What’s in a name, really?

• Far from a miscreant, Outlaw focuses on family, pets and getting even better

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Feb 5, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (12 Reader comments)

KATIE HARTLEY / TRIBUNE PHOTOS

Travis Outlaw (right) lives near the Trail Blazer practice facility in Tualatin with girlfriend Jacy Colipano and older brother John Outlaw. Two pit bulls round out the household.

Pretentious is a big word that neither interests nor describes Travis Outlaw.

Look around at his three-bedroom apartment in Tualatin and the word “palatial” doesn’t come to mind, either.

“It’s kind of plain,” Outlaw says with a shrug, “like me.”

Plain isn’t normally a kind word to describe someone, but Outlaw is one of those types who works hard to make life easy.

“I’m pretty simple,” says the Trail Blazer forward, whose conservation of words reflects a personality painted by his upbringing in Starkville, Miss.

Outlaw has lived in the same apartment since arriving in Portland in the summer of 2003 after being selected as an 18-year-old high school senior with the 23rd pick in the NBA draft. Convenience is the operative word: The apartment is maybe three minutes from the team’s practice facility.

“We had to get it this close,” says John Outlaw, Travis’ older brother and roommate. “He doesn’t like to get up in the morning.”

“I’m not a morning person,” Travis, now 23, confirms with a sheepish grin.

The Outlaws share the apartment with Travis’ girlfriend of two years, Jacy Colipano, 24, a Gresham High graduate and student in the nursing program at Apollo College in Portland.

Then there are the pit bulls, Rascal (2 years) and Rampage (4 months), as mellow and playful as their master.

John Outlaw, 30, has been with his brother the entire time in Portland, serving as manager/attaché/confidant.

“I take care of all of Travis’ needs off the court,” John Outlaw says. “His cars, his bills, dealing with his agent (Bill Duffy) – you name it.”

Money and fame haven’t changed Travis Outlaw, who before the season signed a three-year, $12 million contract with the Blazers. Unlike most of his teammates, he doesn’t have a fancy ride. He owns two cars – a 1996 Chevrolet Impala he took in a switch for his BMW with his mother, and a 2006 Chrysler 300.

“I feel like I’m still the same person,” Outlaw says.

“Travis is shy, quiet, a lot like me,” Portland center Joel Przybilla says. “But he’s a great chemistry guy for this team, a guy you never have to worry about. He’s good people, a guy who knows right from wrong on and off the court. He has everybody’s respect.”

Outlaw grew up as a Southern Baptist and remains strong in his faith. He doesn’t attend church in Portland but is a regular at pregame chapel meetings.

“I always try to give thanks to God for what he gives,” he says. “It’s very much important to me.”

Pick came in ‘Jail Blazer’ era

When Outlaw was drafted, the Blazer roster was littered with miscreants such as Rasheed Wallace, Bonzi Wells, Jeff McInnis and Ruben Patterson. Blazer management and Travis’ parents, John Sr. and Markeeta, agreed it would be good for him to have some live-in guidance.

“They were saying because of the ‘Jail Blazers,’ somebody should be here with Travis at all times, at least until he got used to things,” John Outlaw says.

That meant either John or his father, the assistant chief of police in Starkville.

“I kind of wanted my brother,” Travis Outlaw says. “We always hung around each other.”

Two years ago, figuring his brother was mature enough to fend for himself, John Jr. planned to stay in Mississippi when Travis left for Portland in late summer. Travis asked him to stay.

“I just like having him around,” Outlaw says. “John always had a big influence on me. Growing up, he was the older brother I wanted to follow around. We’re still really close.”

Outlaw is long and lean at 6-9 and 210. His father, a former basketball star at NCAA Division III Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss., is 6-6 and a mountain of a man.

John Jr., who also played small-college ball and later for the American Basketball Association Portland Reign and International Basketball League Portland Chinooks, got shorted in the height department at 6 feet. But like his brother, he can jump out of the gym. Good genes, evidently.

“My dad could touch the top of the backboard,” Travis Outlaw says. “My brother can touch over the square. When I was little, we used to practice trying to hit our head on the ceiling.”

Discipline was the byword of the Outlaw household that also includes sister Kaehla, 11. John Sr. saw that his boys didn’t get out of line.

“It wasn’t like every chance he got, he’d beat us,” Outlaw says. “He’d correct us when we were wrong, acknowledge us when we were right.”

The parents “let us go out and do stuff, but within reason,” John Jr. says. “Dad was the disciplinarian. Travis never got in trouble. I was more the Curious George type. Dad would say, ‘Don’t do it,’ and I’d do it.”

Once the NBA season ends, the Outlaw boys head back to Mississippi for the summer. Kaehla has taken over Travis’ old bedroom, though, and a cousin now lives there.

“It’s like a race (between Travis and John Jr.) for the open bed,” Travis Outlaw says with a laugh. “There’s always the couch.

“I’m a Mississippian, and I love being around family.”

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit