Unguarded by Scottie Pippen

Author:Scottie Pippen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2021-11-09T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11: FROM ONE DREAM TO ANOTHER

Instead of the Lakers in the NBA Finals, it was the Portland Trail Blazers.

No, the Blazers didn’t possess a legendary player such as a Magic Johnson or a legendary past. The franchise could boast of only one championship (1976–77) since entering the league as an expansion team in 1970. They would probably have had more but their star center, Bill Walton, injured his foot in 1978 and would never be the same. It wasn’t long before the team, which had gotten to 50-10 at one point in the 1977–78 season, went back to what it was before Walton arrived: irrelevant.

Which was precisely the fate we hoped to avoid. The list of NBA champions includes one-hit wonders who disappeared as rapidly as they surfaced.

The Blazers, who defeated the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference Finals, were more athletic than the Lakers and they were deep, with center Kevin Duckworth, guards Terry Porter and Danny Ainge, and forwards Jerome Kersey, Cliff Robinson, and Buck Williams.

Oh, and, of course, there was Clyde.

Clyde Drexler, at six foot seven, would be my man. As usual, I looked forward to the challenge.

I’d studied his game for years, like I studied Magic’s. Clyde was a right-handed penetrator who seldom dribbled to his left. Our mission in every playoff series, as Phil put it, was to cut off the head of the opponent’s snake. On the Blazers, the snake was Clyde. He averaged 25 points that season, finishing second to MJ in the MVP race. Some put the two in the same category.

As you might expect, Michael didn’t like to be compared to Clyde. Michael didn’t like to be compared to anyone.

Ironically, the only reason he ended up with the Bulls in the first place was because the Blazers, who owned the pick ahead of them in 1984, already had Clyde (drafted the year before) and thought they didn’t need a player with a similar skill set.

Guess again.

Anyway, in Game 1 at the Stadium, Michael wasted no time in proving his point. Watching him knock down one three-pointer after another against Clyde, I was mesmerized. He was always coming up with something we hadn’t seen before.

He finished with 39 points, including 6 threes, in our 122–89 triumph. Lost in his performance, which included the famous shrug after he hit his last three, was a near triple-double (24 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds) from yours truly, though I was just as pleased with holding Clyde to 16 points on 5 of 14 from the field. So much for the head of the snake.

Were the Blazers overwhelmed by the moment?

Perhaps. There was certainly no excuse for losing Game 1 of the NBA Finals by 33 points. I don’t care if Michael had made 16 threes.

Two nights later, in Game 2, we outscored Portland 32–16 in the third quarter to go up by 7. With four and a half minutes left, the lead was 10. Clyde had fouled out. Ball game.

Not so fast.

A layup by Kersey.

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