How good was Prime Clyde Drexler? Where does he rank in today's game?

[O.J A 6'4Mamba]

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s6/samjam007/ClydeDrexler2.jpg


To many people he will always be known for how he gliding in the air. To me he will always be remember as the guy, who prevented MJ from being drafted to the Blazers, and how he was already balding at the age of 23.

He seems to be forgetting in history when he talk about the all time greats. Since their was such a wide margin between him and MJ. However in his prime from 87-89 he put up some incredible stats.

Prime Clyde in the late 80's= 27.2 ppg 7.9 rpg 5.8apg 2.7 spg .7 bpg 49% FG 22% 3pt 80% FT

Those were better than Wade's numbers this year. I think he would be the 3rd best player in the league behind LeBron, Kobe and in front of Wade.

[magnax1]

Yeah, if he was born in an era where there was no Michael Jordan he'd be thought of as a much better player, because he really was a force in most every way. He'd probably be 4th best player today, behind Lebron Wade Kobe, and he really would be in the same tier, even if he is obviously the fourth best player.

[Sarcastic]

He is a top 10 SG, and a top 50 all time.
He had a weird looking jump shot. I never liked that.

[KNOW1EDGE]

Great thread.

Clyde gets forgotten because he played 2nd fiddle to Jordan his whole career. Jordan was always better, and always got the best of him when they played each other.

Clyde would be right around the D-Wade status today, I dont know if i would say hes better than Wade, but def above Melo, and below Kobe/LeBron.

Clyde wasnt just the glide, he could really shoot, pass, handle the rock, he had a very complete game.

Best blazer EVER:bowdown:

[ginobli2311]

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s6/samjam007/ClydeDrexler2.jpg


To many people he will always be known for how he gliding in the air. To me he will always be remember as the guy, who prevented MJ from being drafted to the Blazers, and how he was already balding at the age of 23.

He seems to be forgetting in history when he talk about the all time greats. Since their was such a wide margin between him and MJ. However in his prime from 87-89 he put up some incredible stats.

Prime Clyde in the late 80's= 27.2 ppg 7.9 rpg 5.8apg 2.7 spg .7 bpg 49% FG 22% 3pt 80% FT

Those were better than Wade's numbers this year. I think he would be the 3rd best player in the league behind LeBron, Kobe and in front of Wade.


good thread. i think clyde would be one of the 5 best perimeter players in the game today if he was in his prime. my ranking would go:

1. wade
2. lebron
3. kobe
4. clyde
5. melo/durant

[Kblaze8855]

Handle? Dont know about that. He made some nice moves but his handle in traffic wasnt great. He was a much much better passer than given credit for though. He was Lebronish.

[Sarcastic]

Great thread.

Clyde gets forgotten because he played 2nd fiddle to Jordan his whole career. Jordan was always better, and always got the best of him when they played each other.

Clyde would be right around the D-Wade status today, I dont know if i would say hes better than Wade, but def above Melo, and below Kobe/LeBron.

Clyde wasnt just the glide, he could really shoot, pass, handle the rock, he had a very complete game.

Best blazer EVER:bowdown:

I don't know if he is better than Carmelo Anthony. Carmelo is a better all around scorer, and can hit game winners much better than Clyde could ever do.

Plus, isn't Anthony a SF?

[Bigsmoke]

why he was pretty good.

[OnceInADECADE]

I remember him saying he will drop 40ppg in today game cuz its soft:confusedshrug:

[Sarcastic]

I remember him saying he will drop 40ppg in today game cuz its soft:confusedshrug:

Got a link?

[ginobli2311]

I don't know if he is better than Carmelo Anthony. Carmelo is a better all around scorer, and can hit game winners much better than Clyde could ever do.

Plus, isn't Anthony a SF?

yea...the carmelo thing is tough. clyde had a lot more playoff success and he was more efficient from the field and a much better team player and passer. melo is better in the clutch though no doubt. drexler just played the game a little more efficiently overall. i have clyde slightly ahead of melo.

[ginobli2311]

Got a link?

no. but clyde definitely said he would kill today's games.

