Oregon Journalism Project: Ex-Blazer Chris Dudley talks about Oregon, the 2026 governor's race, and NBA gambling

The big question of the night at the NW Events & Environments ballroom in Hillsboro: Would any of the speakers reveal they were joining the already announced candidates for governor, Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethel and state Sen. Christine Drazan (R-Canby), the 2022 nominee?

Speculation centered on the tallest man in the room, Chris Dudley, the 6-foot-11 former Trail Blazers center who ran a strong race in 2010 against Democrat John Kitzhaber, losing by fewer than 25,000 votes, or 1.5 percentage points. (Dudley moved to California in 2012, then back to Oregon in 2020.)

Speaking on background, political insiders at the event seemed evenly split: Some doubted Dudley would challenge Drazan, a skilled legislative leader, while others swore he’d enter the race.

In a brief speech, Dudley was equal parts emotional and noncommittal. “I’m fired up,” he said, citing the opportunity to harness a “powerful generational shift” of young voters toward more conservative values while pointedly avoiding a definitive statement of intent.

No Republican candidate since 2010 has come nearly as close as Dudley did then. With incumbent Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek struggling to right the leaky ship that is Oregon, many Republicans are pining for Dudley to dust off his lawn signs. That’s in part because he fared so well against Kitzhaber, a more popular leader than Kotek, and partly because he is both pro-choice (Drazan, the likely front-runner, is pro-life) and a blank slate upon whom they can sketch their wishes.

Dudley, 60, played 16 years in the NBA after graduating from Yale, finishing his career in Portland in 2003. He leaned on that experience this summer as a leader of Rip City Forever, a group that worked to ensure the Trail Blazers would stay in Portland after the completion of their sale to a Dallas-based owner. And as a former players’ union official now in the wealth management business in Sisters, Dudley has insight into the gambling scandal that threatens both Blazer Coach Chauncy Billups and the league’s integrity.

He sat down with the Oregon Journalism Project to offer his thoughts on the game — and helping the state he loves. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

OJP: We’re hearing from a lot of people you are considering running for governor. Have you made a decision?

Chris Dudley: No. What I can say is, I haven’t ruled it out.

OJP: Is part of your calculation President Donald Trump’s unpopularity in Oregon? 

Chris Dudley: Listen, I ran before Trump ran. I ran well before Trump was an issue. I’ll be an Oregonian long after Trump is out of office. I’m not running because of Trump, and I’m not going to not run because of him.

OJP: To what degree are you willing to stand up to him?

Chris Dudley: We’re all God’s children and we’re all here together. Nobody’s better or less than. I’m not going to bow down to any man, and I’m not going to ask anybody to bow down to me. I would stand up for whatever is right for Oregon, simple as that.

OJP: Why would Oregon benefit from a Republican governor? 

Chris Dudley: The governor sets the state’s agenda. If I were governor, I’d say we are in a state of emergency with education — how do we fix it? Of course, it’s not an easy answer, but if I put it through the sports lens, if a team is in last place, are we going to hold the least number of practices? No. So let’s start more time in class. Whether it’s education, homelessness or addiction, the word I hear from everybody on both sides of the aisle is accountability — there’s no accountability.

OJP: What was your takeaway from coming so close to winning in 2010?

Chris Dudley: Well, I loved the experience of talking to voters about the issues affecting them. I feel some disappointment in that you could see where the state was heading in the wrong direction, and we tried to raise a flag about that. I think our message resonated with people, and that’s part of the reason the state went to 30–30 in the House and 16–14 in the Senate that year.

OJP: You said you saw the state going in the wrong direction in 2010. What do you mean?

Chris Dudley: What’s the saying, absolute power corrupts absolutely? One party rule is not healthy for the state, regardless of who holds that power. You need a healthy tension and balance. When you look around the country, I think the most popular governors, most successful governors are exactly in that situation, in states like Vermont or Kentucky.

OJP: How would you assess Gov. Kotek’s performance?

Chris Dudley: I think the results speak for themselves. What are we, 49th in educational results? Portland is ranked 80 out of 81 in cities across the country in terms of attractiveness to investors. We’re at the bottom economically as a place to do business. For access to treatment for drug addiction, we’re 50th. I’m not sure there’s any stats where we are in the top half of the country.

OJP: Why is that?

