2002–03 Portland Trail Blazers season

The 2002–03 Portland Trail Blazers season was the 33rd season for the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Trail Blazers acquired Antonio Daniels from the San Antonio Spurs, and signed free agent Jeff McInnis. Former Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis came out of his retirement, and returned to play for the team after a one-year absence.

The Trail Blazers got off to a slow start by losing six of their first nine games of the regular season. However, after a 10–11 start to the season, the team posted an 8-game winning streak in December, and later on held a 32–16 record at the All-Star break. The Trail Blazers played around .500 in winning percentage by posting an 18–16 record for the remainder of the season, finishing in third place in the Pacific Division with a solid 50–32 record, and earning the sixth seed in the Western Conference; the team also qualified for the NBA playoffs for the 21st consecutive year, and the 26th year of the last 27 seasons.

Rasheed Wallace averaged 18.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and contributed 110 three-point field goals, while Bonzi Wells averaged 15.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, and Derek Anderson provided the team with 13.9 points and 4.3 assists per game, and also led them with 116 three-point field goals. In addition, Scottie Pippen contributed 10.8 points, 4.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game, while second-year forward Zach Randolph provided with 8.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and Ruben Patterson contributed 8.3 points per game. Meanwhile, Dale Davis averaged 7.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, Damon Stoudamire played half of the season off the bench, averaging 6.9 points and 3.5 assists per game, Sabonis provided with 6.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and McInnis contributed 5.8 points per game. Head coach Maurice Cheeks finished in tenth place in Coach of the Year voting.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 2003 NBA playoffs, the Trail Blazers faced off against the 3rd–seeded Dallas Mavericks, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki, All-Star guard Steve Nash, and Michael Finley. The Trail Blazers faced elimination after losing the first three games to the Mavericks; the team lost the first two games on the road at the American Airlines Center, before losing Game 3 at home at the Rose Garden Arena, 115–103 as the Mavericks took a 3–0 series lead. Despite the threat of elimination, the Trail Blazers managed to win the next three games, which included a Game 6 win over the Mavericks at the Rose Garden Arena, 125–103 to even the series. However, the Trail Blazers lost Game 7 to the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center, 107–95, thus losing in a hard-fought seven-game series.

As of 2026, the Trail Blazers remained the last team to force a Game 7 after trailing 3–0 in a best-of-seven series, until the 2022–23 Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, and after the 1950–51 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, and the 1993–94 Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semi-finals; although no team has ever come back to win an NBA playoff series after trailing 3–0. This season would also be the last time that the Trail Blazers qualified for the NBA playoffs until the 2008–09 season, as the team's historic postseason streak would end in the following season with a mediocre 41–41 record.

The Trail Blazers finished sixth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 796,258 at the Rose Garden Arena during the regular season. Following the season, Pippen re-signed as a free agent with his former team, the Chicago Bulls, after four seasons with the Trail Blazers, while Daniels signed with the Seattle SuperSonics, and Sabonis retired for the second time.

For the season, the Trail Blazers changed their primary logo, and slightly changed their uniforms. The team's new primary logo only lasted for just one season, while the home jerseys would remain in use until 2017, and the road jerseys would last until 2005, where they replaced the team name "Blazers" with the city name "Portland".