Ranking the 6 Portland Trail Blazers on NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team
1. Clyde Drexler
NBA Career: 15 seasons. Years in Portland: 12 (1983-84 – 1994-95).
The Blazers had superstars in their history before Clyde Drexler arrived in 1984. But like the way he attacked a basket, “Clyde the Glide” took it to another level.
Drexler was drafted 14th overall by Portland in 1983. It’s safe to say a dozen teams made a mistake (can’t fault Houston for taking Ralph Sampson with the number one pick). He made the rest of the league pay time and again for passing him over.
As a rookie, Drexler played in all 82 games but only averaged 7.7 points and 17.1 minutes per game. It was the only season in his career he averaged less than 17 points or 31.9 minutes. He finished his Trail Blazers career with averages of 20.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 2.7 steals.
Maybe more importantly, aside from the year he was traded back home to Houston in 1994, the Portland Trail Blazers made the playoffs every season he was with the team. That includes back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Finals in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.
Going into the 2021-22 season, Drexler is the Portland Trail Blazers all-time leader in points (18,040), games played (867), minutes (29,496), field goals made (6,425), free throws made (3,798), steals (1,795), and triple-double (18).
Accolades
- 1991-92 All NBA First Team
- 1987-88 and 1990-91 All-NBA Second Team
- 8-time NBA All-Star
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