<font color="GREEN">Grandmama cracks up the League.</font> <font color="RED">Written by starman85</font> A kid walks down the street. He?s new to the neighborhood and not really sure what to expect. To be sure, he?s a big kid. And he?s not walking; he?s driving, and a very nice car at that. And he?s not short on friends: everyone in town wants to be his friend, and for good reason. He?s the savior of this town, an instant celebrity, the franchise, the superstar. His name is Larry Johnson, and he?s the new power forward for the Charlotte Hornets. Several years earlier, the city of Charlotte and several of its prominent businessmen had lobbied the National Basketball Association and its commissioner, David Stern. The city, relatively new on the scene for big business, wanted to prove that it belonged. And the seemingly logical step was to get a big league sports team. Suddenly they had it, in the form of the 24th pro basketball franchise in the league, but credibility didn?t come instantly ? the team sucked, and seemed like it would suck for a long time. Johnson found himself on a young team coming off its best record ever: 26-56. He had just finished a stellar career at UNLV under Jerry Tarkanian that had grossed the Runnin? Rebels an undefeated season and a national title. He had teamed with future NBA stars Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony, but Johnson had been the centerpiece, the guy who scored the most buckets, grabbed the most rebounds, and brought the most heart into games. Despite LJ?s fierce demeanor, Tarkanian later said that no one he coached ever smiled as much as LJ. A force under the boards, he terrorized teams with his awesome leaping ability and unstoppable post moves ? both necessities given his relatively small stature for a post-up player. Johnson stood only 6?7?, which was close to half a foot shorter than many of his opponents, but he didn?t play like it. The Hornets knew that they needed a turnaround. They had gone through a couple coaches and more than a couple losing seasons, compiling 20, 19 and 26 wins in each of their first three seasons. They had also gained only marginal talent in the draft; their first lottery pick was Rex Chapman, an undersized two-guard from Kentucky who had surprising athleticism and deadeye aim from long distance, but who was hardly a player to build a team around; the next year yielded power forward J.R. Reid, a star at North Carolina but a guy who just couldn?t hack the pro game; the last year had resulted in a promising shooting guard from Illinois who had drawn comparisons to Michael Jordan during his amateur career, Kendall Gill. Still, there was no star on the team so to speak, and the team had no direction. The previous season the team had been led in scoring by Johnny Newman at 16.9 ppg, followed by Chapman at 15.7, with the rest of the scoring spread across the board thanks to the playmaking of diminutive floor General Tyrone ?Muggsy? Bogues. Hornets? management knew that they needed a go-to guy if they were to become a serious competitor in the league. So with the first overall pick in the 1991 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Hornets selected Larry Johnson. The season began with Johnson forming a devastating inside-out combo with Gill. The two young players paced the team with 20.5(Gill) and 19.2(Johnson) points per game, with Dell Curry (15.7), Newman (15.3) and Kenny Gattison (12.7) falling into line behind them. With Gattison, who wasn?t exactly what anyone would call an inside force, playing center, cleaning glass fell to the rookie. LJ stepped up his game and averaged over 11 rebounds a game, which amazingly fell second among rookies that year, behind Dikembe Mutombo of the Denver Nuggets, who averaged over 12 per game. Still, LJ was a much better scorer than the Georgetown grad, and edged him out for Rookie of the Year honors. LJ took the team to its first ever 30-win season, helping the bugs win 31 that year, missing the playoffs by only 7 games in their fourth season of existence. Despite a solid inaugural campaign, it just wasn?t in LJ to take a break. So in the off-season he worked even harder, realizing that he could still improve on his offense. It also helped that the Hornets won the 2nd pick in the 1992 Draft. Although that was one spot too low to snag LSU?s Shaquille O?Neal, it was good enough to grab Georgetown?s Alonzo Mourning, which the Hornets did. Zo had an impressive season, shattering the franchise record for blocks as well as slightly beating LJ?s rookie record for points per game. Like fellow rookie Shaq, Zo sported an average of better than 20-10 in points and rebounds, but what was more amazing than that was the fact that he leads the Hornets in neither category: LJ too sported a 20-10, leading the Hornets in both points and rebounds in only his second season. It was good enough for him to be named to the All-NBA second team, the first time in franchise history that a player was named to an All-NBA team. Rounding out the core of LJ and Zo were Gill, Curry, Newman and Bogues, a squad potent enough to improve 13 games to 44 wins, good enough for the 5th seed in the playoffs. The first round series, notorious because of Mourning?s buzzer-beater in game 4, was won in large part by LJ?s contributions, and the Hornets figured that they had a core that would last for many more years. Of course, if everything had worked according to plan, the Hornets would have hoisted a couple championship banners over the Charlotte Coliseum by now, won by their superstar duo of Larry and Alonzo. However, the dream storyline never played out, replaced instead by nightmarish seasons marred by injury and trade. LJ came to the Hornets as the star, and suddenly he had to share that role with Mourning. Although he did an admirable job of trying to do just that, the two never truly meshed the way management had envisioned. Pairing that with an injury riddled season for Johnson and it equaled the Hornets missing the playoffs in 1994. Although they?d be back in 1995 as the 4th seed, they were polished off in 4 games by the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. That series marked the end of the LJ-Zo era, and pretty much the end of Hornets? championship hopes. Johnson had to go through a lot of criticism following that summer, as fan favorite Alonzo Mourning got traded away for several reasons. Some were apparently based on money, and LJ, the man with the big contract, naturally got the blame. Others said that