He’s Blazing Now : Western finals: Terry Porter, a point guard with humble beginnings, has pushed Portland--and himself--to elite status in the NBA.

If he was going to be the toast of Oregon but lost in the rest of America, Terry Porter had the ideal upbringing.

Like, totally anonymous.

So unknown was Porter at tiny Wisconsin Stevens Point that when he got his big break, an invitation to the 1984 Olympic trials as the token NAIA representative, he wondered if his hosts knew what they were getting.

“It’s really funny,” the Trail Blazer point guard says. “I don’t know if it’s true or not, but rumor had it, they thought it was just some white boy from Hicksville, Wisconsin.

“It turned out great for me.”

Actually, those were Bob Knight’s trials. The selection committee was going over candidates with a magnifying glass and probably had a better idea than his relatives of who Porter was: a halfback-sized, hard-nosed late bloomer from downtown Milwaukee who wouldn’t be in over his head.

Seven years later, Porter’s continued progress would shock the committee, too.

The 6-foot high school forward who didn’t lead his team in scoring, who became a 6-3 NAIA off-guard who never averaged 20 points, has become one of the NBA’s top point guards. His foul problems in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference finals were one reason the Lakers were able to break through and win.

His 12-for-15, 26-point Game 2 was one reason the Trail Blazers were able to break back.

Had Porter materialized from thin air rather than the wilds of Wisconsin, he could hardly have been a bigger surprise. Next to him, Jerome Kersey of Longwood (Va.), an NCAA Division II school, was a city slicker, and Kevin Duckworth of Eastern Illinois a household name.

Stevens Point?

“I wanted to go wherever they’d accept me,” Porter says. “I was just a very late bloomer.

“It was weird, the way it worked out. My freshman year in college, I probably averaged two minutes a game. My sophomore year, I think I averaged about 10 points. My junior and senior years, I averaged about 18 (points). You take those stats and show them to a normal person, they’ll say, ‘Well, he’s not going to become an NBA All-Star.’ ”

In his junior and senior seasons, he was an NAIA All-American. As a senior, he averaged 19.7 points.

Nevertheless, a normal person wouldn’t have it predicted stardom for Porter.

Showcased in the ’84 trials, coming off good showings in the ’85 predraft all-star tournaments, he was invited by the hometown Milwaukee Bucks to watch the draft in their office.

They said this would be handy since he would be their No. 1 pick.

Gotcha!

“At that time, Nelly (Don Nelson) was their coach,” Porter says, enjoying the story. “He was so keen back then at having a guy who could play three positions because they did so much switching on defense. That was when they had Press (Paul Pressey) and Sidney Moncrief.

“He kind of used me as a front, so he could get to Ice Reynolds. That’s who Nelly wanted, because that’s who he picked.”

Welcome to the NBA, almost.

Within the hour, however, the Trail Blazers took Porter with their No. 1, and a future star was borne off to the faraway Pacific Northwest.

Within two seasons, this never-before point guard was a starter.

Within five seasons, he became an All-Star.

Says Don Nelson, still interested after all these years: “He’s the heart and soul of their team. I love him.”

Among point guards, Porter now runs behind only the Lakers’ Magic Johnson, Utah’s John Stockton and Phoenix’s Kevin Johnson in All-NBA voting, though the Warriors’ Tim Hardaway may have just zipped past on the outside.

Does he wonder what might be possible in a hotter market?

“I don’t think anybody’s over Magic,” he says, laughing. “It’s kind of Magic and everybody else.

“A lot of the point guards are so much the focal point of their teams. You take Tim Hardaway. It’s very important for their team for him to score 20 points. Same with Phoenix (with Kevin Johnson). It’s not that important for Stockton to score 20 points, but it’s important for Stockton to have the ball in his hands 90% of the time. It’s not important for me on this team to score 20 points or have the ball 90% of the time.

“The important thing for me is if we continue our success, I’m going to get the due process I deserve. This year, if you look at me making the All-Star team, this is probably the worst year I’ve had statswise.

“When you think of our team, you don’t think of me. Like when you think of Golden State, you think of Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Chris Mullin. When you think of Phoenix, you think of Kevin. When you think of Utah, you think of Stockton and Karl Malone.

“When you think of our team, you think of Duck and Clyde, Buck and Clyde.”

Porter’s performance isn’t down this season. His assists fell slightly but his scoring average jumped from 18 to 22 and his shooting percentage from 46% to 52%.

Ask Buck Williams, Kevin Duckworth and Clyde Drexler who they think of at crunch time, and they won’t have to go three names to hit Porter’s.

Fame at last, the important kind.