Larry Johnson (basketball)

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For the American basketball player of the 1970s, see Larry Johnson (Buffalo Braves).

Larry Johnson
Position	Power forward
Nickname	LJ
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight	250 lb (113 kg)
Nationality	USA
Born	March 14 1969 (1969-03-14) (age 40) Image:Flag of Texas.svg Tyler, Texas
College	UNLV
Draft	1^st overall, 1991 Charlotte Hornets
Pro career	1991–2001
Former teams	Charlotte Hornets (1991–1996) New York Knicks (1996–2001)
Awards	1991 USBWA College Player of the Year Naismith College Player of the Year (1991) John R. Wooden (1991) NBA Rookie of the Year (1992) 2-Time NBA All-Star

Larry Demetric Johnson (born March 14, 1969 in Tyler, Texas) is a retired American professional basketball player who spent his professional career with the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks in the NBA. He was listed as a 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) forward.

1 College career
2 Charlotte Hornets
3 New York Knicks
4 Post career
5 Acting
6 References
7 External links

[edit] College career

Johnson played his collegiate ball at Odessa College in 1988-89 and transferred to UNLV, winning the 1990 NCAA Championship title with them, was selected first overall in the 1991 NBA Draft by the Hornets, and would win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award the following year.

[edit] Charlotte Hornets

Along with Alonzo Mourning and Muggsy Bogues, Johnson played with the Hornets at the height of their popularity in the early and mid-1990s. During this time, Johnson, who went by his initialism "LJ" and the nickname "Grandma-ma" (because of a popular Converse commercial in which he dressed up like an old lady, which led to a role on the sitcom Family Matters), was featured on the cover of the premiere issue of SLAM Magazine. Unfortunately, friction between Johnson and Mourning forced the organization to make a change, so the Hornets traded Mourning to the Miami Heat. A year later however, Johnson himself was traded by the Hornets for fan-favorite Knicks player, Anthony Mason.

He played for the US national team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal.^[1]

[edit] New York Knicks

Johnson was a key member of the Knicks' 1999 Eastern Conference championship team and was the player who was hit with a foul by Antonio Davis of the Indiana Pacers. Standing outside the three-point line with 11.9 seconds left, Johnson held the ball, and then began to dribble. He leaned into defender Davis before jumping up. The referee called the foul about a half-second before Johnson released the ball, but it was counted as a continuation shooting foul. The three-point basket and the ensuing free throw gave the Knicks a 92-91 victory. The play was described by Tom Hammond of The NBA on NBC: "Johnson... is fouled... and hit it!".

He was also a main contributor a year later in the NBA conference finals against the Indiana Pacers. Even though the Knicks lost the series 4-2, Johnson single-handedly carried them to their two victories in the series.

During the 1999 NBA Finals, Johnson characterized the Knicks as a band of "rebellious slaves." Bill Walton later called Johnson and his performance "a disgrace to the game of basketball." When Johnson was asked about the play of Spurs' point guard Avery Johnson in Game 4, Johnson again shifted the topic to slavery. "That's my man, Ave, because we're from the same plantation. We've both got the Johnson name," he said. "You tell Bill Walton that. We're from Massa Johnson's plantation." ^[2]

On October 10, 2001 Johnson announced his early retirement from basketball due to chronic back problems that had plagued him for several years, after his point production decreased for five straight years.

[edit] Post career

In July 2007, LJ expressed interest in making a comeback with the Knicks in some type of "leadership role". ^[3] On December 21, 2007, Johnson received a bachelor of arts degree in social science studies from UNLV. ^[4]

[edit] Acting

Johnson was featured in the film Space Jam 1996, depicted as one of the NBA stars who lost their talent alongside Muggsy Bogues, Shawn Bradley, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing.
In the fifth season (1993) of Family Matters, Johnson guest-stars as Steve Urkel's teammate in a basketball tournament. Johnson dresses up as a senior citizen lady, playing his alter-ego Grandmama.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

NBA.com Player Page
Larry Johnson Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
Article on the effect of Johnson's conversion to Islam
1991 Oscar Robertson Trophy

Preceded by Lionel Simmons	Naismith Award Winners (Men) 1991	Succeeded by Christian Laettner
Preceded by Lionel Simmons	John R. Wooden Award (Men) 1991	Succeeded by Christian Laettner
Preceded by Derrick Coleman	NBA first overall draft pick 1991 NBA Draft	Succeeded by Shaquille O'Neal
Preceded by Derrick Coleman	NBA Rookie of the Year 1992	Succeeded by Shaquille O'Neal

Image:Flag of the United States.svg	United States squad - 1994 FIBA World Championship Champions - Gold medal	Image:Flag of the United States.svg
4 Dumars \| 5 Price \| 6 Coleman \| 7 Kemp \| 8 Smith \| 9 Majerle \| 10 Miller \| 11 K.Johnson \| 12 Wilkins \| 13 O'Neal \| 14 Mourning \| 15 L.Johnson \| Coach: Nelson

v • d • e UNLV Runnin' Rebels Basketball 1989-1990 NCAA Champions
Greg Anthony \| Stacey Augmon \| Travis Bice \| David Butler \| Stacey Cvijanovich \| Anderson Hunt \| Larry Johnson \| James Jones \| Moses Scurry \| Barry Young Coach Jerry Tarkanian