DeMar DeRozan reminds me of Clyde (the Glide) Drexler

(Originally posted on Tuesday, 2 January 2018)

I have been thinking about writing a post about Demar DeRozan for some time now and today I have no choice but to do it. Yesterday he dropped a career high (which is also the Toronto Raptors franchise high) 52 points!





Whenever I look at DeMar DeRozan, especially at the grace of his movements, I think about Clyde (the Glide) Drexler – one of my favourite NBA players ever. DeRozan's athleticism is (like Drexler's was) simply beautiful. More importantly they both were/are: likeable, NOT hated by fans of the opposing teams, great with teammates and great with media. True professionals.







PS.
DeRozan is similar to Drexler in other ways too. In the beginning of their careers they were poor 3-point shooters, but over time they improved their 3-point percentages. Exactly in their 7th season their teams (with them being the clear leaders) had awesome playoffs (Drexler's Portland Trail Blazers advanced all the way to the NBA Finals and DeRozan's Toronto Raptors advanced to the Conference Finals). In the very next season Drexler's team advanced to the Conference Finals and DeRozan's team to the Conference Semifinals. In the next season Drexler's team advanced to the NBA Finals again, so this season (2017-18) DeRozan'd team should advance to the Conference Finals again. Or maybe they will achieve more than that? I would like that. Right now the Toronto Raptors are the team I'm rooting for the most. Mostly because of DeMar DeRozan.



Overall Drexler was a better player (more rebounds, more assists and more steals per game), but DeRozan's mid-range jump shot is much better than Drexler's. DeRozan can score in so many ways that it is impressive. And already DeRozan has a better career high of points scored in a game (Drexler's career high was 50 points).