Horace Junior Grant is tall. By size, of course. Two meters and eight centimeters, measure it, it’s getting high. Grant is tall but not just under the height chart. Judge instead.
Winter 1993. The beautiful Chicago Bulls bus parks outside the team hotel in Philadelphia. As usual, the players descend and rush quickly into the lobby of the palace. It’s bitterly cold, a weather you shouldn’t put a dog outside. Wind, snow: it’s freezing a lot. Across the street, a man is rolled up in a sleeping bag. He lies, lying under a porch to avoid being covered by the heavy snowfall. Horace Grant finds it difficult to bear this vision. He only listens to his faith. He crosses the street, wakes the guy, invites him to eat and pays him for a room in the Bulls’ hotel, in front of the incredulous eyes of the receptionists. He will also slip two large 100 dollar bills into his pocket to spend a few warm nights.
In the NBA with his twin brother, Harvey
You will tell us: “Yes, but with the money he earns…” You still have to do it.
The most remarkable thing is that Grant was not content, at the time, to play the good Samaritans financially speaking. He oversees many charities and mutual aid organizations and it is not uncommon to see him hanging around Chicago Stadium, the home of the Bulls. The name of the neighborhood? Henry Horner Homes Project. Project roughly translates to HLM. Only, that area is quite simply one of the worst ghettos in the whole country. In comparison, some blocks in Vaulx-en-Velin or Sarcelles would almost look luxurious. Contrary to Michael Jordan who refuses to go there, Horace Grant goes there regularly to chat or to play with young people from the housing estates who cannot afford a ticket to the nearby arena of the Bulls. And who still need so much to find heroes…
Horace and Harvey, his Washington Bullets star twin brother, grew up in poverty.“We grew up not in the city, but in the countryside, in the heart of Georgia. We just needed a few dollars to keep ourselves busy or buy odds and ends. The kids in Chicago, they absolutely need hope. From someone who thinks of them from time to time”sighs Horace.
For all these kids, he has become an example. And when his car comes around the corner, the neighborhood explodes with joy. These too quickly hardened faces, which usually sweat hatred and anger, light up. The kids ask him for tickets for the next meeting, talk about his performances. He tells them stories. Together they talk about life…
“Somehow, it revolts me. There are people who live right next to the Stadium and who have never been able to enter it. It’s one of the most ridiculous things ever. Michael (Jordan), Craig (Hodges) and myself can’t do much about it. The least we can do is go see them from time to time. It’s just human. There’s more to this world than scoring basketball hoops. »
Michael Jordan? The annoying subject…
A word of warning… Hello, Mike? It can’t be said that Jordan and Grant are great friends, “The Last Dance” confirmed it. Besides, Horace doesn’t want to talk about it. The only thing that really annoys him is the way Jordan gives himself certain privileges. Like his repeated absences each time training resumes. So much so that during a training camp where His Majesty once again shone by his absence, Horace left certain sessions before the end, just to mark his disapproval. The attitude can be discussed but it is true that Michael’s behavior suggested that he considered himself solely responsible for the triumph of the Bulls for three years, from 1991 to 1993. Which is false. Without Grant and without Scottie Pippen, of course, “MJ” would surely not have obtained three championship rings. Horace was supposed to remain the back-up for Charles Oakley, the Bulls’ top rebounder and defender. He was much better than that once “Oak” transferred to New York against Bill Cartwright in 1988.
