Wake Up With An NBA Countdown: Larry Johnson

Good morning everybody, happy Thursday! Look just because I may be done for the week for a wedding does not mean I can forget about my fellow stoolies who are still stuck at work for two more days. What type of blogger would I be if I didn’t continue to help you get through your morning? I made a commitment when I took this role to always be there to help people all around the world just like me find ways to not work. Some might say it’s my calling in life. Anyway, with my blog yesterday about how the Hornets were going to bring back their white retro jerseys for a few games next season, it felt only right that we took this morning to relive one of the more dynamic players from that era in their franchises history, Larry Johnson.

Now some younger stoolies may only really remember LJ from his time on the Knicks, and that’s too bad because you’d be ignoring basically the best part of his entire 10 year career. The first overall pick in the 1991 Draft out of UNLV, Larry Johnson was a certified beast during his time in CHA. As a rookie he stepped in and dominated from the jump, averaging 19.2/11/3.6 on 49% shooting while playing 37 minutes a night. He played all 82 games with 77 starts, and by the end of his 5 year run he started 372 of his possibly 377 games as a Hornet. For his entire CHA tenure he averaged 19.6/9.2/4.1 on 38.8 minutes a night. That may have been one of the more impressive feats, of those five years he topped 39.9 minutes a night three times, the guys just never came out. Johnson was also the first Hornet ever voted to start an All Star game in 1993, which ultimately led him to also get the biggest contract ever for a Hornet at 12/$84M. What was cool about LJ was even though he came in and was this dunking monster, he learned to develop his game after his little back injury, shooting 38% from deep in his age 25 season. Unfortunately, him and Alonzo Mourning basically hated each other, and the team was forced to deal them both. Mourning found plenty of success down in MIA, and well let’s just say LJ didn’t have the same luck as a Knick.

He ended up in NY in 1996 at the age of 27, but to be fair he really was not ever the same player while in the Big Apple. That’s not to say he didn’t have his moments though. He had plenty during the Knicks magical 1999 season, including probably the most famous four point play in league history in the ECF, but that’s really hit. He started to take more threes than he ever had before while unfortunately not making too many, and his 5 years as a Knick ended up with 12.3/5.5/2.3 on 46% shooting before ultimately retiring a little early at age 31.

When it was all said and done LJ had the ROY in 1991-92, one All NBA Second Team, and two All Star appearances to his name. While he won’t be considered an all time great or anything like that, he’s definitely one of my favorite players from the 90s, and I’ve wondered what may have happened if he never had his powers stolen by the Monstars back in 1996. Is it a coincidence that movie came out right as his Knick tenure was about to start and that tenure sort of stunk? Makes you think.

So hopefully you enjoy today’s video, and as always if there is a player or type of countdown you’d like to see just list it in the comments below. Otherwise, have a great Thursday, you’re almost there!