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Clyde Drexler BiographyOne of the game's all-time great guards, Clyde "The Glide" Drexler was known for his high-flying yet seemingly effortless swoops to the basket. After almost a dozen seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, Drexler left Portland with his name all over the franchise's record books. During the 1994-95 season, Drexler was traded to the Houston Rockets, the defending NBA champions, who needed more firepower at guard. A perennial All-Star and a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Dream Team, Drexler twice led the Blazers to the NBA Finals. It wasn't until he joined the Houston Rockets and helped them win their second straight title that he finally won a championship ring. Named to the All-NBA third team in 1990 and to the second team in 1988 and 1991, Drexler was a first team selection in 1992, when he averaged 25.0 points a game. He missed much of the 1992-93 season with a back injury. He reeled off 10 straight seasons as one of the top scorers in the league. In his second season, Drexler's scoring jumped to 17.2 ppg. By his third year, 1985-86, he had become an All-Star, a status he was to achieve 10 times during his 15 year career, averaging 18.5 points and ranking third in the NBA in steals. (2.63 per game) and 10th in assists (8.0 apg). However, during that era, if a player wanted to be considered among the NBA's elite, there was no mystery about what he had to achieve; the same things achieved by Los Angeles Laker's Magic Johnson and Boston Celtic's Larry Bird. Indeed, each was considered to rank among the most complete players of all time. In 1986-87, Drexler began to find himself in that rarefied air. He joined Johnson and Bird as the only players in the league to average more than 21 points (21.7 ppg), 6 rebounds (6.3 rpg), and 6 assists (6.9 apg). He also finished fifth in the NBA with an average of 2.49 steals per game. He retired from the Rockets after the 1997-98 season. Some of his accomplishments are:
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