Guys, heard this from a very credible source in the Houston media this past spring when I was an intern...if there was ANYONE who was at fault during the "feud", it was Drexler. Barkley, because of his big mouth and bravado, is many times misunderstood as the bad guy, but nothing could be more opposite. Drexler was a lockerroom lawyer, and a backstabber, to boot. He was petty, jealous, and hated the attention Barkley got from the time he got to Houston. He was also a dog, which many people already knew about Barkley, but Drexler tried to maintain his "vanilla, good boy" image while acting just as seedy after hours as Barkley openly admitted to (not that that makes either one of them OK for doing it). And finally: DREAM MERELY TOLERATED DREXLER. You can call me out, call me a liar, or say that's ridiculous, but they were not as "close" as it was made out to be, and the main reasons for that are the ones I just listed. This source also said that Dream and Barkley were both incredible guys, would do anything for you, and could not have enjoyed working with them more. As bad as Drexler was, Dream and Chuck were that cool. Having said all of that, no way we win the second title without Clyde (obviously); he's just not what he seems. Just something to chew on as you listen to/watch the Glide this season alongside Bill Worrell...
I'm not sure if that was a typo, but he and KJ hated each other, mainly because Charles always made fun of him and his nagging injuries. He often referred to him as "Mrs. Johnson." Paul Westphaul was in Chuck's corner while the GM's wife (I believe Colangelo) was KJ's best friend, according to an article I read.
from what i remember it was in 98, dream was out, half the team took chuck's side,the other half glides side. not sure why, i remember barkly sayin he gave up drinkin then he said sinc enow one made effort he was gonna drink when he felt like it,it was on nbc. but 97 was karla's fault (karla,thats still funny to me)
was that 97 or 98 when chuck said he was gonna stop drinking. I remember he said he was gonna give it up to improve his play and after like a month he started back saying it didn't help. charles is a joke. not knocking him for not sticking with it, but if you can't stick with don't say something like that.
I've heard virtually the exact same story from a close friend of one of the network sportscasters. Also heard that, by the end, Hakeem and Rudy were both ready for Clyde to just go ahead and leave.
It did seem like Drexler didn't play with the same sense of urgency once he got the ring. In that 97 series against Utah, Hornacek was killing Clyde. That was the one position that the Rox had a clear advantage, but Clyde was letting Jeff drag him.
In Drexler's defense of game 5, Barkley mucked up the play before when we were leading. The rumors after that game were ugly. Something in the lines of Barkley accusing someone of preferential treatment by showing up late and slacking off for practices. This infuriated Drexler who fired back about Barkley's lazy style and showing up out of shape at the beginning of every season.
Yes. Us. A Rockets fan site. Having that exact shot saved in our hard drive so we can relive it over and over.
Good informative thread. My opinion of Drexler dive-bombed after he took the UH job and failed so miserably because he didn't want to work hard enough. It fell even further when a waiter at his restaurant spilled soda all over me during lunch the one and only time I ever went there (about 4-5 years ago). On top of that, the BBQ wasn't even that good.
Was that the game were Malone Bearhugged Drexler and Barkley didn't switch so The Pasty Face Gangsta could hit the three??? Rocket River
I've heard or read this before (don't remember where/when though). Apparently, they grew apart, slowly, after the trade that brought Clyde here.
Drexler was always a guy that I never got excited, positive or negative about. Then I heard about all this stuff later and it didn't really surprise me. There is something about Clyde that makes me think he can be "sneaky" acting or trying to project this image when he really is another way. Yes, say what you want about Charles - he is boorish, a lout, insensitive, blah blah but the guy is brutally honest and wears his emotions on his sleeves. And I have ALWAYS liked and admired him for that. He is the tops to me. Anyone remember that time when heypartner ran into Drexler and said something smart to him (I can't remember what he said)? I would have loved to have seen that little interaction.
man, half the posts in this thread are confusing the '98 playoffs with the '97 playoffs.... yes, game 5 in '98 was a big egg from drexler as he smiled off the court, and barkley was injured so a classic adding insult to injury type situation ... in '97, we had a great chance to win it all but drexler jacked up in game 6 and wasn't all that great through the playoffs.... even in his autobiography (cowritten with some media guy from Portland) most of the guys (ainge, etc.) who are meant to say the most positive things in teh world about you say things like "well clyde would sometimes be late cuz he'd take his kid to some show, but he competed hard when he got there"....ok if you still remember it 15 years later then it prolly pissed you off at the time as with hakeem and clyde, it's one of those things i bet...you know where your best friend from college comes back to hang out with you years later and you're really excited but after a while you realize things have changed? it's the same thing....hakeem was different by the mid-90s and of course they were still friends but i'm sure it was easier to be freinds from a distance all those years... barkley would say stuff all the time so who knows who he pissed off... even charlie rosen alludes to drexler's "divisive force in the lockerroom" persona... and KJ was just really nice...there's no other reason why they weren't going at each other ... i can't believe cluth won't share at least one juicy story !!
