Hey! What Ever Happened To: Larry Johnson
By Brian Taylor
Why You Might Remember Him: One of the most prolific, and athletically freakish, ballers of the early 90’s, Larry Demetric Johnson got his buzz way back in his days as a member of college basketball’s SECOND best team ever, UNLV. (John Wooden’s Bruins were just too nasty for too long.) This was back in the day when college ball just started getting good, with a select few at the top every year and Duke was just starting to get on people’s nerves. With Anderson Hunt, Stacey Augmon, Armon Gilliam and Greg Anthony (yes, THAT Greg Anthony) running the show, L.J. and the Runnin’ Rebels ran through the NCAA’s, winning a title and pimpslapping the Blue Devils in the process. Larry Johnson was the sickest member of that team. Imagine a pre-drug, pre-alcohol, pre-child support Shawn Kemp, but with more muscle, and a jumper that was 10 times better, and you had “Grandmama”, nicknamed for his character on those commercials selling Converse shoes (with REACT Juice!). I remember him playing the same role on Family Matters on ABC a few times. In the NBA, he was just as raw starting out, as he was the Charlotte Hornets’ first bonafide All-Star (not J.R. Reid or Ben Stiller look-alike, Kelly Tripucka). His dunks were insane and he averaged 16 points and 8 boards per game for his career. When he teamed up with Alonzo and Muggsy, the Hornets were a legit playoff threat as the Celtics found out in 1993.
Why You Might Have Forgotten Him: This may have been a classic case of the body going before the brain, but a back injury early on in his career would continuously come back to haunt him. It happened in a charity game, when on a breakaway dunk attempt, he strained his lower back while going for another rim-punishing slam. He was just coming off an All-Star season, and once the back acts up that’s usually all she wrote, as his legs were the next things to go bad as a result of his back. Apparently, there was a beef between him and Alonzo Mourning (which boiled over and turned into Jeff Van Gundy holding Zo’s leg for dear life in one of the NBA’s wussiest cat-fights). Larry ended up changing his game however, going from a dunkaholic starter to a sharp-shooting 6th man off the bench for the Knicks after the Anthony Mason trade. He also changed how contracts are structured, as he signed a ridiculous extension with Charlotte before getting hurt again and was never the same, starting a domino effect of bad moves that lead the Hornets outta town into New Orleans. His last shining moments came against the Indiana Pacers in the 1999 Playoffs, when Antonio Davis fouled him while shooting (and hitting) a three in the waning seconds of game 3. There was also the strange “LJ” arm thing he did after three-pointers.
It was in the Finals against the San Antonio Spurs that Larry had his career ending mental meltdown, comparing the NBA to slavery saying that he and then Spurs point guard Avery Johnson were from the “same plantation”. In 2001 he finally called it quits on a decent career that could’ve been huge had he not hurt his back.
Comments
By Mary on July 5th, 2006 at 6:40 pm
You know B, this could have been a great article, had you not hated on Duke so much in the beginning of the article. Yes, UNLV pimpslapped them in the 90 Finals, but Duke got sweet revenge in the 91′ Final Four. LJ was the best on that Runnin Rebels squad, even if they were marred by a scary coach and illegal recruiting allegations from the NCAA. All in all, I forgot he even played for the Spurs, so good information. Who knows? Maybe one day, we will have an article called, “What ever Happened to Brian Taylor, the Former, North Carolina Fan?” LOL! You can’t blame a girl for trying…
By Nick Sclafani on July 6th, 2006 at 5:35 am
I like the article, nice work. I remember, and had, a pair of those LJ’s with the React Juice. I also had a pair of the Kevin Johnson’s with the Juice!! I like the throwback look and do an installment on old school ballers myself on my site. Check it out at http://www.nuggdoctor.blogspot.com.
Great site!
The Nugg Doctor
By Ryan on July 10th, 2006 at 1:06 am
check out this old Slam cover with Granda Ma Ma http://slam.harris-pub.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/01LJ.jpg
By Josh on April 23rd, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Nice article, except that Armon “The Hammer” Gilliam graduated from UNLV in 1987. That was before LJ’s time.
By Unknown Source on January 9th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Larry Johnson lives in Texas and LA. He is successful, but doesn’t look himself. His then and now is like night and day.
By Dedric Anderson on May 5th, 2008 at 10:55 am
He was my favorite player man he was so strong and powerful man he was just that dude I hate that happen to him man he could have been something great I really look up to him I played ball in high and college I tried to play like LJ!!
By Roscoe Martinez on May 19th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
LJ was THE MAN on the Knicks even though he was always hurt and couldn’t play inside anymore. I love him still. Grandmama can suck from the teat of Roscoe Martinez anytime he feels like it. Please give him that message, he can have all the milk he wants! GO LJ!