Clyde Drexler

• 1. Introduction

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  Clyde Austin Drexler Sr. was born on the 22nd of June, 1962, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and by the time his professional basketball career ended, he had become one of only three players in history to accumulate 20,000 points, 6,000 assists, and 6,000 rebounds. Not bad for a kid who couldn't make his high school basketball team as a sophomore.

  That's the first puzzle with Clyde Drexler. How does someone go from a failed tryout in Houston to a gold medal in Barcelona, from a bench-warmer at Ross Sterling High School to a Hall of Famer? And then there's the second puzzle: how does a player who spent his peak years measured against Michael Jordan, never quite getting the ring, end up winning a championship anyway? What kind of career actually looks like that?

  Drexler played 15 seasons in the NBA, earned the nickname "Clyde the Glide" at the University of Houston, was selected to the league's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame twice. The answers to those puzzles run through a Christmas tournament in Houston in 1979, a fraternity built around dunking, a trade deadline in February 1995, and a basketball court in Barcelona.

• 2. The Kid Who Got Cut

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  Ross Sterling High School sits in the South Park area of Houston, where Drexler grew up after his family moved from New Orleans. As a sophomore, he made the varsity baseball team. When he tried out for basketball, the coaches didn't keep him.

  What changed things was a 34-point, 27-rebound performance against Sharpstown High School during a 1979 Christmas tournament. That game drew attention from college coaches. Among them was Guy Lewis, the head coach at the University of Houston, who was tipped off by a childhood friend of Drexler's named Michael Young. Young told a Lewis assistant that Drexler was the best player he had faced in high school.

  The University of Houston was able to recruit both Young and Drexler together, partly because of their friendship and partly because Drexler wanted to stay close to home. Lewis would later recall in 2003 that he initially received hate mail from Houston supporters and alumni for recruiting Drexler. They didn't think he was good enough. Drexler, meanwhile, majored in finance and worked at a bank during his college summers, a detail that hints at the practical, unassuming quality that would define him throughout his career.

• 3. Phi Slama Jama

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  At the University of Houston, Drexler joined a basketball fraternity called "Phi Slama Jama" that became nationally famous for its acrobatic, above-the-rim style of play. The other members included Larry Micheaux, Michael Young, and a new recruit named Hakeem Olajuwon, who was known at the time as Akeem.

  Initiation into the fraternity had a specific ritual: new players had to stand underneath the basket while Drexler drove in from halfcourt and threw down a tomahawk slam over them. It was both hazing and an audition, a declaration that this was not a conventional team.

  Houston made back-to-back Final Four appearances in 1982 and 1983. In the first, they lost to eventual champions North Carolina. In the second, they reached the championship game after beating the second-ranked Louisville team known as the "Doctors of Dunk" by a score of 94-81. During that semifinal, Drexler threw down a double-pump slam that Sports Illustrated writer Curry Kirkpatrick described as "your basic play of the century." He finished that game with 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

  The championship game against North Carolina State ended differently. Drexler picked up four fouls before halftime and finished with only four points on one-of-five shooting. NC State won in an upset. Drexler left Houston after three seasons having set records that still stand: he remains the only player in school history with at least 1,000 career points, 900 rebounds, and 300 assists combined, and he is still Houston's all-time steals leader with 268.

• 4. Building a Game in Portland

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  Portland took Drexler with the 14th overall pick in the 1983 NBA draft. His rookie numbers were modest, averaging 7.7 points in just over 17 minutes a game. By his third season, he had made his first All-Star team and was averaging 18.5 points, 8 assists, and 2.6 steals per game.

  On the 6th of January, 1989, Drexler scored 50 points in a double-overtime win over the Sacramento Kings, the highest single-game total of his career. His development was not simply a matter of scoring more. Drexler came into the NBA known for his finishing and athleticism but not considered a great shooter. Over time he became an effective post player and a more consistent shooter from the outside. He also posted blocked shots at a rate unusual for a guard, ranking third among guards in career totals.

  He set a Trail Blazers record in 1989 by dunking on an 11-foot 1-inch rim. His career average of 2.4 offensive rebounds per game led all guards as of 2008. In the 1991-92 season, he averaged 25 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game, made the All-NBA First Team, and finished second to Michael Jordan in MVP voting. Teammate Terry Porter would later describe Drexler as the player you wanted the ball with late in a game.

  Drexler left Portland as the franchise's all-time scoring leader with 18,040 points. That record stood until Damian Lillard passed it in 2022.

• 5. Two Finals Runs, One Loss

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  Portland reached the NBA Finals in both 1990 and 1992, with Drexler as the central figure in both runs. The 1990 run came after a season in which Drexler averaged 23.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.9 assists. The Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns in the Conference Finals in six games; Drexler and Terry Porter each scored 23 in the 112-109 clinching win, Portland's first conference title since 1977.

  In the Finals against the Detroit Pistons, Drexler led the team with 21 points in Game 1, a 105-99 loss. In Game 2, he scored 33 points and hit two free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime to give Portland a 106-105 win. It was the only victory in the series. Detroit closed it out after going on a 9-0 run to win the final game.

  The following season Portland went 63-19, the best record in franchise history, only to be upset by the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. Then came the 1991-92 run to the Finals against Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Drexler led or tied for the team lead in scoring in all six games, including a 32-point effort in Game 3. The Blazers forced a tied series twice, but Chicago came back from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter of the deciding game to close it out. Drexler averaged 24.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists across those six games against the Bulls.

• 6. The Trade and the Ring

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  On the 14th of February, 1995, Valentine's Day, Portland honored Drexler's request to be dealt to a contender. The Blazers sent him and Tracy Murray to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Otis Thorpe, the draft rights to Marcelo Nicola, and a 1995 first-round pick.

  Houston finished the regular season at 47-35, sixth out of eight playoff teams in the Western Conference. The odds were not obviously in their favor. Then, on the 5th of May, in the first round against the Utah Jazz with the Rockets trailing two games to one, Drexler scored 41 points and Olajuwon added 40 in a 123-106 win. Houston won every remaining elimination game on the way to the championship.

  In the Finals, the Rockets swept the Orlando Magic. Drexler averaged 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 6.8 assists in his third and final NBA Finals appearance. It was the improbable second consecutive championship for Houston, won by a sixth-seeded team that had to beat opponents in elimination games repeatedly to get there.

  Before that NBA season started, the Rockets had also won the 1995 McDonald's Championship. Drexler was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

• 7. After the Game

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  Drexler retired at 35, stating that he wanted to leave on his own terms while still performing at what he called a "high level". In 15 seasons, he never missed the playoffs.

  He moved directly into coaching at his alma mater, the University of Houston. Over two seasons, 1998-99 and 1999-2000, the Cougars went 19-39. He resigned to spend more time with his family.

  His number 22 jersey has been retired by the Cougars, the Rockets, and the Trail Blazers. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on the 10th of September, 2004, in his first year of eligibility, and then again in 2010 as a member of the Dream Team. In 2021, a ranking by The Athletic of the top 75 players in NBA history placed him 43rd. He currently serves as the commissioner of the Big3 3-on-3 basketball league.

  His biography, Clyde the Glide, co-written with Portland Tribune sports writer Kerry Eggers and featuring a foreword by CBS Sports broadcaster and University of Houston classmate Jim Nantz, was published in 2004. The family barbecue restaurant his uncle started in 1967, Drexler's World Famous BBQ and Grill, which included a location at Bush Intercontinental Airport, has since closed.