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Horace Junior Grant (born July 4, 1965 in Augusta, Georgia) is a retired American basketball player. He attended and played college basketball at Clemson University, before playing professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he became a 4-time NBA champion. Horace Grant is the twin brother of Harvey Grant, who also played in the NBA.
Horace Grant was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 10th overall pick of the 1987 NBA Draft. The 6' 10" power forward immediately teamed with Scottie Pippen to form the Bulls' forward tandem of the future, although he initially backed up Charles Oakley, one of the league's premier rebounders and post defenders.
In 1989, Grant moved into the starting lineup when Oakley was traded to the New York Knicks for center Bill Cartwright. He immediately became the Bulls' main rebounder, and established himself as the Bulls' third scoring option after Michael Jordan and Pippen, forming one of the league's best trios. Grant was a notably good defensive player which is witnessed by his four NBA All-Defensive Team selections.[1] He helped Chicago win three consecutive NBA championships (1990-91, 1991-92, and 1992-93).
After Jordan's first retirement following the 1992-93 season, Grant became the number two star behind Pippen, and helped the Bulls push the Knicks to seven games in the second-round playoff series before being defeated. Grant played in the 1994 NBA All-Star Game in Minneapolis, posting four points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes. In the offseason, however, he left the Bulls as a free agent and joined the young and rising Orlando Magic, led by young phenoms Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway. Grant helped the Magic reach the 1995 NBA Finals, where they were swept in four games by the more experienced Houston Rockets. Grant spent the next several seasons with the Magic, until he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics just before start of the 1999-2000 season.
After one year with the Sonics, he was involved in a three-way trade in which Glen Rice of the Los Angeles Lakers was sent to New York, Patrick Ewing of the Knicks was sent to Seattle, and Grant to the defending champion Lakers. He helped them win another championship in 2000-01, but in the offseason decided to leave Los Angeles and sign back with the Magic. Grant was cut by the Magic after being called a "cancer" to the team by then-coach Doc Rivers.[2] He retired at the beginning of the 2002-03 season, but decided to return for another run with the Lakers for the 2003-04 season as a backup for Lakers forward Karl Malone. He retired following the Lakers' loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 finals.
Grant was known as a strong defender and rebounder who could also provide a consistent source of points. He was easily recognizable by many NBA fans because of his trademark wraparound protective eyeglasses, commonly known as Rec Specs.
[edit] Trivia
- Grant shot over .500 from the field in each of his first 10 NBA seasons, reaching a career-best of .578 in 1991-92
- He established career-bests in 1993-94 in scoring (15.1 ppg), rebounding (11.0 ppg) and assists (3.4 apg)
- His nickname was "The General", alluding to American Union general Ulysses S. Grant.
- Grant was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at Clemson.
- Grant is alluded to in the 1998 Puff Daddy song "It's All About the Benjamins."
- In 1995, when the Magic made their run to the NBA Finals, a giant replica of Grant's trademark goggles were placed on the dome of City Hall in downtown Orlando.
- ^ nba.com/history, NBA POSTSEASON AWARDS All-Defensive Teams, nba.com/history, accessed J24 April 2007
- ^ "Rivers says cancer had to be cut from team", espn.go.com, 11 December 2001, accessed 24 April 2007.
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