the Hornets were forced to trade Zo to move forward because he had the better trade value of the two stars. Whatever the reason was, it was unfair to place the blame squarely on LJ?s shoulders, but it happened nevertheless. LJ came back strong for the 1995-96 season paired with new teammates Glen Rice and Kenny Anderson. The trio was expected to have the potential to be better than anything the Hornets had yet seen, but ended up flopping. Though LJ and Rice meshed well ? both averaged over 20 ppg and finished in the league?s top 20 in scoring, Anderson never really go into the flow of the team, and in the offseason he signed with the Portland Trailblazers. Rice had been named to the NBA All-Star Game, and management saw that, combined with Johnson?s back problems, as a sign that of the Hornets? two stars, Rice was the better to build around. Though Johnson had put up a solid season in ?96, it was clear that his injuries and rehab had taken their toll, leaving him with a fraction of his former explosiveness and only a shadow of the player he had once been. That summer he was traded in a blockbuster deal to the New York Knicks for Anthony Mason. The Knicks appeared to get the better of the deal, but Mason put up much better numbers in Charlotte, and Johnson had to retire after several disappointing seasons, though he did manage to help the Knicks to the NBA Finals in ?99. Although it seems like LJ was a flash in the pan, his glory days in the NBA lasting only a couple years, he?s much more than that. Not only was he a marketing phenomenon, with his famous Grandmama commercials for Converse and countless magazine covers, but he put an entire franchise on the map, something that only rare players can say they?ve done. It took the Chicago Bulls almost 20 years to get a player like that, whereas the Hornets got it in less than five. He remains one of the best players in Hornets history, leaving the team with averages of 19.6 ppg (4th all-time) and 9.2 rpg (2nd all-time) in the five seasons he spent there. It could be said that LJ is the reason for the Hornets? continued success, since without him the Hornets wouldn?t have been able to trade for Anthony Mason, and without Mason they wouldn?t have been able to trade and get Jamal Mashburn and P.J. Brown, the starting forward tandem that has lead the Hornets to the playoffs in each of the past three years, soon to be four. And the memory of LJ?s playing days lives on everywhere he went; from the streets of Dallas to the bright lights of Vegas, to the basketball-crazy Carolinas, to the Big Apple, everyone remembers LJ for his big work ethic and his bigger smile.
So most of all i wanted this article so i have to say what i think i really loved everything that you wrote, but i haven't felt that pain, the pain of LJ's Injuries they were not a really main focus here, when i read most of the articles about granda i thought that was A REALLY important factor and i haven;t felt that this way here, but maybe it's just me i can't say for sure if they were because i wasn't really into the nba SO much back those days, overall i love this articles it brought many more important things to me, and one more thing from what i remember Kenny anderson wasn't supose to make a BIG TRIO with g-money and grandma, i belive that he was traded to the hornets in mid season because of muggsy's Injury,isn't that right ? I gotta say that i mad ethe same thing in my mind like u did on the end, no LJ no Mason, No LJ no Mashburn, the same with No Zo NO glen, No glen no Eddie, and again no Eddie No Mashburn those trades in mid 90's still affect the team in an important way. overall i loved it, i think i will not make any more requests tho it would be great to hear good stuff by "in the land of giants" Muggsy bogues but oh well
I loved LJ during his Runnin Rebel days with Greg Anthony. And I loved to watch LJ help develope what at the time was a young Hornets fanchise. But all those injuries really killed his carreer over the years. by the time he got to the knicks LJ was no longer Grandma ma we had known from the Slam Dunk competion.And sneaker commericals. He was basically a spot up shooter who settled for to many three pointers. The back injuries limited all lift he had in his game. But LJ still worked hard and he was a garden favorite.And he still has one of the most memorable plays in knicks history( the 4pt play he had in the playoffs). But I agree it was kind of hard to watch how LJ had to retire without any type of fan fare or anything because of the back injury. During his hay day LJ was one of the more popular players in the entire league. On a side note the one thing I will remember about LJ is his extreme fashion since. I remember when LJ use to come to the game deck out to a tee. He use to come in some of the sharpist suits you have ever seen. I think both him & Zo were good at that during their hayday. Iam not really a suit kind of cat (more of a jeans & kicks). But I hear Sir Charles always talking or complaining about why todays NBA player doesnt wear a suit? And I aways kind of think what does guys like LJ & a few others think about players not wearing suits to the game? anyway I kind of went off topic, so I'll just end by saying great article.
I don't wanna brag, but I've still got the first issue of SLAM, featuring LJ on the cover. That four-point play was classic. I even remember seeing him in Space Jam. "Even my grandmama play better than me."
yea even tho wen my knicks got lj he was past his prime, he still did great for the knicks. the l elbow thing remains one of my favorite celebration moves of all time. btw did u write that article?? if so it was very good.
I saw a game between Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets today (1992-93 season) Hornets won by 1 and LJ scored like 30 points and had 14 rebounds plus he scored a impossible 3 point play.He was slashing into the paint for the layup put was fouled and fell,he threw the ball up and it went in (One of the best clutch plays I've seen).He hit the freethrow to tie the game or lead by 1. In the end he hit game winning freethrows to win 104-103 and Bulls lost a chance to be #1 seed in the playoffs.
great stuff!! i still remember the day when i ran to the mall to get the Hornets hat cuz they were the "new team". Man.. those were some good days with L.J. and Zo. Who can forget the "L" he used to do with his arms when he made a big play! AND THE BIGGEST THING TO COME FROM L.J. hahahaahahah the "small" line cut into my fade! LOL!!!