HoopsHype.com Rumors

Mark Berman: Drexler on Guy Lewis: "He's more deserving than Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon & myself. He helped mold us into the players that we became." Twitter @MarkBermanFox26

Hall of Fame, Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes, Guy Lewis 

Mark Berman: Yao Ming says he'll join Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler & Dikembe Mutombo n judging the Slam Dunk Contest. Yao says he'll bring down avg age Twitter @MarkBermanFox26

Houston Rockets, Yao Ming, Clyde Drexler, Dikembe Mutombo, Hakeem Olajuwon, All-Star 

Mark Berman: Dikembe Mutombo says he wil join Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon n helping judge the Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Saturday night. Twitter @MarkBermanFox26

Clyde Drexler, Dikembe Mutombo, Hakeem Olajuwon, All Star Game 

The NBA announced the official lineup of the 2013 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, which will take place at the Sprint Arena on Friday, Feb. 15, during NBA All-Star Jam Session at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. NBA All-Stars James Harden of the host Houston Rockets and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder will serve as the West and East team coaches, respectively. For the ninth straight year, ESPN will televise the game beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Fans can also view the game through NBA GameTime from Sprint application, available on Android and iOS, as well as via WatchESPN on computers, tablets, and phones. NBA.com

Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Clyde Drexler, Dikembe Mutombo, Bruce Bowen, Sean Elliott, All Star Game 

This year's rosters include celebrities from film, TV, and music. Reigning 2012 Sprit NBA All-Star Celebrity Game MVP Kevin Hart ("Real Husbands of Hollywood"), will look to defend his title alongside stars like Grammy Award-winner Ne-Yo (R&B/pop); Nick Cannon ("Real Husbands of Hollywood"); Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games); Trey Songz (R&B Singer/Actor); Usain Bolt (Olympic gold medal sprinter); Arne Duncan (Secretary of Education); Terrence Jenkins ("E! News," Anchor); Common (Rapper/Actor); John Schriffen (ABC News Correspondent); Ryen Russillo (ESPN Host); NBA Legends Dikembe Mutombo (eight-time NBA All-Star), Clyde Drexler (ten-time NBA All-Star), Sean Elliott (two-time NBA All-Star), and Bruce Bowen (NBA legend); WNBA stars Tamika Catchings ( Indiana Fever) and Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx). NBA.com

Clyde Drexler, Dikembe Mutombo, Bruce Bowen, Sean Elliott, All Star Game 

But Glide, most people are saying the Suns will not be a playoff team and ESPN's pundits figure on them being the second-worst team in the conference. "What?!" Drexler said with slightly less shock than when Jake O'Donnell ejected him for protesting a second-quarter foul in a 1995 playoff game at Phoenix. "Are you kidding me? If they don't get the fourth or fifth playoff spot, I'm not standing before you. They're big. They're athletic. They know how to play." Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, Clyde Drexler 

Schonely has "RIP CITY," on his personalized DMV license plates. Maybe you've seen his familiar Cadillac driving on the freeway, or walked up on it in a parking lot and snapped a photograph beside those plates. I drove up upon Schonely and his wife cruising on I-205 once, pulled alongside, rolled down the window, and honked. Without hesitation, or taking his eyes off the road, Schonely instinctively honked back and waved. He never did look over. "People honk every so often when they see me," he told me, days later. He likes that you remember him. And Schonely is delighted when people come up and talk about their favorite broadcasts or how they feel young again when they hear his voice. Legacy is big for a man who built the reputations of so many others. "It's one of the biggest highlights for me. No. 1 is the championship in 1976-77. There was Clyde, and Maurice Lucas," he said, "I guess I must have made my free throws." Oregonian

Portland Trail Blazers, Media, Hall of Fame, Clyde Drexler, Maurice Lucas, Bill Schonely 

Charles Barkley said Thursday that he likes Clyde Drexler and considered him a great player, but Barkley also felt that Drexler had a jealousy problem on the 1992 "Dream Team." "I think Clyde has always been jealous of Michael (Jordan), to be honest with you," Barkley said on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "I think he's always wanted to be compared to Michael. ESPN.com

Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler 

Charles Barkley: "Hey, we all want to be compared to Michael, but we're not. Clyde was a great player, but there was always that jealousy of Michael. That was one of the incidents and things about the Dream Team, Clyde was trying to play like it was Game 7 against Michael, and that's probably not a good idea. When Michael is driving his kids to school, he thinks it's Game 7." ESPN.com

Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler 

Charles Barkley said Thursday that he likes Clyde Drexler and considered him a great player, but Barkley also felt that Drexler had a jealousy problem on the 1992 "Dream Team." "I think Clyde has always been jealous of Michael (Jordan), to be honest with you," Barkley said on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "I think he's always wanted to be compared to Michael. "Hey, we all want to be compared to Michael, but we're not. Clyde was a great player, but there was always that jealousy of Michael. That was one of the incidents and things about the Dream Team, Clyde was trying to play like it was Game 7 against Michael, and that's probably not a good idea. When Michael is driving his kids to school, he thinks it's Game 7." ESPN.com

Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Team USA, Clyde Drexler, Olympics 

