No. 27 - Clyde Drexler

Clyde “The Glide” Drexler is one of a number of players who get a little lost in Michael Jordan’s shadow.

Drexler came into the league a year ahead of Jordan and Chicago is forever grateful. Despite playing on the celebrated Phi Slamma Jamma Houston teams in college, Drexler was a surprisingly low 14^th pick in the 1983 draft by the Portland Trailblazers. He went after such forgettable players as Steve Stipanovich (No. 2), Rodney McCray (No. 3), Russell Cross (No. 6) and Ennis Whatley (No. 13). The Chicago Bulls chose Sidney Green over Drexler with the No. 5 pick.

A year later, Portland was so happy with Drexler that they passed on a chance to take Jordan with the No. 2 pick and instead chose star-crossed Sam Bowie. The rest, as they say, is history.

Drexler is one of those rare players who got better with time. He made eight all-star teams in 11 full seasons in Portland. He topped 20.0 in PER seven times with the Trailblazers and 10.0 in win shares six times. It took a few seasons for Drexler and the Blazers to peak though. In his first six playoff trips, Portland won one series and went 9-20 overall. Finally, in 1989-1990, Drexler and the Blazers soared. Clyde had three of his four best seasons from 1989-1990 to 1991-1992. Portland made the NBA Finals twice, unfortunately falling to the Bad Boy Pistons in 1990 and then to Jordan and the Bulls in 1992.

In 1991-1992, Drexler had his best statistical season in my system. He averaged 25.0 points per game, 6.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists. His PER was 23.6, second best of his career. His win shares – 12.8 – also was his second best and he had a career-high Box +/- of 8.4. He was good, though, not great against Jordan in the finals. He averaged 24.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists, but he shot just 40.3 percent. Jordan averaged 35.8 points on 52.6 percent shooting.

Portland began to fade after 1992 and it looked like Drexler’s championship window was closed. In 1994-1995, the Houston Rockets were struggling after having won the NBA title in 1993-1994 with Drexler’s old college teammate, Hakeem Olajuwon, and swung a deal for Drexler. The move rejuvenated the Rockets, who upset both Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz and David Robinson’s San Antonio Spurs. In the Finals, instead of Jordan and the Bulls, the Rockets got Shaquille O’Neal’s Orlando Magic.

Drexler had a solid finals, 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists on 45 percent shooting and finally had an NBA title on his resume.

Because of Jordan, Drexler was never the best shooting guard in the game. He was good enough though for a long time to get into my top 30.

Clyde Drexler bio info
Career	1983-1998
Games	1,086
Points	20.4
Rebounds	6.1
Assists	5.6
FG Pct.	47.2%
All-Star games	10
NBA MVPs	0
NBA titles	1
Playoff seasons	15
Playoff games	145
Points	20.4
Rebounds	6.9
Assists	6.1
FG Pct.	44.7%
Hall of Fame	2004

Top 100 rankings
	Points	Top 100 ranking
1-year	367.45	29th
5-year	1,503.26	38th
10-year	2,864.66	27th
Career	3,633.29	28th

               

Clyde Drexler at his peak
1991-1992	Drexler	Top 5	Points
PER	23.6	25.76
Win Shares	12.8	14.85
Box +/-	8.4	8.33
VORP	7.2	7.38
Total Advanced Stats	52.0	56.32	92.34
Playoff PER	22.8	24.01
Win Shares	3.4	3.53
Box +/-	8.0	7.80
VORP	2.1	2.09
Total Advanced Stats	36.3	37.42	97.02
Reg. Season Win %	72.37		72.37
Playoff Win %	61.90		61.90
MVP Voting (75 points)	561/960		43.83
Playoff MVP (25 points)	0		0
Total Score			367.45

               

Drexler’s 10 greatest seasons
1991-1992	367.45
1990-1991	302.53
1994-1995	289.48
1989-1990	284.41
1996-1997	259.38
1984-1985	233.97
1992-1993	231.36
1987-1988	230.60
1986-1987	227.35
1995-1996	219.06

Career winning percentage
	W	L	Pct.
Regular Season	667	415	61.65%
Playoffs	74	71	51.03%