Advertisement

The Blazers got a pretty bad pep talk and Paul Allen made a Kickstarter video on 'Portlandia' (Video)

Now that they've officially locked up a postseason berth, the Portland Trail Blazers have a little bit of time and breathing room to enjoy the fruits of their labors — like, for example, the opportunity to share some laffs with Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein on the Rip City-repping IFC series "Portlandia."

OK, my timeline might be a bit off — evidently, the Blazers filmed their portions of the latest episode of the hit sketch show back in October. The finished product did air Thursday night, though, so let's take a look at what transpired when All-Stars Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge, center Robin Lopez, reserve forward Thomas Robinson and rookie guard C.J. McCollum meet Toni and Candace, the owners and proprietors of beloved local bookstore Women & Women First, who have just finished doing their part to empower and elevate the performance of the Blazers' dance team, only to see the Blazers themselves looking a bit down in the mouth:

Sure, the Michael Jordan misdirect's all fine, well and good, but I'm really down for RoLo introducing some costuming, prop work and trickery into his game. Setting screens and boxing out are important, but I think there's still room for a little panache in the 7-footer's performance.

Speaking of "panache" and "performance" ... well, there's not much of either in Blazers owner Paul Allen's appearance, but it's still fun to see him pop up in a film festival recognizing the videos Kickstarter users make to try to get you to donate to their Kickstarters (trust me, it makes sense when you watch it):

And hey, check out McCollum pulling double duty! Sure, this particular bit doesn't include any lines, but rookie should be seen and not heard anyway.

This, of course, wasn't the first time the Blazers and "Portlandia" have crossed over — Aldridge made a brief cameo back in 2012:

If he keeps this up, Aldridge will become as integral a part of the show as ... um ... all the recurring couples of friends/partners that Brownstein and Armisen play! Here's hoping Thursday's episode winds up being a ratings coup for the series, because I'd very much like other IFC shows to start expanding their roster of guest appearances to include NBA players. Basically, I just want Pablo Prigioni to appear in some capacity on "Comedy Bang! Bang!" and I'm willing to do anything up and including juking some Nielsen stats to make that happen.

- - - - - - -

Dan Devine

is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow BDL's Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.