual pays homage to his celebration, Splitter didn’t move forward with the idea without Camara’s blessing. The 2025 NBA All-Defensive Second Team honoree was all for it.
“Excitement,” Camara said about his reaction to the concept. “I think it’s something that helps a lot of teams, being able to have something to focus on every game. I think the way that it’s done, the way that everybody needs to participate, is a great way to do it.”
Excitement was also the general reaction from the rest of the team on Sunday when they learned what’s inside The Box. Williams agreed the competition aspect of the ritual will help get the best out of him and his teammates.
“I think it’s motivation, [less so] for a prize, but to have pride on defense when you walk in the locker room at the end of the night,” Williams said. “I know me personally, [when] somebody tells me someone played better defense than me, I take that personal.”
King of the Court
While media interviews took place against the wall on one end of the practice facility on Tuesday, a team-wide game of King of the Court took place on the far-side court. The game is essentially a continuous session of 1-on-1, with make-it-take-it rules. If the defender gets a stop, he then becomes the offensive player. If he doesn’t and the offensive player scores, then the defender moves to the back of the line and the next challenger plays defense.
Camara said the Blazers played three separate rounds of the game from three spots on the floor. He scored the most points from one spot to win a round, but Blazers backup big man Duop Reath won the other two rounds to be the Champ.
“Wop is a 1-on-1 legend out here,” Camara said. “With the elbow work, two and three dribbles, bumping you into a little floater, Wop is really good at that. So props to him.”
