Clyde Drexler

** Elected to Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.**

Clyde Austin Drexler (born June 22, 1962 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a former National Basketball Association shooting guard. A ten-time All-Star and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, the NBA named him one of basketball's fifty greatest players. Drexler won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and an NBA championship in 1995 with the Houston Rockets. He is currently the color commentator for Rockets home games.

Career
Drexler graduated from Houston's Ross Sterling High School in 1980. He then attended the University of Houston where, alongside Hakeem Olajuwon and Larry Micheaux, they constituted the "Phi Slama Jama" basketball fraternity renowned for its acrobatic, "above the rim" style of play. Drexler helped lead the Cougars to consecutive Final Four appearances in 1982 and 1983, losing the 1983 NCAA Final to underdog North Carolina State.

Drexler was selected 14th overall in the 1983 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. Along with teammates Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey, Buck Williams, Kevin Duckworth, and Clifford Robinson, Drexler helped lead the team to the NBA Finals in 1990 (against the Detroit Pistons) and 1992 (versus the Chicago Bulls).

In 1992 he was selected to the U.S. Olympics basketball team, nicknamed "The Dream Team", which won the gold medal in Barcelona. He finished second to Michael Jordan in Most Valuable Player voting in 1991-92. He would meet Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals that same season only to fall short, as Jordan and the Bulls went on to win their second consecutive championship.

On February 14, 1995, with the Blazers out of serious contention for a championship, Portland honored Drexler's request to be traded to a contender and sent the Blazer great to the Houston Rockets. The fortunes of the Rockets, who were struggling to regain the championship form they had a year earlier, quickly improved after the acquisition of Drexler. Delighted at being reunited with long-time friend Hakeem Olajuwon and playing in his hometown, Drexler helped the Rockets win the NBA title in 1995. During the 1995 NBA Playoffs, Drexler was the subject of a controversial ejection during a game between the Rockets and Phoenix Suns by referee Jake O'Donnell. The NBA referee of 28 seasons later admitted to having a personal vendetta against Drexler and never officiated another game. Drexler stayed with the Rockets for three more seasons before retiring from the NBA after the 1997-98 season in order to become head men's basketball coach at his alma mater, the University of Houston. Drexler's #22 jersey has been retired by the Cougars (pictured), Rockets, and Trail Blazers. He was inducted as a player into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 10, 2004, in his first year of eligibility.

In 2004 Drexler co-authored his biography, Clyde the Glide, with Portland Tribune sports writer Kerry Eggers, and University of Houston classmate and CBS Sports broadcaster Jim Nantz providing the "foreword".

Playing style
Drexler was famed for his speed and finesse on the court, and his easy-going and quiet demeanor off the court. At University of Houston, Drexler became well-known for his exceptional abilities as a finisher, but generally was not considered a great shooter. During his pro career Drexler developed a much more well-rounded game, even becoming an effective post player. His extraordinary leaping abilities allowed him to be an acrobatic dunker. This earned Drexler the nickname "Clyde the Glide."

Drexler was regarded as a versatile player, and he was consistently among the leaders at his position in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. He also posted a considerable number of blocked shots for a player his size, ranking third for his career totals among guards.

He is one of only three players in NBA history to have posted career totals of at least 20,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 6,000 assists (the two others being Oscar Robertson and John Havlicek). As of 2005, Drexler leads all guards with his career average of offensive rebounds with 2.4 per game.


Family
Drexler married his wife, Gaynell, on December 30, 1988. He has four children, Erica, Austin, Elise, and Adam, the last three with Gaynell. The Drexler's have a home in the River Oaks-Memorial neighborhood of Houston and another one in the Dunthorpe neighborhood of Portland.

His brother James and his two sisters, Denise and Virginia, run the family barbecue restaurants in Houston called Drexler's World Famous BBQ & Grill, which includes the "22 Bar". His mother, Eunice Scott, also works at the downtown restaurant that was started by his uncle in 1967. There are two locations, downtown Houston and Bush Intercontinental Airport. Drexler also started investing in real estate in his rookie NBA season, and although he is now mostly retired, he does do some managing of his Drexler Holdings LLC, based in downtown Houston.


Honors
First-team NCAA All-American (1983)
Southwest Conference Player of the Year (1983)
10-time NBA All-Star (1986, 1988–1994, 1996, 1997)
All-NBA First Team (1992)
All-NBA Second Team (1988, 1991)
All-NBA Third Team (1990, 1995)
Olympic Gold Medalist (1992)
1 NBA Championship (1995)
Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996)
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Player Inductee (2004)
Oregon Sports Hall of Fame Inducted (2001)