He Has Seen It Before : Larry Drew Has Had Firsthand View of Lakers and Clippers

Larry Drew has a unique perspective on the Clippers and Lakers.

Traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Clippers in 1986, Drew was the starting point guard as the Clippers compiled the worst record in the NBA, winning only 12 of 82 games in 1986-87.

“You’d go to the games and nobody was in the stands and nobody seemed interested,” Drew said. “As a player, that can mentally drain you.”

Signed by the Lakers as a free agent in 1989, Drew served as Magic Johnson’s backup as the Lakers compiled the NBA’s best record, 63-19, en route to their ninth consecutive Pacific Division championship.

“When you go to an organization like the Lakers, which is respected around the world, it was almost like a new lease on life,” Drew said. “Coming to the Lakers jump-started my career again.

“I enjoyed playing basketball again. It wasn’t like I was going out every night, having to try to do things on my own. All I had to do was blend my talents with everyone else.

“It was like night and day (playing for the Clippers and Lakers). I always tell everyone I’ve been on both sides of the fence.”

Drew, who retired after last season and is now vice president of the Magic Johnson Foundation, said he has followed the Lakers and the Clippers closely this season. The Lakers, who have failed to qualify for the playoffs only three times in their existence, secured their 16th consecutive playoff bid by outlasting the Clippers in overtime in Sunday’s regular-season finale.

“I guess a lot of people never thought they’d see the day (the Lakers had to beat the Clippers to make the playoffs),” Drew said.

The Clippers, who had failed to qualify for the playoffs 18 times in their 22-year existence, secured their first playoff bid since 1976 by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves last week.

“I remember watching the Clippers the first five games after (Coach) Larry Brown came in, and everyone was touching the basketball,” Drew said. “There was no selfish play. They were confident and they were fast breaking. That’s what Laker basketball used to be.

“I don’t think (the Lakers) are like that (now) to the extent when Pat Riley was coaching. The concept is there, but what Riley did was put a strong emphasis on playing team basketball. It was always, ‘we’ not ‘I’. And just comparing (Laker Coach) Mike Dunleavy with Pat Riley, their coaching styles are different and the types of games they want to play are different. Riley was always a coach who believed in transition, and when Mike came in last year, we played more of a slowdown brand.”

When Drew played for the Clippers, they were besieged by injuries and player unrest in his first season.

Guard Norm Nixon was lost before the 1986-87 season, when he suffered a knee injury playing softball. Forward Marques Johnson was sidelined 10 games into the season, when he suffered a career-ending neck injury after colliding with center Benoit Benjamin.

Benjamin, who reported to training camp so overweight that he put Vaseline on his thighs so they wouldn’t chafe, never worked his way into shape and was a divisive element.

“There were problems within the organization from the coaches to the players,” Drew said. “At that time, Benoit was with the team and he and the coach had some disagreements as far as his attitude and his unwillingness to work hard. It kind of passed from player to player, and it made it hard to concentrate on doing what you were supposed to do. It caused you to lose focus.

“Being a player, I saw some things that I know other coaches wouldn’t allow to happen. When those things happen, you lose a little bit of respect. You try not to get involved, but you become discouraged.”

After losing 31 of their first 36 games, the Clippers seemingly surrendered midway through the season and began stockpiling draft choices by trading forwards Cedric Maxwell and Kurt Nimphius.

Practices became strained as the season wound down, with Benjamin allegedly feigning injuries to avoid working out.

Coach Don Chaney was fired at the end of the season and replaced by Gene Shue. Shue was optimistic in his first season because the Clippers had three first-round picks--Reggie Williams, Joe Wolf and Ken Norman--and Nixon had a solid exhibition season.

However, Nixon suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon in the Clippers’ final practice before the season opener and the season quickly deteriorated; the Clippers won only 17 games.

“As a player who’s competitive and wants to win, when you see things not being done, you get upset and wonder if the organization really cares,” Drew said.

Drew fled the Clippers, signing after the 1988 season with Scavollini Pesaro of the Italian League, in which he averaged 23 points.

Signed by the Lakers in 1989, he was stunned by the work ethic that helped the Lakers win five NBA titles during the 1980s.

“After the first practice in training camp in Hawaii, I called my wife and I told her how shocked I was to see how hard Magic really worked in practice,” Drew said. “He set the example for everybody else. And I think that’s how the Laker teams in the past have become so good. They had somebody who would step forward and say, ‘This is how we’re going to do it.’ There was nobody taking shortcuts.”

Drew said that the Clippers stopped taking shortcuts when Brown succeeded Mike Schuler.

“They went out and got themselves a coach who’s tremendously respected, and he set the tone,” Drew said. “He put them in the frame of mind that they can compete and play with anyone. When you get a coach who believes in you and you get the right chemistry, you can produce a real good team.”

Drew says the Lakers and Clippers can be successful the playoffs.

“I think the Clippers match up real well with Utah, and they were very competitive against the Jazz all season,” Drew said.

“The Lakers beat Portland last week, but without Clyde (Drexler) and Jerome (Kersey), they’re a different team. Anything can happen in the playoffs, and I’m not going to rule them out. I’ve seen the Lakers compete with the stronger clubs down to the end.”