Chris Dudley: Maybe you lose track of what the ultimate goal is. And I believe you need to work with both sides. When I talk to people about the transportation bill [that passed in the September special session], for example, I hear there was no contact with the other side of the table until the last minute. That’s not good. You need to have a dialogue. Maybe sometimes you’re too beholden to the people who put you in office.

OJP: Can you be more specific?

Chris Dudley: When I ran against Kitzhaber, I was making calls every day to different donors and groups, and he’s just got to make three phone calls [the state’s three large public employee unions, SEIU, OEA and AFSCME]. That’s a huge amount of what he raised. I’m not anti-union. I was treasurer of the players association in the NBA. But I do think we’ve got some issues when the union basically elects who they’re going to be negotiating with.

OJP: If you do decide to run, what’s one thing you would do differently?

Chris Dudley: Probably spend even more time in Multnomah County and going to where the voter is and having dialogue. I was at a memorial recently, and a speaker said, “Society is teaching us who, what and why to hate.” We need to know who, what and why to love. Right now, we’re shouting at each other, and we need to be able to talk to each other. Mother Teresa could run for governor on the Republican side, and they would put a MAGA hat on her. If we spend the next election just talking about Donald Trump, that’s a disservice to Oregon. Let’s focus, for the sake of the state, on the issues we are all facing.

OJP: If Oregon is so broken, why did you move back from California?

Chris Dudley: I love Oregon and I love Portland. There are things we’ve got to fix, but there are just great people here. I love the mountains. I love the beaches. And we have family here. My nieces and nephews are seventh-generation Oregonians. We have strong roots in Oregon, and I’m a believer that can get better.

OJP: You’ve identified education as a top priority. What’s a second issue you’d highlight?

Chris Dudley: A couple of weeks ago, I was walking on the South Park Blocks about 9 in the morning, and there was a guy yelling at nothing, swinging, hitting bushes, just crazy. That’s not right on so many different levels. This person needs help, and I think, too often right now, we’re coming up with solutions that push people off to the side. Housing is definitely a part of it. But if you build a new apartment and you put someone who is drug addicted or mentally ill in that apartment, I don’t think things go well. We’re spending all this money — what are we getting for it? That’s where accountability comes in.

OJP: What about Oregon’s economy?

Chris Dudley: I think we’re at the precipice of a potential doom loop. You know, business is not a four-letter word. When your product’s not doing well, you don’t raise the price, you lower it. And now we have the highest tax rates in the country, other than New York City.

OJP: You were part of Rip City Forever, a group that raised public awareness that the Trail Blazers could leave Portland. There’s now a new owner, Tom Dundon. Does the risk still exist?

Chris Dudley: Portland has to realize it could be in a competition with other cities across the country. We’ve tried to say, don’t view this as a crisis, view it as an opportunity to inject some life into Portland. But there’s still a risk until there’s a deal that makes sense for the city, makes sense for the state, and works for the Blazers economically.

OJP: Several members of the Portland City Council are Democratic Socialists, who may be even less inclined than Portland usually is to subsidize pro sports. Thoughts?

Chris Dudley: It definitely gives me concern, and that’s why it’s got to be presented the right way. It’s not just an issue for the left. It’s an issue for the right, as well. No offense to Tom Dundon, but nobody wants to give handouts to a billionaire. That’s why it’s very important how this is done.

OJP: What was your reaction when Blazers Coach Chauncey Billups got indicted Oct. 23?

Chris Dudley: It was a gut punch. I really like Chauncey. The weekend before the indictment, they had Blazer alumni come in, and we went and watched practice. Chauncey introduced us to the team, and we had dinner the next day at the practice facility. Chauncey has such a positive personality. I was devastated to see the news.

OJP: Given your years in the NBA, can you speak to the issue of gambling in general?

Chris Dudley: We played cards on the plane, but it was more for the competition and fun. That’s much different than using a bookie or whatever. What they are doing now is different. I absolutely hate prop bets. But I thought, with players’ contracts being so large, the risk was minimal.

OJP: What do you think about the general influence of Draft Kings and FanDuel and the other sports betting companies?

Chris Dudley: I don’t like it. I get that it’s such a huge part of NBA revenues. But I don’t like where it can take people. With FanDuel, you do fantasy teams, then you’re bombarded with offers. I’ve got three kids and seen the way it works.

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This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project (oregonjournalismproject.org), a nonprofit investigative newsroom for the state of Oregon.