Jordan singles out Drexler
by robertjcase on Feb 20, 2011 11:17 AM PST
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Sometimes lost in the Magic/Bird era, the Jordan era, and playing in the relative obscurity of the Pacific
Northwest, Drexler may be the biggest, underrated superstar of all-time. He never won a ring in the Rose City.
Remarkably, he was only selected for the All NBA 1st team one time. He never won an All-Star MVP. He
finished in the top-5 MVP vote only once. During his playing career, some actually struggled to identify him as a
superstar. So how good was Drexler, really?
Recently when Michael Jordan was asked what drove him throughout his career, he talked about the idea
of"separation." Measuring yourself against the best and trying to put distance between you and your fiercest
rival. This is what he said. "I wanted to separate myself from Clyde Drexler and everybody else.”
That's right. The player on the mind of the greatest of all time was Clyde Drexler.
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Interesting quote
Where was this published ?
Published in Adande's article on Kobe
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstar2011/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=Kobe-110219
The real question is not why Greg Oden went #1, but why Nicolas Batum did not
by BlazingTheTrail on Feb 20, 2011 11:57 AM PST reply actions
He might have also named him because they played the same position too.
Personally, I always felt like Drexler was a bit of an underachiever. He had ridiculous talent and could do everything, but seemed to lack the win at all costs drive that superstars like Jordan, Magic, Bird, etc have. Drexler seemed content when we lost and didn’t seem to want to be that take control leader in crunch time.
I guess that's the separation that Jordan referred to.
Was Clyde on the same plane as Jordan, Bird, Magic, etc? Clearly, he wasn’t. But very, very few were.
by HeathBlizzard on Feb 20, 2011 2:57 PM PST up reply actions
There was no doubt
that Terry Porter was the go-to guy in crunch time. There is also little doubt that Drexler hated practice and even warm-ups. There are stories of Drexler showing up just before a game, doing a couple leg stretches, and then on the first play going coast to coast for a tomahawk jam. He had insane talent but nowhere near the work ethic of Jordan.
Rumor has it that Dos Equis first approached Aldridge, but Aldridge turned thrm down because the real 'most interesting man in the world' would not have to prove it in a commercial. - Canis Hoopus 1/7/11
this^
Clyde gave Jack Ramsay a lot of credit for his development—but that was long after Dr. Jack left Portland. When Drexler was a rookie he and Jack butted heads and the coach took offense when Mychal Thompson declared that the Blazers were “Drexler’s team” (Sound familiar?)
OTOH, Porter was the glue guy. He played off of Clyde and worked his backside off during the offseason to improve his outside shot so he could knock down 3 pointers. But when the big games got close/late it was TP who drove the lane and got knocked down and went to the line and sank those pressure FTs. Again and again.
Drexler was great, and Portland was lucky to have him. But it’s frustrating to contemplate how good he could have been if he had the inner desire to separate from his competition
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Another problem with Drexler is that he never seriously worked on his outside shot.
The midrange pancake worked, but he never really developed from beyond 15 ft and that limited what he could do.
ironically
Clyde was in the 3 pt shoot-out one year at the AS weekend, alongside him in the competition were teammates Porter and Ainge. (Drexler finished last, IIRC)
That just shows you what post-season popularity can do for even a small market team. Portland’s players were well-known, because they were winning nationally-televised games in May/June. I’d rather see LMA make it into next year’s AS game because of the team’s strong post-season play, rather than argue about his improved individual stats in December-January
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
actually
that year, the NBA had decided ahead of time to invite 3pt contestants based solely on 3pt percentage, with a minimum number of attempts to qualify. Drexler had an absolute career first half from downtown, and thus made the top 8 along with his two much-better shooting teammates.
Anyone who ever watched Clyde shoot his patented high-jumping, leg-kicking jump shot should easily guess he had no chance of getting all 25 shots off.
"I want to be traded to a contender" is almost always code-speak for "I'm a loser."
-Dave, 2/5/2010: http://www.blazersedge.com/2010/2/5/1297509/no-amore-for-amare
He was also a dominant right hand player.
Clyde is my all time fav, but if he had developed his left hand ? ? ?
It's GO time !
Drexler is why Portland didn't take Jordan
I heard this quote some where a while back don’t remember where
"Knowledge will get you from A to B. Creativity will get you anywhere." Einstein
Yup, skipped Jordan cause we had Jim Paxon, an all-star 2-guard and an up-and-coming rookie named Drexler.
by odenator69 on Feb 20, 2011 4:51 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
The moral of this story is take the BPA and do not fill roster needs.
