Drexler Ready For New Career

Clyde Drexler isn't looking back on his 15-year career. He's too busy looking forward.

"I try not to be a sentimental guy," Drexler said. "It's my last NBA game, but it's not the end of the world."

Drexler's Houston Rockets lost 84-70 to the Utah Jazz on Sunday. The defeat eliminated the Rockets from the playoffs and officially marked the beginning of Drexler's retirement from playing and the start of his coaching career at the University of Houston.

"There have been a lot of highlights in my career," Drexler said. "It's hard to pick just one, because I've played so long. ... I'll remember all of them."

The Glide's last game was not one of those highlights, however. Drexler, who averaged more than 19 points in the first three games of the series, had just six points on 1-for-13 shooting Sunday. A career 79 percent free-throw shooter in the playoffs, Drexler was just 4-for-10 from the line.

"It's not the way I'd choose to go out," he said. "I'm not disappointed because you live with what happens, but I would have liked a better result today."

Drexler even softened the hearts of the Delta Center crowd, which has watched him eliminate the Jazz from the playoffs three times over the years. The Utah fans gave Drexler two standing ovations.

"The reception from the crowd here was phenomenal," Drexler said. "I'm very touched by it. It was unusual, because they aren't that generous of a crowd."

Drexler leaves behind an impressive resume. He won an NBA title with the Rockets in 1995, played in two finals with the Portland Trail Blazers and made the playoffs in each of his 15 seasons. A member of the original Olympic Dream Team, Drexler won a gold medal in Barcelona in 1992.

He was named one of the NBA's 50 all-time greatest players last season and made five All-NBA teams. Drexler, Oscar Robertson and John Havlicek are the only players in league history to post more than 20,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 6,000 assists.

His 2,963 career playoff points put him at No. 15 on the all-time playoff scoring list. He also grabbed the 1,000th playoff rebound of his career on Sunday.

"It's been a storybook career for him," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We're going to miss him greatly, because it's hard to find one player anywhere that can do all the things that he can do."

What will he miss most about his former career?

"The camaraderie you share on a daily basis and the closeness of the guys," Drexler said. "The things I won't miss are the travel and the frequency of games."

Drexler accepted the University of Houston's coaching job on March 18, and he was already speclating on his future at the school he led to the NCAA championship game.

"I think we will be one of the best-conditioned teams in the country," Drexler said. "We're going to work hard. I'm going to work hard."

"We're going to pull for him at the U of H," Tomjanovich said. "I think he's going to do a great job."

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