‘His Energy Was Terrible, He Always Had His Head Down’: Scottie Pippen Didn’t Like Being Teammates With Clyde Drexler On The Dream Team

Scottie Pippen didn’t like being teammates with Clyde Drexler on The Dream Team, the 1992 United States men’s basketball team which featured some of the best players in NBA history. 

The Dream Team roster was Pippen, Drexler, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Chris Mullin, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, John Stockton and Christian Laettner. 

“Occasionally, certain individuals tried to do too much,” Pippen wrote in his book. “The person who comes to mind is Clyde Drexler. Clyde, still hurting from losing to the Bulls in the Finals, was out to prove he belonged on the same level as Michael. As if the six games the teams had just played hadn’t proven the exact opposite. Here is what someone should have told him: ‘Clyde, you should feel fortunate. You are one of the best basketball players in the world. You’re just not Michael Jordan and that’s no crime. No one is.’

“His energy was terrible. He always had his head down and acted as if Michael and I were his adversaries, not his teammates. Clyde didn’t fit in with the whole team, and it was a shame.”

Drexler and the Portland Trail Blazers lost to Pippen, Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the 1992 NBA Finals in six games. It must have been awkward for Drexler to play with Pippen and Jordan since the Bulls legends beat him on the NBA’s biggest stage.

Every player from The Dream Team is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame except for Laettner, who didn’t become a superstar in the NBA after being a dominant force in college at Duke.

Pippen and Jordan won six titles on the Bulls, who went undefeated in the NBA Finals and three-peated twice in the ’90s.

Meanwhile, Drexler won his lone championship in 1995 as a member of the Houston Rockets with Hakeem Olajuwon.

One of the top two-way players in NBA history, Pippen averaged 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.8 blocks in 1,178 games with the Bulls, Rockets and Blazers. The swingman made seven All-Star teams, seven All-NBA teams and 10 All-Defensive teams during his legendary career. 

Drexler appeared in 1,086 games with the Blazers and Rockets. The talented shooting guard averaged 20.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.7 blocks and made 10 All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams. 

Pippen and Drexler are on the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. It’s unknown if the two icons are friends after what Pippen said in his book about Drexler.