Today in WTHHT, we remember NBA journeyman forward Grant Long. Long was picked in the second round of the 1988 draft by the Miami Heat, out of Eastern Michigan University. He'd play his first 6 years in the league with Miami, starting a large percentage of the games he played. He put up very solid numbers, including 14.8 ppg and 8.4 rpg in the 1992 season, the year Miami made the Playoffs as an 8th seed and lost to Chicago in the first round. He'd be traded after just 2 games with Miami after the start of the 1994-95 season to the Hawks along with Steve Smith for Kevin Willis.
He'd play with the Hawks for 2 seasons where he still continued to put up double figures in scoring. He then went to Detroit for 2 years, back to the Hawks for the lockout shortened season of 1999, and then to the Grizzlies for 3 years.On January 16, 2003, Grant would be signed by the Celts, allowing himself to be qualified for WTHHT. At the age of 36 he'd play 41 games for Boston that year, including 1 start. And he'd actually play 8 playoff games with the Celtics too. They were the final 8 games of Grant's NBA career as he'd retire after the season.
For his career he'd average 9.5 ppg and 6.1 rpg. He'd even play over 1,000 total games (1,003 in all). And he even started 673 of them. Not too shabby for a second round pick. I'm always extra-impressed by second round picks who are able to stick around for awhile. For every Gabe Pruitt, Lester Hudson and Justin Reed, there's a guy like Long who makes it happen.
I always liked Long's game and I thought if the circumstances were right, he could've been a key contributor to Celtics' teams if they were still competitive. Unfortunately those paths never crossed. When Long joined the Celtics it was the end of his career and even though he was a veteran, there was only so much he could do. While Long was in the middle of his career the C's were mired in mediocrity.
Today Grant does the television color for Oklahoma City Thunder games. You all know how critical I am of TV announcers but Long does a solid job. No word on whether he chats with Thunder assistant Mark Bryant on what could've been during the Celtics playoff run in 2003. Also oddly enough, you can find "I Love Grant" Long t-shirts on cafe press. Oh wait I get it: it's a Long Sleeved Shirt that says "I Love Grant." Tricky to read that when you have my mind...
For a list of all the "What the Hell Happened To" Series please click here.
tb727
10/10/2010 12:01:00 AM
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Those Hawks jerseys are one of the all time worst.
They're bad. The 1997 Rockets with the pinstripes weren't great. But the Kings ones from the 80s with the last name under the number were the worst lol:
http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/359/863/mn-kin88r24_display_image.jpg?1282708856
Fronts of those were decent though...
For some time he made the Hawks frontcourt sound kind of funny: Long-Lang (Grant and Andrew) :D
Very solid player, too bad he arrived at the end of his career to our C's
Regarding the jerseys, how about these:
http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/pics/31816_01_lg.jpg (Sixers)
http://www.raptorsforum.com/raptors-jersey/vince-carter-toronto-raptors-rookie-year-jersey-36-e.jpg (Raptors)
http://cdn.faniq.com/images/blog/f3f0a7da3986abdb2fab9700828f9870.jpg (Wizards)
Or just some old Cavs and Jazz uniforms... they are really ugly
Those are some great uniforms Bohemian. Lol. I always thought when the Sixers switched to those that was the beginning of the end for them.
Yeah the Wizards ones take the cake there as far as being most heinous.