Inducted into the five majors, the native of Augusta (Georgia) imposed himself both as a rebound vacuum cleaner, an emeritus defender (it was he who secured the 1993 title with a last-second counter against Kevin Johnson in Game 6 of the Finals) and as a reliable offensive option in support of the Jordan-Pippen duo. Listen to Jim Cleamons, then an assistant coach in Chicago: “Horace agreed to play a thankless role knowing very well that almost no one would notice his slaughter. He’s there to do the dirty work. It is essential. That Michael scores 40 points and Scottie crashes 30 is good. But we can’t win if Horace doesn’t do his job under the panels. »
In July 1994, a year after Jordan’s first retirement and after spending seven seasons in Illinois, Horace Grant decided to try his luck in Orlando, a team that dreamed of greatness with its Penny Hardaway-Shaquille O’Neal duo. Like any athlete, a little individual recognition would not displease him. His ambition, if not his ultimate goal, was to be selected for the All-Star Game. He was selected for the meeting in Minneapolis on February 13, 1994 (17 mins, 4 pts, 8 rebounds, 2 wt). This season will be the best of his career on an individual level with 15.1 points, 11 rebounds and 3.4 assists on average. “In 1992, when I learned that I was only replacing the selected ones, it hurt me. I spent a whole day thinking only about that. Afterwards, I became the same again: enthusiastic, smiling, positive. It’s true that winning NBA titles is important, but becoming an All-Star has allowed me to be recognized and respected for the work I do. It was hard to exist behind Michael and Scottie. This selection was like a kind of culmination in my career. I have evolved with the best players in the world. »
In the right place at the right time…
Chosen in 10e position of the 1987 draft after an honest career at Clemson University (where he was part of the Pi Kappa Alpha brotherhood), Horace began his professional career at a trot. He wasn’t really in sight. And for good reason: he was myopic! At the beginning of the 90s, Grant began to wear white glasses of the most beautiful effect, which would never leave him and which would become his basketball signature. Over time the colors will change. A flashy look, unique in the NBA, although copied by Bo Outlaw.
In 1994, therefore, Orlando rubs his hands. In the Bulls jersey, Horace Grant cleaned up the rebound and blew up opposing defenses with wildly powerful dunks. The Florida franchise thinks that by associating O’Neal and Grant under the circle, it will walk in all the rackets of the circuit. And in fact, Orlando reached the NBA Finals in stride. With the result that we know (sweeped by Houston). A second sweep against Chicago, a year later in the Conference final, sounded the death knell for Florida’s dreams of grandeur. Shaq packs up. The Magic becomes an appetizer. Horace Grant, a backup player.
Orlando sent him to Seattle just before the start of the 1999-2000 fiscal year. A year later, a providential trade allows him to join the Lakers, reigning champions (the transaction sends Patrick Ewing to Seattle and Glen Rice to the Knicks). Like many others during the 2000-02 era (right, Mitch Richmond?), Horace Grant is in the right place at the right time. The implacable domination of the enemy brothers Shaq and Kobe allows him to glean a fourth ring. His line of stats in LA (8.5 pts, 7.1 rebounds) testifies to his current contribution.
Doc Rivers compares him to a “cancer”
Against all odds, the League’s most famous binoclard chose in July 2001 to return to Orlando, where Tracy McGrady performed the solo show. Left knee surgery in September 2002 plagued his start to the following season. His relationship with the coach, Doc Rivers, is deplorable. Witnesses assure that the two men came to blows. It does not matter the quantified production of the interested party (8 pts and 6.3 rbds the first year, 5.2 pts and 1.6 rbd on 5 matches during the second). Rivers accuses him of wanting to undermine his authority with younger people and demands that he be cut. “This is the way I see it, declares the current Clippers coach in front of the cameras of the ESPN channel. When you have cancer, you have to remove it…”
Returning from a trip to Chicago, Grant and McGrady have words on the plane, in the part reserved for players. Alerted, Rivers defends T-Mac. The discussion escalates. At 3:00 a.m., after the plane had landed, Coach went to then-GM John Gabriel to demand Grant’s head. “We are sorry to see him go” comments John Gabriel, “but honestly, we felt his contribution was limited. The fact remains that Horace has had a great career and his rings are there to prove it. »
The number 54, a four-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Second Team (between 1993 and 96), decided to hang up his sneakers before returning to the Lakers in 2003-04, as a back-up for Karl Malone. The story ends in blood sausage, with the slap inflicted by Detroit (4-1). Horace Grant will have reached the NBA Finals six times (from 1991 to 1993, in 1995, in 2001 and in 2004) for four successes. Four stripes for a General whose family continues to shine in the NBA since he is none other than the uncle of Jerami, of the Pistons, the son of his brother Harvey.
Awards
17 years of career
4 times NBA champions (1991, 1992, 1993, 2001)
1 time All-Star (1994)
4 times elected to the Second All-NBA Team (1993 to 1996)
11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.98 int, 0.98 ct in 1,165 games (1,037 times started)
50.9% on shots, 69.2% on free throws.
