Clyde Drexler

“You have to understand, the Blazers and their fans had a unique relationship. I'm not sure there has ever been a love affair between an NBA team and its fan base like we had... We had good players and good citizens.”

“Come on, everyone wants to win a championship, but a lot of players have had great careers without one. Sometimes it just doesn't happen for whatever reason.”

“Some of the guys in the Eastern Conference, I had never been on their teams - like Larry Bird: even though you make the All Star team, you're going to be in the West; he's on the East. So you're never going to be teammates.”

“Guy Lewis was all about efficiency. He was a great motivator. He got real talent and taught his players how he wanted them to play: hard and aggressive!”

“Because coaching is a challenge, it makes you want to come back. But if you do, you know you're going to be negligent in other areas.”

“Growing up, people will tell you that you have a better chance to become an astronaut than becoming an NBA player. So when you finally get to the NBA, you've beat the odds. So when you put on that jersey, everything else is downhill.”

“The key ingredient is talent - you've got to have talent. If you look at the regular season, they've got the best record in the entire league, so they've got the talent.”

“I wanted to retire on my own terms. I wanted to leave before they kicked me out.”

“Going to the Portland Trail Blazers, who actually took the time to invest in me, was perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me in my career. I got to a small market where I could focus on basketball, basketball, basketball. No distractions.”

“Education is worth its weight in gold. Make no mistake about it.”

“Houston fans want a high value for their entertainment dollar, and if you don't win, they will drop you and go on to the next big deal.”

“Everybody's mom plays a huge role in their development and support. Mom was awesome. There is no one better. I had a good family. I had six brothers and six sisters, and they were all very supportive.”

“In professional sports, things can change quickly. You keep your balance. You keep your perspective, and things will work out.”

“I am a Blazer at heart, and I want those fans to have something good to cheer for.”

“That's the part of basketball that we have to understand. You can never look at it as an individual sport. You rely on so many other people.”

“All kids need to figure out how to manage their time as a young adult.”

“In my day, defenders played you with two hands and an elbow. You're not getting by a guy, especially if he has an elbow and a hand on you and is a strong defensive player.”

“I retired at 35 in '98 and thought, 'There's only one place to go, and that's downward.' I retired at a good level. I was at peace after 15 years - I was lucky to play that long.”

“If you're a young man, and you're being coached by someone like Guy Lewis, you're going to become a better man.”

“There's a lot to be learned by watching. I think the younger generation could fare a lot better in their game if they could sit down and watch some of the games of the past.”