Tom Dundon's cost-cutting has quickly become an NBA punchline, but it's not that funny for Trail Blazers fans

The new Blazers owner is slashing costs, and fans won't receive T-shirts as Portland hosts its first playoff game in five years on Friday

John Gonzalez

Apr 24, 2026

11:22 am ET

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8 min read

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What's the old saying about first impressions? You only get one chance to give everyone free T-shirts, otherwise the entire NBA internet will come for you and call you cheap. Something like that. Don't bother fact-checking.

When Game 3 between the Spurs and Trail Blazers tips in Portland on Friday night, it ought to be a happy occasion for the locals. The series is tied 1-1 after the Blazers stole Game 2 in San Antonio, and it will also mark the first playoff game in Portland since 2021. The Blazers and their fans should be feeling good.

But beyond all that, you're going to hear a lot about T-shirts in the run-up to the game and maybe even on the broadcast. Or maybe you've already heard a lot about T-shirts because everyone has been talking about them all week. That's due to new Blazers owner Tom Dundon deciding there would be no T-shirts for the home crowd, which is something organizations across the league generally drape over each seat to commemorate playoff games and make them feel special. (The team's alternate governor posted that they are "doing something else" instead.)

That turned out to be a big mistake by Dundon. You know what fans really love? You're probably way ahead of me on this but... yeah, T-shirts. Most NBA teams shoot them out of cannons into the crowd during commercial breaks, that's how popular they are. Telling your fans that they won't be getting free T-shirts for the first home postseason game in five years because you want to save money is a good way to get a lot of people angry at you. It's also guaranteed to encourage people on social media to make fun of you at your expense.

Easily avoidable PR gaffes seem to be Dundon's thing. He's made quite a few since taking over the Blazers in late March after paying a reported $4.25 billion for the franchise. Dundon, who also owns the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, is notoriously frugal. So much so that when I Goggled "Tom Dundon" the top search terms that followed his name were, in order, "cheap," "net worth," "religion," "wife" and "cost cutting." Upon purchasing the Hurricanes, he fired the radio broadcasters and reportedly gave low-ball contract offers to head coach Rod Brind'Amor and his staff.

Portland penny-pinching

The cost-cutting has continued apace in the Pacific Northwest. According to The Rose Garden Report, the Blazers did not send their two-way players to San Antonio for Games 1 and 2 in order to save money. The Oregonian reported that the team photographer and digital reporter also did not make the trip for the same reason. In retrospect, they might have lucked out by not joining the traveling party, because a separate Sports Illustrated story revealed that while the team was in Phoenix to face the Suns in the play-in last week, a number of Blazers staffers were seen hanging out in the lobby one day. They had been "asked to check out of their rooms at noon, hours before the first bus left for the arena" because the team wanted to "avoid the cost of a late checkout."

That's both sad and funny, but it also caused some logistical issues. According to The Athletic, the team masseuse -- congrats to that person for making the travel cut! -- was left without a space to ply her pregame craft on the players, which in turn stressed out head coach Tiago Splitter.

The comical thriftiness does not stop there. The Blazers evidently have two mascots (if you knew that and do not live in Portland this is a good time to go outside and touch grass) and Dundon is apparently thinking of sending one (or both?) to farm upstate somewhere.

Not surprisingly, the internet had a blast dunking on Dundon for all this. Various social media feeds were inundated with jokes about how cheap the man is. (As a quick aside, I'd like to say I've read them all and you're all doing fantastic work.) For his part, Dundon does not seem bothered in the slightest.

"Do you know what I do when I see a penny on the ground?" Dundon asked rhetorically. "I pick it up."

Someone ought to tell him that's not such a great use of his time since the U.S. Treasury stopped circulating pennies in late 2025. Also, does he realize he's a billionaire? Given the aforementioned cost-cutting evidence, it seems unclear.

None of this augurs particularly well for Splitter's hopes to have the interim tag removed and be rewarded with a fat new contract. Thin new contract, maybe. Splitter took over when former head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested as part of an ongoing federal gambling investigation. Not an easy situation to handle, but Splitter stepped in and led the Blazers to a 42-40 season, their best record in a non-bubble season since 2018-19. By