[Sarcastic]

yea...the carmelo thing is tough. clyde had a lot more playoff success and he was more efficient from the field and a much better team player and passer. melo is better in the clutch though no doubt. drexler just played the game a little more efficiently overall. i have clyde slightly ahead of melo.

Clyde played on a stacked Blazers team and came out of the West only 1 time, and this was a time when the West was the weaker conference. Carmelo plays in the West now, and it is by far the tougher conference. Put Anthony in the East, and he has more playoff success.

This year was an anomaly for Anthony because his coach was sick and they lost early. He was carrying the team on his back, but no one else would play.

[Birmingham1955]

First to the op.
LeBron is better than Kobe, Wade is better than Kobe.

top tier
1.LeBron
2. Wade
3. Kobe
4. Clyde

2nd tier
5. Durant
6. Melo
7.Paul
8.Howard
9. Roy
10. Dirk

Melo is great offensively speaking. He is arguably has the best offensive skill set in today's game. However he doesn't make his teammates better and his defense is suspect that's why he is in the 5-10 range and not in the LeBron and Wade tier.

[KNOW1EDGE]

I remember him saying he will drop 40ppg in today game cuz its soft:confusedshrug:

he played when there was no hand checking rule.

So now, today, when a defensive player cant even touch an offensive player, im sure he would drop 40 a game.

Just like Jordan would look EVEN BETTER in todays NBA, so would Clyde.

Every guard that played before the hand checking rule would look MUCH better in todays NBA.

[ginobli2311]

Clyde played on a stacked Blazers team and came out of the West only 1 time, and this was a time when the West was the weaker conference. Carmelo plays in the West now, and it is by far the tougher conference. Put Anthony in the East, and he has more playoff success.

This year was an anomaly for Anthony because his coach was sick and they lost early. He was carrying the team on his back, but no one else would play.

totally agree.

that is why clyde's playoff success is only a very small factor when comparing the two players. but you are off in your post..... clyde made the finals in both 90 and 92.

clyde was just a more complete overall player than melo is (at this point in his career)...the ranking could look different in 7 years. but for now....clyde was a bit more efficient as a scorer. a much much better passer. clyder's PER is ahead of melo as well.

its kind of close....but i think clyde deserves to be ahead of melo.

[Birmingham1955]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=jordami01&p2=drexlcl01

Jordan did always have the upper hand on Clyde. As much as Clyde practiced he was never ever to match Jordan standard of excellence.

In 15 career head to head games against Clyde. Jordan basically averaged 35/7/6 including two 50 point performance. That's not even mentioning how he beat him in 92' finals.

[ginobli2311]

First to the op.
LeBron is better than Kobe, Wade is better than Kobe.

top tier
1.LeBron
2. Wade
3. Kobe
4. Clyde

2nd tier
5. Durant
6. Melo
7.Paul
8.Howard
9. Roy
10. Dirk

Melo is great offensively speaking. He is arguably has the best offensive skill set in today's game. However he doesn't make his teammates better and his defense is suspect that's why he is in the 5-10 range and not in the LeBron and Wade tier.

nice list. but i would put dirk at 9 and gasol at 10. otherwise i really like that list. i love roy.....i'm a huge fan....but he is just not on that level yet.

[OnceInADECADE]

he played when there was no hand checking rule.

So now, today, when a defensive player cant even touch an offensive player, im sure he would drop 40 a game.

Just like Jordan would look EVEN BETTER in todays NBA, so would Clyde.

Every guard that played before the hand checking rule would look MUCH better in todays NBA.

So he did say that. I was just checking if i was rite

[OnceInADECADE]

First to the op.
LeBron is better than Kobe, Wade is better than Kobe.

top tier
1.LeBron
2. Wade
3. Kobe
4. Clyde

2nd tier
5. Durant
6. Melo
7.Paul
8.Howard
9. Roy
10. Dirk

Melo is great offensively speaking. He is arguably has the best offensive skill set in today's game. However he doesn't make his teammates better and his defense is suspect that's why he is in the 5-10 range and not in the LeBron and Wade tier.

How is Dirk better than CB4?

[ginobli2311]

How is Dirk better than CB4?

i think he is saying that currently a healthy paul is better than dirk currently. i can't argue with that. a healthy 24 year old paul is a little better than a 31 year old dirk. nothing wrong with putting paul ahead of dirk at all.

