The TNT guys were ripping on Clyde for showing up "5 minutes before games". Obviously Clyde didn't show up that late, but I didn't realize Clyde had the rep for showing up late to games and practices. Was this just in Houston or in Portland too?
I've heard plenty of stories about Clyde getting by on talent alone and not being a guy who put in a lot of work. When people talked about what separated he and Jordan it was mostly down to Jordan's indomitable work ethic and just how hard he worked at his game.
I heard many stories of how lazy he was. Like Nicky said, he got by on talent alone and didn't do much to make himself better.
That's a well known negative trait of Clyde's. He was horrible as a head coach too. If he put HALF the effort that Jordan put in he'd probably have won more titles.
I think Clyde prepared more like a normal person goes about their job. Jordan and Kobe are excessively competitive, to a point where its almost an illness. They are not normal.
Well, if he didn't practice, I don't see how that affected his game on the court? He was very good in all facets of the game. The Blazers game very close to winning a couple titles under Drexler. Just imagine if they'd had Sabonis.
Clyde always got a pass for coasting in practice, but Sheed got reamed for not believing bulking up would improve his game and therefore not doing a lot of weightlifting.
Ding ding ding. You could question his work ethic outside of the games, but when the clock was running, Drexler was a beast.
I think the poor work ethic rep is a little exaggerated. The guy was always in shape and its not like his game didn't improve over the course of his career. He was a pretty reliable outside shooter during his prime years, after starting with a pretty abysmal one. Could he have been better? Sure, but you could accuse a lot of players of that. A lot.
No question you could say that about a lot. But few players were as physically gifted as Clyde was. It is what makes Kobe Kobe, and not LeBron. LeBron still has the same issues and holes in his game and he's been playing for 9 YEARS. In Kobe's 9th year his game was pretty much solid. Yeah, he was a ball hog (when his teams sucked shit), but he was a better COMPLETE player than LeBron is.
He worked hard in the games, no one can say if he'd be any better if he just practiced x amount of hours more....
