Clyde Drexler was often compared to Michael Jordan , who had supreme athletic abilities and a similar playstyle. However, Jordan wasn't necessarily flattered by such comparisons. He wanted to be a unique, unique athlete nobody could stop.
And so when he became teammates with Drexler in the Dream Team , he took it as an opportunity to play mind games with the Portland Trail Blazers legend.
Watch out for 3-pointers
During a Dream Team practice, Jordan reminded Drexler how he torched the Blazers in Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals with six 3-pointers in the first half. This was Jordan, after knocking down his sixth 3-pointer, shrugged towards the broadcast table to show how surprised he was.
"Didn't I just kick your ass? … Anything here look just a little familiar? … Think you can stop me this time, Clyde? … Better watch out for the threes, Clyde," Jordan said, per David Halberstam's "Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made"
This was what Dream Team head coach Chuck Daly feared. In addition to tweaking their game to become role players, some might have difficulty forgetting that they are now teammates and not competitors.
Two left shoes
Interestingly, Jordan's trash-talking seems to have affected Drexler's mindset. One day, a lot of gear was delivered, and players rushed to grab as many as possible. In the rush, the 10-time All-Star made a mistake and grabbed two left shoes. To make matters worse, Drexler was unwilling to acknowledge his error and practiced wearing two left shoes.
"Clyde grabbed two left shoes, but he didn't want to say anything, so he went through practice with two left shoes, till someone actually noticed and I can remember Michael saying 'That's kinda' why you guys lost to us," Chris Mullin said, per the The Icons Club .
According to Halberstam's book, Jordan reported this incident to the Bulls' coaching staff. MJ was so hyped that he found a hole in the Blazers guard's game, noting it as a sign of Clyde the Glide's insecurity.
But Mike was conscious that he was teammates with Drexler at that point. And so according to Halberstam, His Airness "carefully filed it away, to be used some other day if necessary."
It was the right move. If MJ decided to harp on Drexler the entire time, then the Dream Team wouldn't have won the gold. The whole world wouldn't have seen the best basketball players of all time show off their generational skills.
Related: "Every time he'd run up the court everyone would feel sorry for the guy" - Clyde Drexler claimed Magic Johnson was gifted a spot on Dream Team
Local Portland, OR
Most Popular
Comments / 0