In this week's edition of "What the Hell Happened To" we look back at the inillustrious career of Eric Montross. That's right folks, he sucked so much I had to make up a word- inillustrious- to describe his years in the NBA.
See I wouldn't be so grumpy about Montross but he was picked a slot ahead of Eddie Jones, whom the enemy picked at number 10 and who obviously went on to a much more successful career than Mongoose. The thing is his rookie year he was somewhat solid- 10 ppg and almost 7.5 rpg in 78 games, 75 of which he started. That Celtics team made the playoffs in 1995 and gave Orlando the scare of a lifetime before bowing out in 4 games and shutting down the Boston Garden permanently.
But after his rookie year (which included a 2nd Team All Rookie selection) Montross was a disaster. He was traded to Dallas after the following season (along with pick number 9 which turned into pick number 6 which turned into Antoine Walker) so for that some may say ML Carr actually made a good move. He then went on to suck for the Mavericks, Nets, Pistons and Raptors before ending his career after 2002.Amazingly enough the guy made $18.8 million in his career (and got paid in 2003 and 2004 for I suppose fulfilling a contract). How about you email that to Otis Birdsong to see how he feels?
I think he epitomizes how the legit 7'0 centers were phased out over time. No reason to bring a stiff like Montross in (and trust me he epitomized a stiff). Better to get a 6'9 or 6'10 who can actually play.
Anyways today Montross is an announcer for North Carolina (according to Wikipedia). I wonder if he announces basketball or maybe they have a race car driving team.
In closing I think this video is great. The little girl second from the right, her expression at 0:15 at hearing the size of Eric's feet is identical to my expression as to how much his NBA career sucked:
Be sure to watch the whole thing, especially when the guy begins interviewing him and refers to him as "NBA Star Eric Montross." I love when people don't have a clue about anything and refer to guys as 'stars.' This is a common occurrence for people outside the mainline sporting scene. If I was reporting for the Chatham Journal Newspaper I would've said "This is TB727 with ex-NBA blowhard Eric Montross."
