Rockets’ Clyde Drexler doesn’t want to hear about asterisks

Former Houston Rockets star Clyde Drexler isn’t buying the concerns about a potential asterisk to the shortened 2019-20 season.

The topic of title legitimacy gets brought up far too often in sports, and especially in the NBA. It seems like championships are constantly being downplayed in the NBA, and the Houston Rockets know far too much about that, as their two consecutive championships have largely gone ignored due to the abrupt retirement of Michael Jordan in 1993.

This is a flawed premise though, considering how the Rockets went 5-1 against the Bulls during Chicago’s first 3-peat and considering how Jordan himself admitted that he was fearful of facing the Rockets. We’ve also heard alot of asterisk talk regarding the San Antonio Spurs’ title during the 1998-99 lockout-shortened season, as many believe they were the beneficiaries of the lockout.

But the idea of attaching an asterisk next to NBA titles has been discussed ad nauseam of late, due to the NBA’s unprecedented hiatus. The COVID-19 forced NBA commissioner Adam Silver to shut the league down in March, and the league is set to start back up on July 31st.

Houston Rockets’ Clyde Drexler doesn’t want to hear about asterisks.

This means the league will have gone four and a half months without having live action, which has made many believe whichever team wins the championship will have to accept the fact that the title will be viewed as illegitimate in the eyes of the masses. This will especially be the case if a bottom-seed wins the championship and if a player on one of the top seeds happens to get the novel coronavirus in said team’s pursuit of a ring.

But former Houston Rockets star Clyde Drexler isn’t having any of the asterisk conversations, and especially as it pertains to this season. The Glide was on SportsTalk 790’s The A-Team and stated his opinion.

“It’s going to be legitimate even if they shorten it. Whatever happens, the champion will be the champion. You’re going to have to give it credibility and respect.

At the end of the day, there’s nothing like having a real season, but these are tough times, and sometimes you have to improvise.”

Drexler makes a valid point as it pertains to respecting the eventual champion, as that team will have had to prevail through unforeseen circumstances en route of hoisting the trophy. Drexler alludes to how we’d much rather have a conventional undeniable champion, but the COVID-19 has prevented that. Even if we did have a “normal” season, there would still be those who would poke holes and find reasons to undermine whichever team ends up winning it all.

But as Drexler explained, the title will have to be respected because after all, the winner will have staved off everyone they faced, which can’t be disputed. But it doesn’t mean we won’t still hear people attaching asterisks to the season, however, because Rockets fans have heard that for 26 years now.