Clyde Drexler: Is he deliberately "underrated" & "underappreciated" all-time great ?

[Xiao Yao You]

Career and player wise ? We have to disagree.

Plus, I mentioned what each player would do in their primes during this era.

Iverson at age 30 was putting up his career high in ppg and overall statline of:

33/7/3/2 on 45/32/81

I can definitely see him in the conversation.. his numbers would be vastly different during this era. I can see him dropping 35+ a game on respective efficiency also.

Ai would and did benefit from today's no hand checking. He'd still be playing one on 5 and throwing up tons of bad shots.

[Yao Ming's Foot]

Clyde Drexler

1987-88 NBA All-NBA (2nd)
1989-90 NBA All-NBA (3rd)
1990-91 NBA All-NBA (2nd)
1991-92 NBA All-NBA (1st)
1994-95 NBA All-NBA (3rd)

Kobe Bryant

1998-99 NBA All-NBA (3rd)
1999-00 NBA All-Defensive (1st)
1999-00 NBA All-NBA (2nd)
2000-01 NBA All-Defensive (2nd)
2000-01 NBA All-NBA (2nd)
2001-02 NBA All-Defensive (2nd)
2001-02 NBA All-NBA (1st)
2002-03 NBA All-Defensive (1st)
2002-03 NBA All-NBA (1st)
2003-04 NBA All-Defensive (1st)
2003-04 NBA All-NBA (1st)
2004-05 NBA All-NBA (3rd)
2005-06 NBA All-Defensive (1st)
2005-06 NBA All-NBA (1st)
2006-07 NBA All-Defensive (1st)
2006-07 NBA All-NBA (1st)
2007-08 NBA All-Defensive (1st)
2007-08 NBA All-NBA (1st)
2008-09 NBA All-Defensive (1st)
2008-09 NBA All-NBA (1st)
2009-10 NBA All-Defensive (1st)
2009-10 NBA All-NBA (1st)
2010-11 NBA All-Defensive (1st)
2010-11 NBA All-NBA (1st)
2011-12 NBA All-Defensive (2nd)
2011-12 NBA All-NBA (1st)

[SlayerEnraged]

It's only Jordan Homers and old timers that prop up CLYDE past what he ACTUALLY is. Not all of them but the ones that do overrate him are ALWAYS in that category and I wonder why.......

[ShaqAttack3234]

Clyde isn't underrated, and he was clearly not the player Kobe or Wade are/were. Very good player, terrific finisher, one of the best open court players, an excellent post up guard, nice spin move and about as good as they come at his position as a passer and rebounder(particularly offensive rebounder).

But his weakness was creating off the dribble in the half court, he was far behind Kobe, Wade and other elite scorers in this area, and he benefited quite a bit from playing on a running team in a running era. Wouldn't call him a great defender either other than playing the pass lanes, he was pretty much average. And he wasn't a great shooter either, capable, but not great.

And did I really just see the OP act like Clyde didn't have a ton of help in Portland? The early 90's Blazers were considered by many to be the most talented team in the league. They were loaded, Clyde had a ton of help. And Terry Porter was the guy taking and making many of the big shots as well as players athletes like Kersey, defenders like Buck Williams and Cliff Robinson and one of the more skilled centers Kevin Duckworth, as well as Danny Ainge, a proven shooter.

And after their run from '90-'92, the Blazers remained talented in '93 and '94, but underachieved.

If there's one thing you can't say it's that Clyde didn't have enough help.

[bwink23]

It's only Jordan Homers and old timers that prop up CLYDE past what he ACTUALLY is. Not all of them but the ones that do overrate him are ALWAYS in that category and I wonder why.......

You have not seen ONE FULL GAME of Clyde Drexler. Your opinion is null and void.

[Batz]

If there's one thing you can't say it's that Clyde didn't have enough help.

He's just trying to say that Clyde didn't have first ballot HOFers in his prime like Kobe had Shaq (Gasol apparently too), and how Wade has had Shaq and Lebron.

[ShaqAttack3234]

He's just trying to say that Clyde didn't have first ballot HOFers in his prime like Kobe had Shaq (Gasol apparently too), and how Wade has had Shaq and Lebron.

