Larry Johnson

Larry Johnson
Player information
Full name	Larry Demetric Johnson
Nickname	Grandma
birthday	March 14, 1969
place of birth	Dallas , Texas , United States
size	201 cm
Weight	107 kg
position	Small Forward Power Forward
High school	Skyline, Dallas, Texas
college	Odessa College UNLV
NBA draft	1991, 1st pick, Charlotte Hornets
Jersey number	2
Clubs as active
1991–1996 Charlotte Hornets 1996–2001 New York Knicks
National team 1
1987, 1989, 1994	United States
1 As of August 7, 2013

Larry Demetric Johnson (born March 14, 1969 in Dallas , Texas ) is a retired American basketball player with the NBA . During his career he played on the forward position for the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks teams . His height and weight were given at the beginning of his professional career as 197 cm and 125 kg. Despite the rather small body size, Johnson was able to use his explosiveness and body mass very well for the position of the power forward .

Johnson completed his college studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and won the 1990 NCAA championship with their basketball team . In the 1991 NBA Draft he was recruited as "Number One Pick" by the Hornets and honored in the same season (1991/92) with the NBA Rookie of the Year Award as the best NBA newcomer. At the same time, with this award, he led the NBA All-Rookie First Team of this year.

Together with Alonzo Mourning , who was elected second in the draft next year, and the 1.60 m small Muggsy Bogues , he reached the second round of the playoffs with the Hornets . Due to bad luck with injuries Johnson had to pause 31 games in the following season, which is why the Hornets could not reach a playoff place. Since there was tension between Johnson and Mourning , the latter was given up to Miami in 1995 after being eliminated in the first playoff round . A year later, after not reaching the playoffs, Johnson moved to the Knicks in exchange for Anthony Mason .

At the Hornets, Johnson played in the power-forward position and averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds on average. In New York he found himself in the small forward position, as the Knicks with Charles Oakley were able to offer a good power forward. Johnson also found himself in a new role. From the star player of the Hornets, he was now a role player in the Knicks. Correspondingly, his statistics fell over the years. His energy-consuming game under the basket, he shifted more and more to the outside, so that he was a passable shooter towards the end of his career.

The Knicks reached at least the second playoff round every year in the years with Johnson. In 1999 they finished fourth in the Atlantic Division , but then reached the finals sensationally.

On October 10, 2001, Johnson announced his early retirement from basketball. The reason was chronic back problems, which increasingly restricted him in his game.

In the games, Larry Johnson was often referred to by his nickname "Grandma". This had its origin in an advertisement for the shoe manufacturer Converse , in which Johnson played an old grandma. In 1994 he was on the cover of the first issue of the American SLAM magazine .

In the final year 1999 Johnson was the thrower of a game-winning 4-point game, which resulted from a foul on a 3-point throw hit. The Knicks were three points behind with 11.9 seconds remaining. Through this action they took the lead with 92:91, which was also the final result. This action was later referred to as "phantom four-point play", as Johnson's 3-point throw only happened after the foul and should not actually have been valid.

Larry Johnson played 707 games over ten seasons; he achieved an average of 16.20 points per game with a hit rate of FG 48.44%, 3PT 33.24% and FT 76.60%. He was also called up in the NBA All-Star Game in 1993 and 1995 .

With the national team of the United States of America, Johnson won the 1994 World Basketball Championship .

He had a guest role on All Under One Roof and starred in the movie Space Jam .

Web links

• Larry Johnson - player profile on NBA.com
• Johnson Basketball-Reference.com
• NO / K Hornets Basketball-Reference.com
• Knicks Basketball-Reference.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Draft Express ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 5, 2013.