[OnceInADECADE]

i think he is saying that currently a healthy paul is better than dirk currently. i can't argue with that. a healthy 24 year old paul is a little better than a 31 year old dirk. nothing wrong with putting paul ahead of dirk at all.

Chris Bosh not Chris Paul. Chris Paul to me is top 5.

[Kblaze8855]

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn45/kblaze888555/Clyde.gif

[ginobli2311]

Chris Bosh not Chris Paul. Chris Paul to me is top 5.

oh....ok.

dirk deserves to be ahead of bosh on that list though. bosh is right there in the top 15 but dirk has proven he can put up big numbers and win in the playoffs. its a bit unfair to bosh....but he's not even close to better enough statistically to be ranked over dirk or gasol.

you also can't ignore how much better dirk is in crunch time or ignore dirk's ability to take over games.

[Papaya Petee]

He would be worse then Wade LeBron or Kobe. I would probably take Durant over him too. Maybe top 4-5 definitly top 7-8.

[LebrickJames84']

I personally think Clyde is the most underrated dunker along with David Thompson in NBA history. When you think of the all time great dunkers, the younger generation will immediately say Vince, MJ, LeBron, Kobe, Wade, you will rarely hear Clyde.

Clyde really was better in game dunker than MJ. In terms of creativity he was way more creative. MJ just could poster dunk more frequently and had better body control.

[White Chocolate]

You have to remember that he was able to get to the hoop a lot back in the 80s and early 90s. Not to mention he glided through the air like it was nothing. His three point shot was also quite decent at times. There's no reason he couldn't put up 25/6/6 in today's game IMO.

[T-bomb 25]

Mine would look like this

1.Wade
2.Kobe
3.Glyde
4.Lebron
5.D-Will
6.Durant
7.Mello
8.Bosh
9.Howard
10.Dirk/Roy

[Sarcastic]

Mine would look like this

1.Wade
2.Kobe
3.Glyde
4.Lebron
5.D-Will
6.Durant
7.Mello
8.Bosh
9.Howard
10.Dirk/Roy

You seriously have Drexler ahead of Lebron?

[Roundball_Rock]

At his peak (1992) he arguably was the second-best player in the league. He would be a top 5 player today probably a notch below Wade.

What is this Jordan talk? Reggie Miller played the same position as Jordan and Drexler and was hardly forgotten. Drexler at the peak of his powers allowed his team to blow a 17 point lead with 13 minutes left in Game 6 of the NBA finals against Pippen and four bench scrubs. Had he prevented that who knows what would have happened in Game 7. You can't simply cite Jordan in every 90's thread. There are always going to be players like that in every generation. Citing Jordan for the 90's would be like saying KG was overshadowed by Duncan, Carmelo by Lebron, or Wade by Kobe today. There are always going to be tiers of players, even if there isn't a massive gap between tiers. Had Drexler been born ten years later he would have been in Kobe's shadow. Had he been born earlier it would have been Jerry West's shadow. Basically he would have to have played in the small window between West and Jordan to get the kind of recognition you guys are alluding to. Drexler wasn't a victim of Jordan or circumstance. He just wasn't a top 10 of all-time caliber player, although you could argue him as high as top 25 and as low as around 40th.


he played when there was no hand checking rule.

So now, today, when a defensive player cant even touch an offensive player, im sure he would drop 40 a game.

:oldlol: at Drexler averaging 40 ppg when Lebron and Wade barely get to 30 ppg (well, wasn't Lebron actually slightly below 30.0 at 29.7 or something this year?). Drexler played in an era where Kiki Vandeghwe was dropping 29 ppg. I guess Kiki, who scored more than Clyde, would be putting up 43 ppg today? Dominique Wilkins would be at 46 ppg. Jordan would be at 49 ppg. Let's get real with the handchecking talk. The reason the rule was changed was defenses had become so effective that scoring was embarrassingly low. Things were too hard for offensive players and the rules had to be loosened up to allow them to compete at the level of the 90's (not even close to the 80's when perimeter players routinely shot 50% or higher and scoring was greater). That conveniently is left out of the handchecking narrative.

