Clyde Drexler
Clyde Austin "The Glide" Drexler (born
June 22 1962 in
New Orleans, Louisiana) is a former
NBA shooting guard. He is a ten-time all-star, a member of the
Basketball Hall of Fame, and was named one of basketball's fifty greatest players by the NBA. Drexler won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and an NBA
championship in
1995.
Drexler graduated from
Sterling High School in
1980 [
1]. Drexler attended the
University of Houston, where, alongside
Hakeem Olajuwon and
Larry Micheaux, he made up the
"Phi Slamma Jamma" basketball fraternity, known for the aerial exploits of its members. Despite being heavily favored, Houston lost the 1983 NCAA finals against underdog
North Carolina State. "Phi Slama Jama" is credited as being the original dunkadelic team of college basketball.
He was selected a surprisingly low 14th overall in the
1983 NBA Draft by the
Portland Trail Blazers. He helped lead that team to the
NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, with the help of young and talented teammates, such as
Terry Porter,
Jerome Kersey,
Buck Williams and
Clifford Robinson. In 1992 he served for the U.S.
Olympics basketball team, nicknamed
The Dream Team, and won a gold medal in the process. He finished second to Michael Jordan in
Most Valuable Player voting in
1991-92. He went head-to-head with Jordan in the NBA Finals that same season, also falling short, as Jordan and the
Chicago Bulls went on to repeat as champions.
On
February 14,
1995, Drexler was traded by the Blazers to the
Houston Rockets, honoring the Blazer-great's request to be traded to a contender out of respect for his many contributions to the Portland club. The good fortune of the Rockets, who were struggling to regain the championship form they had a year earlier, quickly turned around after the acquisition of Drexler. Delighted with being reunited with long-time friend
Hakeem Olajuwon and playing in front of his home town where he played high school and college ball, Drexler helped the Rockets to win the NBA title in 1995, and stayed with them for three more years. Drexler retired from the NBA after the
1997-98 season in order to become head coach at his alma mater, the University of Houston. Drexler's #22 jersey has been retired by both the Rockets and the Trail Blazers. He was enshrined in the
Basketball Hall of Fame on
September 10 2004.
Drexler was famed for his speed and finesse on the court, completed by an unusually easy-going and quiet attitude. His extraordinary leaping abilities allowed him to be an excellent
dunker.
Drexler was regarded as a versatile player, posting consistent numbers in the points,
rebounds,
assists, and
steals categories, as well as a fairly impressive amount of
blocks for a player his size, ranking third for his career totals among guards.
He is one of only three players in
NBA history to have a career record of at least 20,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 6,000 assists (the two others being
Oscar Robertson and
John Havlicek). As of 2005, Drexler leads all guards with his career average of offensive rebounds per game (2.4).
* 10-time NBA All-Star (1986, 1988–1994, 1996, 1997)
* All-NBA Second Team (1988, 1991)
* All-NBA First Team (1992)
* Olympic gold medalist (1992)
* 1 NBA championship (1995)
* Named one of the
50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996)
*
Basketball Hall of Famer (2004)
*
NBA History: Clyde Drexler*
Basketball Hall of Fame profile*
BasketballReference.com: Clyde Drexler*
ClutchFans.net Profile - Houston Rocket Fan Site
