Larry Johnson

From Hoopedia

Larry Demetric Johnson (born March 14, 1969 in Dallas, Texas) is a retired American professional basketball player who spent his professional career with the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks in the NBA. He was listed as a 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) forward.

Johnson played his collegiate ball at UNLV, winning the 1990 NCAA Championship title with them, was selected first overall in the 1991 NBA Draft by the Hornets, and would win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award the following year.

Along with Alonzo Mourning and Muggsy Bogues, Johnson played with the Hornets at the height of their popularity in the early and mid-1990s. During this time, Johnson, who went by his initialism "LJ" and the nickname "Grandma-ma" (because of a popular Converse commercial in which he dressed up like an old lady, which led to a role on the sitcom Family Matters), was featured on the cover of the premiere issue of SLAM Magazine. Unfortunately, friction between Johnson and Mourning forced the organization to make a change, so the Hornets traded Mourning to the Miami Heat. A year later, Johnson himself was traded by the Hornets for fan-favorite Knicks player, Anthony Mason.

Johnson was a key member of the Knicks' 1999 Eastern Conference championship team and was the player who was hit with a foul by Antonio Davis of the Indiana Pacers. Standing outside the three-point line with 11.9 seconds left, Johnson held the ball, and then began to dribble. He leaned into defender Dale Davis before jumping up. The referee called the foul about a half-second before Johnson released the ball, but it was counted as a continuation shooting foul. The three-point basket and the ensuing free throw gave the Knicks a 92-91 victory. The play was described by Tom Hammond of The NBA on NBC: "Johnson... is fouled... and hit!".

He was also a main contributor a year later in the NBA conference finals against the Indiana Pacers. Even though the Knicks lost the series 4-2, Johnson single-handedly carried them to their 2 victories in the series, coincidentally, when Knicks center Patrick Ewing was not playing.

During the 1999 playoffs, Johnson characterized the Knicks as a band of "rebellious slaves." Bill Walton later called Johnson and his performance "a disgrace to the game of basketball." When Johnson was asked about the play of Spurs' point guard Avery Johnson in Game 4, Johnson again shifted the topic to slavery. "That's my man, Ave, because we're from the same plantation. We've both got the Johnson name," he said. "You tell Bill Walton that. We're from Massa Johnson's plantation."

On October 10, 2001 Johnson announced his early retirement from basketball due to chronic back problems that had plagued him for several years, after his point production decreased for five straight years.

Acting

• Johnson had a cameo in the film Space Jam in 1996, depicted as one of the NBA stars who lost their talent alongside Muggsy Bogues, Shawn Bradley, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing.
• In the fifth season (1993) of Family Matters, Johnson guest-stars as Steve Urkel's teammate in a basketball tournament. Johnson dresses up as an senior citizen lady, playing his alter-ego Grandmama.