by gtbassett on Feb 20, 2011 5:08 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
part of the reason
Portland actually had Paxson and Drexler in 1984 (Jim was an all-star SG) and they needed a high-post passing center to run Ramsay’s offense like Walton had done. I don’t think Stu Inman or Jack debated too long re: who to select at #2. Once the coin flip went Houston’s way Portland tried to make a trade and swap picks, but the Rockets wanted Akeem (as his name was spelled, back then) so the Blazers were left with Sam
Bobby Knight was running the Olympic trials team at the time and he told Inman to pick Jordan, but in the end Stu and Jack went with conventional wisdom and drafted for their roster’s biggest need. Big men are are always rare, and (no matter what they say now) no one knew that MJ was going to become the best player in NBA history, back in 1984. Remember, Kareem was still dominating the western conference in that era, and to reach the finals Portland felt they needed someone to match up with him (Thompson and Wayne Cooper weren’t getting it done against Abdul-Jabbar, or Moses Malone, or Boston’s front line)
Portland was also poised to draft John Stockton later in the first round that year, but Frank Layden caught wind of the kid from Gonzaga and selected him a few picks earlier, even though the Jazz really didn’t need another PG. Inman called Layden and offered to trade for Stock and Frank said that’s when he knew he had a gem. The rest is history. Fortunately, Bucky Buckwalter drafted well in the subsequent years (Porter, Kersey, Robinson, etc) and the Blazers made it back to the finals anyway, despite what happened in ’84
There’s an excellent book about all of this, here’s the link
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
as the story goes
Knight told his friend Inman that he had to take Jordan (Knight was coaching Jordan on the Olympic team). Inman responded “Bobby, we need a center”, to which Knight famously responded “Play him at center then”
"I want to be traded to a contender" is almost always code-speak for "I'm a loser."
-Dave, 2/5/2010: http://www.blazersedge.com/2010/2/5/1297509/no-amore-for-amare
they could've gotten a pretty good center for Clyde and Paxson
oh well, I’m sure I’d feel differently about Jordan if he had been a Blazer, but in hindsight it’s hard to imagine rooting for him, knowing how arrogant he was while playing (and has remained afterwards—I didn’t watch his HOF speech but I heard he was very condescending to former friends and rivals alike)
I know that MJ has a lot of fans in Portland, but the feeling is certainly not reciprocated. If the Nike campus wasn’t here he’d probably never have come back to Oregon, after his playing days.
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I agree..
I’ve long said that either Jordan or Drexler could have been kept, and the other could have been traded a year later to the bright lights big city of new york. How much different would history look for the portland trail blazers and patrick ewing if that deal had happened? Would Portland have won a title or multiple titles with Porter, Jordan/Drexler, Kersey, Ewing and company? Or without Bowie to trade for Buck Williams, would they have underachieved. One will never know. But yes, you take the BPA, and trade later for fit.
by Rodney Gustafson on Feb 21, 2011 10:14 AM PST up reply actions
so
we could have been
stocktan, drexler, jordan, barkley, sabonis
fire barrett
hire jerry sloan
by thomasikehara on Feb 21, 2011 12:06 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I try not to dwell on the past, unless someone brings it up
but since you mention it, yes it can be depressing to think about
Stu and Jack get a lot of flak for Bowie, but they did have some buzzard’s luck that day. One coin flip and a maybe a trade up above Utah and they could’ve had “Stockton to Olajuwon!”
OK, I’m going to stop playing “what if” now
The Vandeweghe trade was also a talent drain (Fat Lever, etc) Ultimately, it cost the men who had brought the championship to Portland their jobs
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
or
stocktan, drexler, kersey, barkley, akeem
fire barrett
hire jerry sloan
by thomasikehara on Feb 21, 2011 12:22 AM PST up reply actions
Couldn't have both Barkley and Olajuwon
same draft pick…nice try, though
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
hmm
i thought barkley wanted to come here as a free agent
fire barrett
hire jerry sloan
by thomasikehara on Feb 21, 2011 1:12 AM PST up reply actions
well, yeah
Portland could have traded for Charles later, but I thought we were talking about the 1984 draft order
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Since we are discussing history . . .
I was devastated that we lost the flip for Akeem. Of course,
Sam Bowie was a stud. A long high post center, who could run the
floor, rebound and block shots. Who would have guessed that
“shattered tibia” would enter the Blazer lexicon. Uhhhhhggggggg !
It's GO time !
micro-fracture surgery, torn meniscus and cartilage lesion have replace the shattered tibia
we’ve all become orthopdic “experts” over the years, unfortunately
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
*orthopedic
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
ACL, Bucket handle meniscus tear . . .
I can say both, having had surgery for both.
Basketball is a DANGEROUS game !!
GO BLAZERS !!!
It's GO time !
I'm a Homer on this...
but I’ll admit that even given all of the deserved accolades Drexler earned..I have always felt he was underappreciated by the basketball world. Which is hard to say without sounding like a total homer.
But it has long been my opinion that in the early 90’s 90-93…when concievably both Jordan and Drexler were in their respective primes…if Jordan was All Universe A1…then Drexler was playing at All Universe A2…and it was close…Drexler was the west coast version of Jordan…and NOT a cheap immitation…for a long period, I evaluated Drexler as the second best player in the N.B.A. just BARELY behind Jordan…and IMO opinion that means Drexler was absolutely the 2nd best Basketball Player in the Universe for a window of time….
Even this debate today…kind of saddens me. Trust me people…rumors of his lack of drive..not practicing…Phht…Drexler was great…really, really great…
Drexler seemed to me to be lucky..but unlucky…The Year he should of by all rights won the All-Star game MVP…became Magic Johnsons swan song All-Star tribute…
In his amazing dominating prime…he is cast in about the only shadow that could possible obscure him….Jordans…
No I’ve always felt that to an extent Drexler did not quite get the respect he deserved. Nice to hear that perhaps Jordan was giving it to him….
