Larry Drew Has Something to Prove to Clippers : New Point Guard Wants to Show That His ‘82-’83 Performance Was No Fluke

What kind of a player did the Clippers get in Larry Drew?

The 6-foot 2-inch, 190-pound point guard averaged a career-high 20.1 points in 1982-83 for the then-Kansas City Kings. But his scoring average has declined every year since.

Last season, for instance, he averaged 11.9 points for the Sacramento Kings, then was traded to the Clippers in the off-season.

So which Larry Drew did the Clippers get? The Drew who was once thought to be one of the best young point guards in pro basketball, or the Drew who some said was burned out at 28?

“He’s the old Drew as far as I can see,” Clipper Coach Don Chaney said after watching Drew in training camp at Cal Poly Pomona.

“I’m very, very happy with him. He’s got good speed and he’s a great passer. He’s got fantastic court vision and court awareness. That’s something you can’t teach.

“I’m putting a lot of weight on his shoulders. And I expect him to carry the load.”

Drew will replace Norm Nixon as the Clippers’ starting point guard in the first half of the season, while Nixon is recuperating from July surgery on his left knee. Nixon, whose injury is similar to that suffered by the Dodgers’ Pedro Guerrero, was hurt when he stepped in a hole playing softball.

Drew’s problems with the Kings began after they traded for Reggie Theus in February 1984. Drew and Theus play the same position, and each needs the ball to be effective.

“We got along but we both knew deep down that it wasn’t an ideal situation for both of us,” Drew said. “We both knew that eventually one of us was going to have to go.”

After starting the first 30 games for the Kings last season and averaging 15 points and 5.2 assists, Drew lost his starting spot in December. As a reserve, he averaged 9.8 points and 4 assists.

“I never knew what my role would be in Sacramento,” he said. “I’d be out there for 10 to 15 minutes and I’d never touch the ball. I hated to go to the arena.

“I went home to Kansas City at the end of the season and I didn’t expect to be back in Sacramento. I was praying for a trade all summer.”

Drew and guard Mike Woodson, 6-5 and 198, were acquired by the Clippers Aug. 19 from Sacramento for Derek Smith, Franklin Edwards and Junior Bridgeman. Sacramento also gave the Clippers a first-round draft choice in 1988 and a second-round pick in 1989.

Both Drew and Woodson have suspect knees. Drew said he suffered from tendinitis in his left knee, and Woodson had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in the off-season. Both players passed Clipper physical examinations after the trade.

Drew said his knee is about 80%.

“I don’t think (the Kings) believed that I was hurt,” he said. “It seemed like fingers were being pointed at me, and it was frustrating.

“I had a talk with one of the owners, and he said he never knew anything about it. For some reason, they tried to keep it a secret. I was out there trying to play on a knee that was only 60% healthy and I was dragging around. I had no lateral movement. I couldn’t plant and go like I wanted to. My speed was gone completely.

“I hurt it in practice and it gradually got worse and worse. The medication that the doctor put me on caused me to pass blood for a month and a half. It took another two months for them to finally realize that. I had to go in the hospital for surgery on that. After they took me off the medication, there was no kind of pain-killer for my knee. I had an option to sit out the year, but they didn’t want me to do that.”

The Clippers will open their season against the Kings at Sacramento Oct. 31, and Drew can’t wait to play against his old team.

“The talk from management up there is that my game is gone,” he said. “I’ve got something to prove.”

Drew’s career in the NBA began when the Detroit Pistons selected him, out of Missouri, in the first round of the 1980 draft. After playing in Detroit for one season, he was traded to the Kings for two second-round draft picks.

He became a star with the Kings.

“The 1982-83 season was a good one for me,” Drew said. “I played under Cotton Fitzsimmons and I had a lot of plays designed around me. After he left, things kind of tailed off. When Theus came there, we started sharing the ball. And things started to decline for me. Going through last year, I wasn’t healthy, at all. But those years are behind me. I’m just looking to bounce back.”