Horace Grant
(BBR: #118)
Horace Grant was never a superstar player, but he was a very solid player for a long time and always seemed to do what was necessary to help his team succeed. In fact, Grant didn't lose a first-round playoff series until he had been in the NBA for 10 years.
Grant was the third-best player for the original Bulls dynasty, which made it to the Eastern Conference Finals twice in a row before breaking through and winning three straight championship. Grant was a major contributor to each of those teams, and a necessary piece of each championship puzzle. Perhaps his most memorable moment in those years was his block of Kevin Johnson that ended Phoenix's chance of beating the Bulls and gave Chicago another title.
Grant was still in his prime when Michael Jordan retired for the first time, and he stepped into the #2 role seamlessly, earning his only trip to the All-Star game that season, before he walked away from Chicago to try for another title in Orlando. In his very first season with the Magic, they advanced all the way to the NBA Finals, with Grant taking up his normal place as the #3 man behind Penny and Shaq.
Even though he failed to win his 4th title that season, he did eventually earn another, when he joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2001 season as a sixth man. While that title did nothing to add to his legacy, it was a fitting way for a great winner to come to the end of his career. He played for a couple more seasons in a very limited role, but his most memorable years were still those early years in Chicago with Jordan and Pippen.
It seems odd that Grant is ranked ahead of his former teammate in these rankings, since Penny was obviously the bigger star and better overall player, but what gives Grant an edge is the fact that he was consistently successful in the postseason. While Penny only played in one NBA Finals series, Grant made it there 5 times, winning four titles, the only loss coming when the two were teammates. Slow and steady wins this race.
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