x
advertisement
Filtered By: Sports
Sports

NBA: 12 questions with Clyde 'The Glide' Drexler

By JOB B. DE LEON, GMA News

Clyde Drexler, NBA champion and a member of the original Dream Team, is in Manila to promote the NBA Global Games. "The Glide," who ruled the basketball court's airspace during his heyday in the nineties, talked to reporters about the best moments in his career, playing against Michael Jordan, and how the game has (or hasn't) changed throughout the years.



On coming back to Manila

I always have a great time in Manila and it's a phenomenal place to be. The people really love the NBA and it's always a pleasure to have the NBA in Manila.  You put the two together, it spells a great time. The people here are so nice. The food is good, and we always enjoy the camaraderie of NBA action.

I would love to see a PBA game. It's good competition, and if you love basketball you'll always enjoy good, high-caliber basketball. The players here are good shooters. They're very quick and they're fun to watch. Congratulations [for qualifying for the FIBA World Cup], I think it's a step in the right direction. I think it goes to show you that basketball has really developed in this country.

On the Indiana Pacers and the Houston Rockets, and the NBA Global Games

It's a great matchup between foes who could eventually be in the NBA Finals. That's how good both teams are and it'd be great to see that. I think they're both on their way into being one of the best franchises in the NBA today.

Any time you play an NBA game in Asia or in international waters, it's a step in the right direction. Maybe one day you'll have your own NBA franchise. How much fun would that be? I think we all look forward to that day.

On playing with the Dream Team in the 1992 Olympics

It was great to play on the original Dream Team, [with] some of the greatest players to ever play the game, not from [just] my era but to ever play the game. That team was phenomenal and to be on that team was a tremendous honor. Some of the greatest times of my life was from 21 years ago.

On whom to watch out for in the NBA

You look at the guys like Carmelo Anthony, he's pretty darn good. Kevin Durant? Pretty darn good. Everyone knows that LeBron [James] is good but guys like James Harden and Dwight Howard, they don't get enough attention. They're really good. Paul George is another, and even guys like Chris Paul are pretty darn good, and Tony Parker...there are so many players in today's game. Every team has I think two or three and that's why it's so fun to watch.

On the current players who remind him of himself

I hate to compare players but if I had to, if you twisted my arm, I'd say the ball-handling and wizardry of Dwyane Wade, and the power and strength of LeBron, if you combine those guys.

Where he'd rank Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James

They're in the top 50 of all guys who've ever played, you know, if you take me out of the picture. I mean, those guys are all phenomenal, but you talk about them because they're current. But if you look at guys like Oscar Robertson, you don't take away from him. He was phenomenal. The greatest players to ever play the game were Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. Who's better than Wilt? He averaged 50 points and 25 rebounds a game. No one's ever done that, not even close! And he led the league in assists the next year. And Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Who's done that? So who's better than those guys? No one! They're just not playing today.  Who's better than Larry Bird? Who's better than Doctor J? Who's better than Hakeem Olajuwon? Who's better than Kareem Abdul Jabbar? We could do this all day! So I think what you have to do, guys, is to take the top five players at each position, and that's gonna be your answer.

On what keeps him busy these days

I have four children and that keeps me really busy. They're all in college age or through with college, and that's a lot of fun, having adult children. That's an oxymoron (laughs). It's great to see them grow up and become nice young adults, and that keeps me busy. I've got a mean golf game too. I've got a two-handicap, and I love that game.

I have one son, Adam Drexler, who's at the University of Houston. That's where I went to. He's a sophomore and he has to sit out this year, but he's ready for the next three years after next year. If he works on his game, he'll be a guy to watch. All you can do is have opportunities, and it's up to the individual to bring that talent out. He's definitely got a lot of talent.

On playing against His Airness, Michael Jordan

He's definitely a great player, you don't have to get yourself up. When you play against a team like the Bobcats, it's hard to get up sometimes. I love playing against better competition, I always have much more fun.

[If Jordan played for the Bobcats, the franchise he currently runs] they could use his help. Anything Michael wants to do, I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun. Michael might be getting a little too old to play in the NBA as it is a young man's sport. I think Michael would do well to just stay healthy. He'll get out there and pull a hamstring and mess up his golf game. I love Michael, you guys know that, we just give him a hard time.

Is it better to win an NBA championship or an Olympic Gold Medal?

That's like comparing your kids. Which one do you love the most? I love them all. They're all individual accomplishments and team accomplishments, and on an individual basis you've had great memories through all of them, so I love them all.

When you win it's always memorable, much more memorable than if you lose. I'd like to think that the ultimate goal is to work hard to win as a team, and when you win it's a feeling of euphoria. And when you lose, if you come close, there's still a feeling of "we were very successful." Very few teams have a chance to make it to the finals, and even if you've lost, you've made it. A lot of guys don't even get a chance to make it to the finals, it's always just gonna be two teams every year. So the quest is getting there. If you're lucky enough and you're good enough to win it, it doesn't get any better than that.

His advice to aspiring professional basketball players

The more you practice, the luckier you get. It's that simple. It's not more complicated than that. I always tell young guys if you want to be a guard, make sure your handle is on a string. They're like, "oh, it's on a string!" Then you put them through a couple of drills and they dribble it off they're foot and I'm like, "Ooh, it's really on a string!" They don't understand that it's that simple. If you wanna be a guard, your handle has to be really good and your skill level has to be extremely high. You have to work on your skill level if you wanna win. And the more you work on it, the luckier you get. Repetition, repetition, repetition.

On Robert Horry naming his 1995 championship with Drexler his favorite

He's trying to make me feel good. But I agree with Bob, that was special because we were the sixth seed, and no one thought we'd do it. We beat three teams who won 60 games that year on their home court (Utah Jazz 60-22, Phoenix Suns 59-23, San Antonio Spurs 62-20), that's extremely difficult to do. So to go on the road and beat all of those teams, I don't think that'll ever be duplicated from the sixth seed. That team had the heart of a champion, although they were already a very good team since they made the finals the year before.

On inducting former college coach Guy Lewis into the Hall of Fame earlier this year

He was a trailblazer. He deserved to be in the Hall of Fame probably thirty years ago. He had great players, guys like Elvin Hayes, Otis Birdsong, Hakeem Olajuwon, myself, and many others came through his program. For thirty years he had a winning record, and that is so hard to do.  He was the first guy to go to three straight Final Fours in the eighties. He was a phenomenal coach with a phenomenal record who finally got his due. - AMD, GMA News
Tags: nbaseason, clydedrexler
Most Popular