Yeah, and he's clearly mentioning that to act like he wasn't as fortunate as other players which isn't the case. Drexler did also play with peak Hakeem in '95 when Clyde was playing at a level close to his prime level(had a few 40+ games after the trade including one in the playoffs), and a late prime Hakeem in '96. Plus the big 3 with Hakeem and Barkley in '97. By '97, none were in their prime, but all were still all-star caliber players, and Shaq wasn't in his prime by the time Wade played with him anyway.

But the original point is Drexler not having the hall of famer on the Portland teams is trivial at best since he had a ton of help regardless.

[gengiskhan]

Clyde isn't underrated, and he was clearly not the player Kobe or Wade are/were. Very good player, terrific finisher, one of the best open court players, an excellent post up guard, nice spin move and about as good as they come at his position as a passer and rebounder(particularly offensive rebounder).

But his weakness was creating off the dribble in the half court, he was far behind Kobe, Wade and other elite scorers in this area, and he benefited quite a bit from playing on a running team in a running era. Wouldn't call him a great defender either other than playing the pass lanes, he was pretty much average. And he wasn't a great shooter either, capable, but not great.

And did I really just see the OP act like Clyde didn't have a ton of help in Portland? The early 90's Blazers were considered by many to be the most talented team in the league. They were loaded, Clyde had a ton of help. And Terry Porter was the guy taking and making many of the big shots as well as players athletes like Kersey, defenders like Buck Williams and Cliff Robinson and one of the more skilled centers Kevin Duckworth, as well as Danny Ainge, a proven shooter.

And after their run from '90-'92, the Blazers remained talented in '93 and '94, but underachieved.

If there's one thing you can't say it's that Clyde didn't have enough help.

Even the old timers make some really funny posts after all.

seriously ?1?!

Drexler had help in Portland

Terry Porter made to all-star line up 2 times.

thats correct 2 times.

How many times Pippen, Penny, Shaq made to all-star line up?

Drexler had help but not real solid support. Lets not get too funny now.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Even the old timers make some really funny posts after all.

seriously ?1?!

Drexler had help in Portland

Terry Porter made to all-star line up 2 times.

thats correct 2 times.

How many times Pippen, Penny, Shaq made to all-star line up?

Drexler had help but not real solid support. Lets not get too funny now.

Don't insult my intelligence with this revisionist history. The Blazers were loaded and favored to beat a talented '91 Laker team with Magic. Solid support? If that's solid support then great support must be very scary.

Are you really so stupid that you can only compare a player's help by comparing their single best teammates? It goes well beyond that, especially with a team that had as many quality players as those Blazer teams did.

[LAClipsFan33]

Don't insult my intelligence with this revisionist history. The Blazers were loaded and favored to beat a talented '91 Laker team with Magic. Solid support? If that's solid support then great support must be very scary.

Are you really so stupid that you can only compare a player's help by comparing their single best teammates? It goes well beyond that, especially with a team that had as many quality players as those Blazer teams did.

This...the Blazers had a squad. The individual player that stood out was Drexler, but other than him every other player was solid.

[guy]

Underrated and amazing yes. Probably most underrated superstar in NBA history and all because of the Michael Jordan hype. People don't understand how close the two players were talent wise at different points.

Ummm they weren't that close.

[LAClipsFan33]

Ummm they weren't that close.

Talent wise ? Size and athleticism ? Yes they were. Clyde was just dumb as rocks and Jordan was a cerebral assassin

[OldSchoolBBall]

Talent wise ? Size and athleticism ? Yes they were. Clyde was just dumb as rocks and Jordan was a cerebral assassin

Drexler was nowhere near as talented as Jordan. ATHLETICALLY TALENTED? I guess - but even there MJ had him beat. But in terms of BASKETBALL talent (creativity, feel for the game, intuitive sense etc.), not even close.

[Smoke117]

Clyde's main problem was that he was a lazy underachiever.

[guy]

Talent wise ? Size and athleticism ? Yes they were. Clyde was just dumb as rocks and Jordan was a cerebral assassin

I guess it depends on your definition of close. There were things they were close at, but other then maybe rebounding, there was literally nothing Drexler was even arguably better then Jordan at. Jordan was clearly the better scorer in every aspect, the better passer, better defender, better clutch player, better big game performer, better leader, better decision-maker, better athlete, etc. So I wouldn't really call that close.