Clyde Drexler never imagined he'd go this far.
``My dream was just to play in the NBA,'' Drexler said as he prepared for his induction Friday into the Basketball Hall of Fame. ``I still don't believe it. It's awesome.''
Former coach Bill Sharman, already in the Hall of Fame as a player, also will be inducted, along with the late Maurice Stokes, the 1956 NBA rookie of the year; Lynette Woodard, an Olympic gold medalist and the first woman to play for the Harlem Globetrotters; Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Phoenix Suns; and Drazen Dalipagic, an international star.
Hall of Famer and friend Julius Erving was to present Drexler at the induction ceremony. As a kid playing alone on the Houston playgrounds, Drexler imagined he was Dr. J with a championship on the line.
``Julius was my biggest role model. He had a lot of class on and off the court,'' Drexler said.
``He seemed to fly. I wanted to be like him,'' said Drexler, who earned the nickname ``Clyde the Glide'' for his own swooping moves.
What set Drexler apart, Erving said, was his ability and imagination to take the game above the rim ``and make things happen.''
Selected as one of the 50 greatest players in the NBA in 1997, the 6-foot-7 guard excelled at all levels of the game -- but only after an embarrassing moment in high school.
Before there was Clyde the Glide, there was the 6-foot-5 10th-grader who was cut from his high school team.
``The truth was I was terrible,'' Drexler said. ``But it was one of the best things that happened to me. It was a wake up call.''
It certainly was. After high school, he attended the University of Houston and was part of the high-flying Phi Slama Jama teams that played in two Final Fours.
In his 15-year NBA career, Drexler led the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals in 1990 and '92, and won a championship with Houston in 1995. He's one of three players in league history with 20,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 6,000 assists, and won an Olympic gold medal with the Dream Team in 1992.
Woodard, also selected in her first year of eligibility, averaged 26 points at the University of Kansas, won an Olympic gold medal with the U.S. team in 1984, and played in the WNBA with Cleveland and Detroit.
In college, the 6-foot guard led the nation in scoring in 1979, rebounding in 1978 and steals in 1979, 1980 and 1981.
Sharman, inducted as a player in 1976, will be presented by Bob Cousy, his backcourt partner with the Boston Celtics. As a coach he won titles in three professional leagues -- the ABL with the Cleveland Pipers in 1962, the ABA with the Utah Stars in 1971, and the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972 -- to go with his four NBA titles as a player with the Celtics.
During the 1971-72 season, the Lakers, led by Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, posted an NBA-record 33-game winning streak.
The only others to be inducted as both players and coaches are John Wooden and Lenny Wilkens.
``I wish I could go back and shake hands with every player who ever played for me,'' Sharman said. ``The first time I was inducted it was a great thrill. The second time, it's a great honor.''
Stokes, the league's top rookie in 1956, had his career cut short when he was paralyzed in his third season when he fell during a game.
Teammate Jack Twyman, a Hall of Famer who at 24 became Stokes' legal guardian and organized an annual all-star game to help defray Stokes' enormous medical expenses, will accept on Stokes' behalf. Stokes died in 1970 at 36.
Colangelo is a four-time NBA executive of the year and also was instrumental in creating the WNBA.
Dalipagic was a three time European player of the year.