[T-bomb 25]

You seriously have Drexler ahead of Lebron? At this point i do,Clyde went head to head against Jordan and Pippen(the best perimeter defender of all tme) and just better players in genral and he done good and balled on everyone.Judging Lebron this year,they would eat Lebrons lunch,this year clearly showed that Wade and Kobe were clearly better than him,maybe after this season Lebron,can move back up but his clutch and pressure gene is very questionable.

[LebrickJames84']

lol you guys acting like you watched clyde in his prime to tell if he was better than melo or wade or not.

[Sarcastic]

lol you guys acting like you watched clyde in his prime to tell if he was better than melo or wade or not.

I did, and he is not.

[Duncan21formvp]

Top 3

[necya]

it's so weird every people use to post a ranking, a ridiculous comparison with players of today whereas some have never seen more than 10 games of the glyde...
and if he scored less at the beginning of the 90's and against MJ in the finals, it's just because he didn't have the same role as MJ had with the bulls. the starting five of the trailblazers could score 20pts a game. he didn't need to score 30pts every night.
and clyde did things who does not appear on your ****ing stats, he is a better SG than the ones of today.

[Fatal9]

Don't think he'd be averaging 25 ppg. Anyone who has seen his Blazer teams, big scoring nights and so on, knows how much he benefited from playing on a team that ran like crazy. Remember watching his 50 pt game vs. Knicks and I think around 30 pts came from the fast break alone, same with his career high vs. Kings. You can basically notice this in any Blazers game you watch from late 80s or early 90s. As deadly as Portland was on the break, no team can play at that pace today. Even D'Antoni's teams are considerably slower. Still a solid scorer, though not as potent as his numbers suggest. Good rebounder, maybe a better defender than given credit for, effective passer but not as skilled a passer as his numbers would make you think. He'd be around a 23/7/5 guy, top 8ish but I'd easily take Lebron, Kobe, Wade, Dwight, Paul, Melo and maybe Dirk/Deron before him.

[TheCord#20]

Clyde played on a stacked Blazers team and came out of the West only 1 time, and this was a time when the West was the weaker conference. Carmelo plays in the West now, and it is by far the tougher conference. Put Anthony in the East, and he has more playoff success.

This year was an anomaly for Anthony because his coach was sick and they lost early. He was carrying the team on his back, but no one else would play.

Wrong, Clyde played in the Finals twice. Lost to the Pistons and Bulls.

[GiveItToBurrito]

He is a top 10 SG, and a top 50 all time.
He had a weird looking jump shot. I never liked that.

Same here. I agree as far as the ranking, too. Nowadays, he'd probably be considered one of those guys like Dirk and current Duncan who are great but not quite in the same league as Howard, Lebron, and Wade. He put up similar numbers to Kobe, but he was less efficient and not as explosive, plus he played at a faster pace. I'd say he'd be roughly equivalent to Carmelo nowadays.

[blacknapalm]

Same here. I agree as far as the ranking, too. Nowadays, he'd probably be considered one of those guys like Dirk and current Duncan who are great but not quite in the same league as Howard, Lebron, and Wade. He put up similar numbers to Kobe, but he was less efficient and not as explosive, plus he played at a faster pace. I'd say he'd be roughly equivalent to Carmelo nowadays.

i agree with pretty much everything you said except that part. we're talking about a guy who was lightning quick in the open court, could dunk on an 11 ft hoop and do a legit free throw line dunk...he was a 9 on in the athleticism department. unless you were saying kobe is less explosive :P

[GiveItToBurrito]

i agree with pretty much everything you said except that part. we're talking about a guy who was lightning quick in the open court, could dunk on an 11 ft hoop and do a legit free throw line dunk...he was a 9 on in the athleticism department. unless you were saying kobe is less explosive :P

Oh, totally, I just mean explosive as far as putting up 50 points in a game. Which, for all I know, he was capable of doing regularly, I just don't remember seeing it since I was born in 85 and thus knew him primarily as MJ's west coast rival.

[OldSchoolBBall]

He'd be at 25-27/7/6/46-47% FG today imo. I have to disagree with Fatal9 about his passing -- Drexler was a FANTASTIC passer, numbers aside. His vision was elite. Most people just didn't see enough of him, actually.