MAHONEY: In the vein of controversy, I know Clyde Drexler’s comments in the book about Magic and HIV picked up some traction on Deadspin and through some other outlets — so much that Clyde came out to publicly deny the authenticity of the quote. I know you’ve covered that saga a bit on your blog, but was Drexler’s after-the-fact denial something that surprised you at all, or given the quote, did you kind of see it coming? MCCALLUM: I kind of saw it coming because I’m sure he didn’t remember exactly what he said, and then the context in which it was put — that the Dream Team was sort of waiting for him to die — all of a sudden it hit like a ton of bricks. I’m sure Clyde honestly thought that I made stuff up. We’ve talked since then and I sent him the transcript. I didn’t send him the tape — I can’t let the tape out of my possession unless I have to — but I sent him the transcript trying to explain that I thought it came out clearer in the book. But his reaction, I suppose, didn’t surprise me. After he saw the transcript, he still was saying that I was fabricating quotes but I think he understands I didn’t, and I just hope the whole thing is clear in the book because I did not feel good about it. As much as people think ‘Oh wow, controversy sells books, blah, blah, blah,” I did not feel very good about it. NBCSports.com

Magic Johnson, USA Basketball, Clyde Drexler 

You can imagine Drexler’s response as he answered questions about his comments from friends and media Wednesday. “Jack is using me to sell his books,” he told me late Wednesday night. “I don’t get it. Every statement he made is completely false. I never said any of that. Not any of it. Not even close. Why would he make up statements? You’d have to talk to Jack about that.” Portland Tribune

Clyde Drexler, Jack McCallum 

I connected with McCallum Thursday morning. He had already engaged in several discussions with Drexler on Wednesday. McCallum said he has Drexler’s comments – taken from a two-hour visit at Clyde’s Houston home more than a year ago – stored on his recorder. “If anybody thinks I feel good about this, I don’t,” McCallum told me. “I don’t think I took things out of context. The Deadspin excerpt did, and I’m sorry about that. But I stand behind the quotes that are in my book.” Portland Tribune

Clyde Drexler, Jack McCallum 

McCallum goes into length discussing the Drexler interview in a pair of blog posts on his Website, JackMcCallum.net, and posted the transcript of the aforementioned part of the Drexler interview. In a Thursday conversation with me, he explained where he felt Deadspin’s Jack Dickey erred, stressing he believes the writer took it out of context. “Deadspin took the idea that everyone on the Dream team felt sorry for Magic because he was going to die,” McCallum said. “Clyde didn’t say that and I didn’t write that. He was talking about a league-wide perception. “No. 2, they seemed to cast it as if Clyde resented Magic on the Dream Team. That’s not true. Clyde talked about some other guys who shouldn’t have been on the Dream Team, but not Magic. My impression was Clyde did not resent him being on the team.” Portland Tribune

Clyde Drexler, Jack McCallum 

I’m not sure how much that would appease Drexler, who was angry with McCallum, even after they had talked on the phone on Wednesday. Portland Tribune

Clyde Drexler, Jack McCallum 

“He’s trying to ruin a 30-year friendship I’ve had with Magic. I’ve been one of his biggest supporters in the game of basketball, and probably his biggest fan. I have nothing bad to say about Magic, ever.” Drexler conceded that he made one comment to which he was quoted. “I said, ‘People didn’t know what would happen with Magic. If I’d known he was going to live that long, I’d have tried harder to get the MVP (of the All-Star Game) in 1992,’ " he said. “But I was laughing, and I was kidding. Jack should have known that. I would never comment on someone’s mortality. That’s not for us to do. Jack lost he mind when he put that out there.” Portland Tribune

Clyde Drexler, Jack McCallum 

Clyde Drexler is denying that he made negative statements attributed to him about Magic Johnson in a book about the Dream Team. NBA.com

Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler 

Drexler said in a phone interview on Wednesday that the quotes attributed to him are "totally ludicrous." In a statement released through the Houston Rockets, Drexler says he would've never said those things and that Johnson is one of his closest longtime friends. NBA.com

Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler 

In a video interview with the Journal, Johnson said he hadn’t been informed about Drexler’s comments, and registered his first response to them: “If that’s how he felt, then that’s how he felt. I think that Clyde was a guy that always fought for more publicity … a guy who thought he should deserve more credit. But if he felt like that, I’m OK with it. I’m not a guy who’s going to be upset that he said these types of things. Wall Street Journal

Magic Johnson, USA Basketball, Clyde Drexler 

“I think that what I would say is that, [from] Clyde or anyone else, I didn’t want any sympathy. Only thing I wanted is that you treated me the same way that you treated me before you knew I had HIV. It was a beautiful thing that I was able to educate the world that a guy living with HIV could still go out there and play, and play at a high level. And then at the end of the day I was able to educate a league that didn’t know about HIV and AIDS. “You know a lot comes out after the fact. Here it is 20 years later, and now you want to make these comments? Twenty years later. And I know Clyde, so this is really funny you want to make these comments 20 years later.” Wall Street Journal

Magic Johnson, USA Basketball, Clyde Drexler