NBA Hall-of-Famer Clyde Drexler and his his dancing partner Elena Grinenko were eliminated from Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday night. The pair had garnered 13 judges points the night before after performing the rumba.

“You’re the worst dancer in this competition,” judge Carrie Ann Inaba said, “and tonight was really bad.”

Still, the former National Basketball Association star kept a smile on his face, graciously thanking the judges, his partner, his fellow contestants and the fans when he learned he was this week’s celebrity casualty.

“I want to thank the fans who voted and kept us in the competition,” he said. “Lord knows they were keeping us in.”

Each week, judges’ scores are combined with viewer votes to determine which couple will be eliminated. Drexler and Grinenko were among the lowest-scorers throughout this season’s dance-off.

Clyde was always the consummate gentleman on the basketball court and was on the reality dancing show as well. I was hoping that the nasty Brit Heather Mills would be kicked to the curb.