Drexler wasn’t the most adept at promoting his image…in a time when I think he could of been promoted more and better. I was not enthusiased by Drexlers appearances on “Married With Children” or later on “Dancing With The Stars”…
You can totally disagree with me….and I won’t be able to counter…I just always have felt that in an Odd way Drexler was the greatest superstar of The N.B.A. to not quite get the respect he deserves…
"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"
Trust me people…rumors of his lack of drive..not practicing…Phht…Drexler was great…really, really great…
Drexler was great, and those were not rumors.
I think it only adds to Clyde’s legend how little he needed to practice to play at such a high level (kind of like Babe Ruth eating too many hot dogs and then swatting dingers) The Glide was the epitome of a natural talent—he was simply born to play roundball. By his own admission, Drexler was driven to not fail when he was out on the floor. OTOH, Michael was driven to annihilate/embarrass his opponent. Drexler is always gracious (unless your name is Jake O’Donnell…) Jordan is a jerk who keeps a record of every perceived slight.
Portland got the class, and Chi-town got the banners.
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
In that time frame, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley were all way ...
more productive on the court than Clyde Drexler. Even Magic Johnson’s 1990-1991 season and Dominique Wilkins’ 1992-1993 season topped anything from Drexler in that three-year span.
"They say it has no memory. That’s where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory."
That's kind of it...
….I don’t know how old you are, but I watched Drexler from N.B.A. rookie to retirement…
I think it goes beyond stats. I watched The Drexler led Blazers beat David Robinson and The Spurs, Hakeem and The Rockets, and Malone/Stockton and Utah…
By now? 2011? People who aren’t a fan of Drexler, or weren’t a fan of Drexler won’t be convinced to change opinion. So it’s hopeless.
But IMO Drexler was as Superstar, and at his very best…albeit a smaller window of time, but at his best he played at a level only slightly below Jordan at his best…
The fact that many people today look back and evaluate Drexler below contemporaries of his time,,,I think illustrative of my point. Drexler doesn’t get the respect he deserves.
"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"
The Portland Trail Blazers defeated those teams due to it having an altogether superior roster.
No matter that, though, Clyde Drexler was inarguably on a tier below the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley.
"They say it has no memory. That’s where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory."
a tier below?
….well nothing I can say would change your mind. But I disagree. Like I said, I’m a homer on this…but at one point I think Drexler was the second best Basketball Player in the universe…second only to Jordan in his prime.
"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"
I can honestly say I'd rather have a healthy Jordan than Bowie looking back, but right now I'd rather have
healthy Oden than Durant still.
I think looking at that Drexler team, Bowie wouldn’t have made the difference. I do think a healthy Sabonis would have.
Yes, I would rather have a healthy Oden than a healthy Durant
but I would rather have Durant than Oden because Oden isn’t healthy.
I dispense B.S. and facts. It is up to you to figure out which is which.
Sam was traded for Buck
so in a round-about way Bowie “made the difference” between a team that couldn’t get out of the first round into a final’s participant
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
This is the part...
that everybody seems to forget. Though Bowie was a “bust” (by draft measure – he still played), we got a key piece that formed the core of the championship contender.
I have nthn btr 2 do than spend time coming up with a clever signature
1992 All-Star game
Magic won the MVP, in part, because of sentimentality and the remarkable ending to that game when he took took Isaiah and Jordan and others one-on-one, draining shot after shot. It’s my favorite All-Star gave ever.
But make no mistake, Clyde was the MVP of that game. He dominated all of it, except for Magic’s special moments at the end. Given the context, I hate to say Clyde was “robbed,” but there is no doubt he was the MVP of that game. Just saying.
"He's not your Vydas or my Vydas, he's Arvydas."
It was just the All-Star game though
I just watched the ending on youtube, and the show that Magic put on seems good enough for him to win the MVP. Plus I bet Clyde could’ve cared less about winning the MVP
by Michael Baller on Feb 22, 2011 10:30 AM PST up reply actions
I always thought Blazer fans grossly overrated Drexler based on his ability
rather than his output. Yes, he was very good, but he got about the amount of national accolades as he deserved.
I don't know about overrated
His output was pretty impressive: 20 pts, 6 rebs, 6 asts, 2 stls for his career.
He put up 27 pts, 8 rebs, 6 asts, and 3 stls per game — with 50 percent shooting — during his statistically best season. Those are huge numbers, particularly on a winning team.
You don't see it all in stats
Drexler was truly one of the stars that made his entire team better. He wasn’t a ball hog and knew how to take advantage of opportunities. He’d take charge of the team, but that didn’t mean he always was the shooter. Don’t forget that his career for assists was 6, but he didn’t play point.
Clyde was a game changer. Watching him play, it was easy to see… it’s hard with time and fading memories to prove though.
Plus, he was consistent!
I have nthn btr 2 do than spend time coming up with a clever signature
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