[LAClipsFan33]

I'll be damned if Melo is better than Drexler was. No way in hell.

[Fatal9]

He'd be at 25-27/7/6/46-47% FG today imo. I have to disagree with Fatal9 about his passing -- Drexler was a FANTASTIC passer, numbers aside. His vision was elite. Most people just didn't see enough of him, actually.
He was a very good and effective passer like I said, lot of penetration and kicks with good court awareness (Lebron-lite like kblaze said). He was not however as skilled as guys like MJ, Kobe, Wade, who have lower assist numbers (because they score more) but can create so much more off the dribble for their team and just have a greater variety of passes in their game. I don't understand how he can average 27 today, he barely did it twice in his career (in the late 80s) while being on a team whose style was a perfect fit for his game and that style simply cannot be replicated today (pace = 103+ :eek:). Maybe one year he'd break out for 25ish by improving his jumper/range faster, but I'm not seeing it. It's actually shocking what % of his points used to come off breaks.

[DC Zephyrs]

I think he'd be slightly worse than Durant, Melo, and Dirk.

[L.Kizzle]

Clyde is my favorite player ever, He'd be top 3-4 player fighting with Wade. Clyde was a very unorthodox player. Dribble with his head down on the break, had a terrible release, gambled a lot, but still great.

[hateraid]

Very hard to make a today's comparison. A more athletic Tyreke? Larry Hughes x 10 million?
All accounts of Drexler in this thread are accurate. Great passer, good transition player, ugly but effective jump shot. He was the perfect backcourt compliment to Terry Porter and a great teammate. The Pistons and the Bulls tarnished his career like Sampras did to Agassi.
As for Glyde ranking in today's NBA? Hard to say. Absolutely great size for a shooting gaurd and how today's gaurds are like hybrids, he a great prototype. It's questionable to say because as great of a scorer he was I don't recall him being like a takeover the game type. Critical situations I've seen Porter being more clutch. Definately a top five gaurd and a top ten player, but third in the league may be a bit of a stretch.

[Fatal9]

Drexler is not on Wade's level. Not even close. Get real people.

[lefthook00]

Great player but he would have to improve his handles.

[L.Kizzle]

Drexler is not on Wade's level. Not even close. Get real people.
Player or career? Hell, David Thompson was probably a better player than Clyde skill wise.

[Birmingham1955]

Very hard to make a today's comparison. A more athletic Tyreke? Larry Hughes x 10 million?
All accounts of Drexler in this thread are accurate. Great passer, good transition player, ugly but effective jump shot. He was the perfect backcourt compliment to Terry Porter and a great teammate. The Pistons and the Bulls tarnished his career like Sampras did to Agassi.
As for Glyde ranking in today's NBA? Hard to say. Absolutely great size for a shooting gaurd and how today's gaurds are like hybrids, he a great prototype. It's questionable to say because as great of a scorer he was I don't recall him being like a takeover the game type. Critical situations I've seen Porter being more clutch. Definately a top five gaurd and a top ten player, but third in the league may be a bit of a stretch.

Terry Porter was a beast

[hateraid]

Terry Porter was a beast

For sure. Modern day Billups.

[L.Kizzle]

For sure. Modern day Billups.
Yes, I did a thread on these two comparing them.

[Showtime]

Funny how the OP probably never even saw the guy play.

[hateraid]

Yes, I did a thread on these two comparing them.

Great old school minds think alike:cheers:

[eliteballer]

Drexler dropping 42 points, 9 assists, 8 steals, 5 rebounds against DPOY Jordan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-XXmM0qLXk

[OldSchoolBBall]

I don't understand how he can average 27 today, he barely did it twice in his career (in the late 80s) while being on a team whose style was a perfect fit for his game and that style simply cannot be replicated today (pace = 103+ :eek:).

Because he'd get 9-10+ FT's today instead of the ~6.7 FTA he averaged during a 6 year span in his prime ('88-'93). He'd easily be at 25 ppg minimum today at his peak.

[eliteballer]

:oldlol: Players get more FT's because they are better slashers due to better handles than when ya boy MJ ruled. Clyde didn't have that kind of handle.