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

[Horatio33]

Guy couldn't dribble and look up at the same time, had a below average jumper, saying he is anti clutch doesn't do justice to his lack of clutchness.

[gengiskhan]

Guy couldn't dribble and look up at the same time, had a below average jumper, saying he is anti clutch doesn't do justice to his lack of clutchness.

agreed

BUT

A guy had incredible stamina & never fatigued. NEVER !! I repeat. You'll see wade, kobe winded fatigued. Wade injured never played a whole 82 games in a season.

Heck wade never played a shortened 66 game season.

Drexler's strength, length, extra long wingspan, huge hands, stamina in his peak was only matched by MJ.

Drexler attacked the rim the same way in first mins of first quarter & last min of 4th quarter with same aggressiveness thanks to his stamina. A 6'7" athletic freak of nature.

[glidedrxlr22]

My favorite alltime player....hence my screen name.

Mychal Thompson, who was drafted #1 overall by the Blazers in the late 70s, once commented on the radio that Clyde was the best athlete he'd ever known. Thompson adores Kobe and won a couple of titles with the Lakers....so for him to say that about Clyde was actually pretty cool.

Clyde could do it all.....except dance....probably the worst athlete performer on Dancing With the Stars.

[tontoz]

Clyde was a great player but Jordan's shadow was pretty big.

Drexler's handle wasn't that good. He always went right with his head down. Other than that he was a great all around player. His J was a little flat though.

[ShaqAttack3234]

This is an example of Drexler's Blazer teams who "weren't that talented". Keep in mind that all of these players were at or near prime age. Drexler and Kersey were 28, Porter was 27, Buck Williams was 30, Duckworth was 26, Cliff Robinson was 24 and Ainge was 31. Name another team from '91 that was as talented as the 63-19 Blazers.

SG Clyde Drexler- An all-time great open court player, capable outside shooter, elite post up guard, an elite rebounding guard(probably the best offensive rebounding guard) and one of the best passers ever at the SG position.
Awards- All-NBA second team, 6th in MVP voting and all-star in '91. 5-time all-nba, 10-time all-star, all-nba first team in '92 and 2nd in MVP voting in '92.
Statss- 21.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 6 apg, 2.8 TO, 1.8 spg, 48.2 FG%, 56.3 TS%, 34.8 mpg

PG Terry Porter- Excellent shooter, solid playmaker, good pick and roll player, a solid defender for his position and capable of playing off the ball like a 2 guard. The best comparison I've heard is the Chauncey Billups of the early 90's.
Awards- all-star and 9th in MVP voting in '91 and a 2-time all-star overall.
Stats- 17 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 8 apg, 2.3 TO, 2 spg, 51.5 FG%, 63.2 TS%, 32.9 mpg

SF Jerome Kersey- A big and athletic forward ideal for the Blazers running game. He was also a solid rebounder. Not the best shooter, though he hit some mid-range shots. He averaged 21/8 in the '90 playoffs and 18/7 in the '91 playoffs.

Stats- 14.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.4 spg, 1 bpg, 2 TO, 47.8 FG%, 52.6 TS%, 32.3 mpg

PF Buck Williams- One of the best defensive players at the time, a strong rebounder and a capable inside scorer.
Awards- All-defensive 1st team in '91, all-nba 2nd in team in 1983, 5 all-nba defensive teams, 1982 rookie of the year, 3-time all-star
Stats- 11.7 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.7 TO, 60.2 FG%, 63.9 TS%, 32.3 mpg

C Kevin Duckworth- One of the more skilled offensive big men with a very good post game, great size and a good touch around the rim and on short jumpers.

Awards- all-star in '91, 2-time all-star overall and 1988 NBA most improved player

Stats-15.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.1 apg, 2.3 TO, 48.1 FG%, 52.5 TS%, 31 mpg

Forward Clifford Robinson- Versatile player at 6'10" who at different points played all 3 frontcourt positions. Excellent defender who fit into the Blazers transition game and he could shoot for a big man. Averaged 15.5 ppg on 50% shooting in the 11 games he started that year and 2 years later, he averaged 19 ppg in the first season he played 30 mpg in.

Awards- 1993 Sixth Man Of The Year, 1994 all-star, 2-time all-defensive second team

Stats- 11.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.6 TO, 1 spg, 46.3 FG%, 50.7 TS%, 23.7 mpg

Guard Danny Ainge- Excellent shooter, solid passer and a good leader who always played hard. Brought championship experience with him. He was coming off an 18/4/6 season in Sacramento.

Awards- 1988 all-star

Stats- 11.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.3 TO, 47.2 FG%, 57.4 TS%, 21.4 mpg

One word....stacked.

[Punpun]

Didn't he play with Hakeem ? Not stacekd lel.

[Big#50]

He gets fair praise. I wouldn't put him in my top 5 SG's.

[PistolPete44]

sigh

[Euroleague]

Drexler was a freak athlete of the rarest kind and he was the best scorer in the open court I ever saw. It's true that he's gotten looked over and forgotten about for some reason.

At his peak, he was an absolute BEAST.

[Quintilianus]

Fact # 1: Clyde is voted Top 50 GOATs in 1997. Over Dominique (an all-time great). Critics have questioned Pippen being in Top 50 list over 'Nique but never Clyde. A legit solid Top 50 Picks over Pippen & 'Nique.

Fact # 2: Clyde a taller, stronger, bigger 6'7" version of michael Jordan. His stamina, strength was superior to Kobe & Wade. He always attacked the rim like Wade but never ended up on the ground in awkward position like Wade does frequently on the floor. Always landed on his feet in physical Defensive era of '80s & '90s. You'll see Kobe fatigued, Wade gassed out but Clyde was like a machine incredible endurance. I've never seen him gassed

Fact # 3: Clyde's prime peak is similar to Wade stat wise. But Clyde rarely missed seasons or tons of reg sea games due to injury or fitness issues like Wade frequently did in his peak prime years. 6 seasons of 80+ games. almost every year going deep into playoffs in his peak.

Fact # 4: Clyde was a lone warrior is still is the face of the Portland franchise. A successful perimeter player who made it to NBA finals 2x without any legit HOF'er or even a consistant all-star starter in Blazer line up.

Fact # 5: A true gentleman of the game, Clyde never asked for another all-star starter or HOF'er in his line up. Case can be made for clyde to be replaced with Kobe because of 5 rings & FMVPs in Top 50 list. But Wade? Is wade really even as great as Clyde was.

Why is Wade considered better than Clyde?

Just cuz of 1 FMVP & 1 ring in pi$$ poor era.

Can Wade ever take MIA to NBA Finals without first ballot HOF'er or even a legit all-star first teamer like Clyde did it twice?

Wade would've never been considered 2nd best SG in Jordan era if he played then just because of missed injury seasons & tons of games!

Clyde was considered the 2nd best SG next to MJ in Jordan Era

Hell, He was considered as good as MJ in 1992 coming up as runner-up MVP!

When was wade a real solid runner-up MVP?

lol.