He played for the blazers, he never won an MVP/FMVP, & Jordan exists.

The same reason so many great players have been forgotten. Ring culture became the dominant talking point, and so many players aren’t talked about because they either never won a championship or “only” won a single championship. In Clyde’s case, I think fans’ memories in the 80s are taken up by the Lakers, Celtics, and Pistons, and then for his one championship win, Hakeem is the focal point of the team.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say Clyde is forgotten yet, and he’s probably the most well-known Trailblazer after Lillard, but yeah the way sports media talks about players is going to cut him out.

I remember during 1992 season/playoffs, the media was playing up Drexler as being Jordan’s “#1 rival” and possibly a guy who could take him down.

Of course, as anyone familiar with Jordan could have predicted, Jordan was basically insulted that anyone could be considered to be his equal and the performances in the finals reflected that.

Jordan averaged 35.8 points shooting nearly 53% from the field. Drexler averaged 24.8 points shooting 40% from the field.

Jordan also played defense like a maniac anytime he was on Drexler and, good god, when Jordan put 100% effort into defending he was a fucking force of nature.

In the long run, I think Drexler was hurt by the comparison because he was built up as this comparable rival to Jordan but after the series everyone was like, “Whoops, never mind. Drexler is just another mortal.”

So ironically he might have been viewed more positively if he had not made to the finals and been so definitively proven as unequal to Jordan.

Eventually we would know that nobody in his era was even close to Jordan and how unfair of a comparison it was, but at the time he had only won 1 champoionship and was not quite considered “the god of basketball” the way he was by the time his career ended.

Bad hairline

He was in the NBA 75, no one forgot him

He’ll always live on in my heart as one of my favorite OG NBA Jam players to use. Dude was a beast.

He’s not forgotten to me but I’m an old head who saw him play many times. Incredible player. But I get why he isn’t discussed much.

Younger fans remember like 3 names from previous eras, not their fault, they weren’t there. But it’s crazy, every team had a couple guys who were the best on their squad. Tons of forgotten players who were absolute studs. Clyde being at the high end of this.

He’s not really forgotten. It’s just the fan base who actually watched him is getting older and he isn’t an icon like Jordan. It would be like if in the early 2000s, someone was like, “Why is George Gervin so forgotten?” He’s not forgotten. Students of the game know him. He’s just of a bygone era and not an icon.

Who forgets him? We’re having a Reddit discussion about him 30 years after he retired.

I don’t think he’s forgotten at all.

He’s firmly one of the greats. Hall of Fame, NBA 75.

I don’t have a comprehensive ranking, but would think he’s somewhere in the 35-45 range of greatest NBA players?

What more is there to talk about for a player whose prime was 35 years ago?

Because he retired almost 30 years ago

I don’t know but he was really smooth and really fucking good. I’m glad he finally got one with Houston 

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It’s literally just because of MJ. Clyde was a beast, he was just overshadowed.

Bad hairline is at least 20% of it

Jordan shut him down in the Finals

Drexler was the second-best shooting guard of his era but he had two things against him- Michael Jordan and he played in an era dominated by big men. I think he could use a little more love, yeah. He was a great athlete with a smooth and effective game. Drexler’s highlight reel is so good, modern fans would probably enjoy watching him play, honestly.

Wasn’t he on the nba top 75 list? Who is forgetting him?

Time just keeps on moving forward, at some point most of the greats will be forgotten. How many guys from the Bill Russell era can anyone name besides Bill Russell?

So fun to use in NBA Live 98.

Because Portland isn’t a place where huge stars get made, unfortunately. Because while he was the second-best SG, he wasn’t the second-best guard or wing. Because he didn’t win a title except as a sidekick. Because he said some very dumb shit about Magic. Because he continues to say some kinda-dumb stuff about Jordan, and when he had the chance to back it up in the Finals Portland got clowned, including a big viral moment before big viral moments really happened.

Great player, just not a generational athlete.

Even during his playing days, he wasn’t super highly regarded. He has 1 All-NBA first team, two 2nd teams, and two 3rds. All great, but not on the level of many of the contemporary stars.

Also, even though he made the Dream Team, he was the last NBA player added.