Today's profile highlights one of the NBA's greatest leapers...and one of its best all-around players. He was a ten-time NBA All-Star, was selected to the All-NBA 1st Team in 1992, and played a key role on three NBA Finals-bound teams with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets. Here's Clyde "the Glide" Drexler!

Clyde Drexler was born June 22, 1962 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He went to Ross Sterling High School in Houston, Texas, then stayed home to attend the University of Houston. Teaming with Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Young and Larry Micheaux, the Cougars became known as "Phi Slamma Jamma". Drexler helped the Cougars reach two Final Fours and the 1983 NCAA championship final before graduating, averaging 14.4 PPG and 9.9 RPG during his college career. Drexler was eventually selected 14th overall in the 1983 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, behind such busts as Russell Cross and Ennis Whatley.

Drexler came to Portland at a time when Jim Paxson was established as the team's starting shooting guard, but he still put up respectable numbers of 7.7 PPG and 2.9 RPG as a rookie. Drexler became a part-time starter at small forward in his second year and saw his averages jump to 17.2 PPG and 6 RPG. By 1985-86, Drexler became an All-Star for the first time, averaging 18.6 PPG and 5.6 RPG and a solid 8 APG. By this point, he had supplanted Paxson as the team's best player.

In 1986-87, Drexler joined Magic Johnson and Larry Bird as the only players to average better than 21 PPG (21.7 PPG), 6 rebounds (6.3 RPG) and 6 assists (6.9 APG) that season. The next year, Drexler finished fifth in  leagueMVP voting, leading the Blazers to 53 wins. But despite Drexler's brilliance, the Blazers won only one playoff series between 1984 and 1989. But the nucleus of Drexler, Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey and Kevin Duckworth began to emerge when Rick Adelman became coach and Buck Williams was acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Nets.

By 1989-90, the Blazers emerged as a great team, and Drexler was the leader. Averaging 23.3 PPG and 6.9 RPG, Drexler led the Blazers to their first NBA Finals since 1977, losing to the Detroit Pistons in five games. The Blazers would win the Pacific Division title each year from 1990 to 1992, and Drexler's 1991-92 season was his personal best, as he finished the runner-up to Michael Jordan for league MVP and made his sixth All-Star team (the other years were 1986, 1988-91, 1993-94 and 1996-97, missing the 1997 game with an injury). He also became the second Portland player ever to make the All-NBA 1st Team, and though the Blazers lost to Jordan's Bulls in six games in the Finals, Drexler would join Jordan in winning an Olympic gold medal as part of the famed "Dream Team" in the 1992 Olympics.

But the Blazers and Drexler fell off over the next season and a half, and by the 1994-95 trade deadline, Drexler wanted to be traded. Portland obliged, trading Drexler to the Houston Rockets for Otis Thorpe. Drexler was now re-teamed with college teammate Hakeem Olajuwon, but as the Rockets struggled to a 47-35 finish and the sixth seed, they didn't seem like a legit threat to win an NBA title. But the Rockets shocked everyone by winning the title in a four-game sweep of the Orlando Magic. Drexler averaged 20.5 PPG, 7 RPG and 5 APG (which increased to 21.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG and 6.8 APG in the Finals sweep). Drexler finally had an NBA title in his adopted hometown.

Drexler enjoyed three more productive seasons with the Rockets before retiring after the 1997-98 season to become a coach of his alma mater in Houston. He retired having scored 22,195 points (20.4 PPG), along with 6,677 rebounds (6.1 RPG) and 6,125 assists (5.6 APG). He was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review:
1983-84: 82 GP, 3 GS, 7.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 45.1 FG%, 72.8 FT%, 25.0 3P%
1984-85: 80 GP, 43 GS, 17.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.5 APG, 49.4 FG%, 75.9 FT%, 21.6 3P%
1985-86: 75 GP, 58 GS, 18.5 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 8.0 APG, 47.5 FG%, 76.9 FT%, 20.0 3P%
1986-87: 82 GP, 82 GS, 21.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 6.9 APG, 50.2 FG%, 76.0 FT%, 23.4 3P%
1987-88: 81 GP, 80 GS, 27.0 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 5.8 APG, 50.6 FG%, 81.1 FT%, 21.2 3P%
1988-89: 78 GP, 78 GS, 27.2 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 5.8 APG, 49.6 FG%, 79.9 FT%, 26.0 3P%
1989-90: 73 GP, 73 GS, 23.3 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 5.9 APG, 49.4 FG%, 77.4 FT%, 28.3 3P%
1990-91: 82 GP, 82 GS, 21.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 6.0 APG, 48.2 FG%, 79.4 FT%, 31.9 3P%
1991-92: 76 GP, 76 GS, 25.0 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 6.7 APG, 47.0 FG%, 79.4 FT%, 33.7 3P%
1992-93: 49 GP, 49 GS, 19.9 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 5.7 APG, 42.9 FG%, 83.9 FT%, 23.3 3P%
1993-94: 68 GP, 68 GS, 19.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4.9 APG, 42.8 FG%, 77.7 FT%, 32.4 3P%
1994-95: 76 GP, 75 GS, 21.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.8 APG, 46.1 FG%, 82.4 FT%, 36.0 3P%
1995-96: 52 GP, 51 GS, 19.3 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 5.8 APG, 43.3 FG%, 78.4 FT%, 33.2 3P%
1996-97: 62 GP, 62 GS, 18.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.7 APG, 44.2 FG%, 75.0 FT%, 35.5 3P%
1997-98: 70 GP, 70 GS, 18.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 5.5 APG, 42.7 FG%, 80.1 FT%, 31.7 3P%