Clyde Drexler autographed mini-basketball & photo


Item Number: 268

Time Left: CLOSED

Value: $250

Online Close: Sep 30, 2008 10:00 PM CDT

Bid History: 9 bids - Item Sold!

Description

Mini-size autographed Basketball signed by NBA Hall of Fame Basketball player Clyde Drexler & 8x10 autographed photo.


Drexler was selected in the 1st round, 14th overall pick in the 1983 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. Along with teammates Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey, Buck Williams, Kevin Duckworth, and Clifford Robinson, Drexler helped lead the team to the NBA Finals in 1990 (against the Detroit Pistons) and 1992 (versus the Chicago Bulls). Was passed over in the 1983 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, who drafted Ralph Sampson and Rodney McCray before Drexler was selected.


In 1992 he was selected to the U.S. Olympics basketball team, nicknamed "The Dream Team", which won the gold medal in Barcelona. He finished second to Michael Jordan in Most Valuable Player voting in 1991-92. He would meet Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals that same season only to fall short, as Jordan and the Bulls went on to win their second consecutive championship.


On February 14, 1995, with the Blazers out of serious contention for a championship, Portland honored Drexler's request to be traded to a contender and sent the Blazer great to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Otis Thorpe in mid-season, right before the trade deadline. Despite finishing the regular season with a record of 47-35, which placed the Rockets 6th out of 8 playoff teams in the Western Conference, Drexler and long-time friend Hakeem Olajuwon helped propel them to an improbable second consecutive championship in 1995.


During the 1995 NBA Playoffs, Drexler was the subject of a controversial ejection during a game between the Rockets and Phoenix Suns by referee Jake O'Donnell, which allegedly stemmed from a personal feud between the two at the time.[3]. This would turn out to be the last NBA game O'Donnell would referee, as he was not assigned any further games in the playoffs that year, and eventually retired a few months later. In 1996, on ESPN's "NBA Today", O'Donnell commented, "I wouldn't give Clyde Drexler much leeway because of the way he reacted with me all the time. I thought at times he would give cheap shots to people, and I just would not allow it."[4]


 

Special Instructions

NOTE I: Bio & facts from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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