Clyde “The Glide” Drexler (born June 22, 1962) is easily the most popular Trail Blazer player in the history of the franchise. He spent twelve of his fifteen pro seasons in Rip City, leading three teams tantalizingly close to a championship.
The high-flying shooting guard was selected as one of the NBA’s 50-All-Time greatest players. He was a ten-time All-Star and a member of the 1992 “Dream Team”, the first team of professional basketball players to represent the United States in the Olympics. Clyde is one of seven players with career totals of 20,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 6,000 assists or greater. He became only the second Portland player in history to be selected to the All-NBA team and finished second in the league’s MVP balloting to Michael Jordan for his outstanding performance during the 1991-92 season.
Drexler was already a collegiate superstar at the University of Houston when the Trail Blazers selected him with the 14th pick of the 1983 NBA draft.
His name is etched throughout the Trail Blazer record book. Drexler was the career leader in games played (867), minutes played (29,536), points (18,040), field goals made (6,889), field goals attempted (14,425), free throws made (3,798), free throws attempted (4,816), rebounds (5,339), offensive rebounds (2,227), steal (1,795), and triple doubles (18).
Drexler also scored 40 or more points 17 times and was only the second Blazer to score 50 or more points in a single game. His most productive season was 1988-89 when he averaged 27.2 points and snagged 615 rebounds and 213 steals – all single-season career highs.
His slam dunks were a thing of beauty. Clyde competed multiple times in the All-Star Slam Dunk competition and dunked on an 11 foot, 1 inch rim at the summer Slam and Jam event in 1989.
Midway through the 1994-95 season, Drexler was traded to Houston and helped the Rockets win the NBA championship. Clyde played three more seasons for the Rockets before retiring in 1998.
After his playing career, Clyde returned to UH as head coach for two seasons; worked on Rockets television broadcasts and served as commissioner of Big3 basketball. Drexler is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame twice, as a player and as a member of the “Dream Team”. He is also a member of the University of Houston and Houston halls of fame. The Trail Blazers and the Rockets both have retired his #22.