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Brian Grant was born on March 5, 1972, In a small farm town in Ohio.
Grant is 6 feet 9 inches tall, and is 265 pounds. This is where
he got his aggressiveness and determintion to complete and to succeed in anything he attempted
to do. He wasn't even good with a basketball until around high school and even then he couldn't
make a lay up consistently. He had the endurence and good attitude to accomplish his
goal, so he would stay after practice with his coaches and work at it.
He was picked up on the Xavier
college basketball team where, he was second on the all-time leading scorer's list. He became
the two-time Midwest Collegigate Conference Player of the Year and Xavier University, which is
in Cinnicinati Ohio. He continued to practice with the coaches after each practice and continue
to get better. All four seasons with Xavier University he lead his team in rebounding, and was third
on the All-time leading rebounding list. Another great thing about his college years with Xavier
was that he was named to the Associated Press' honorable mention All-American team in his junior
year, after ranking second in the nation, in field goal percentage with 654 percent. He continued
to be great with Xavier and earned the right to the NBA draft.
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He entered the 1994 NBA draft and was picked eighth overall by the Sacramento Kings. He had no trouble getting on
the good side of the Sacramento fans. His ability to run down the court and score helped him alot,
he could also do alot of damage on the defensive end of the court rebounding everything around him.
He was fitting himself to become an NBA great. He grace and agility as a rookie earned him a spot on the
All-Rookie First team squad and the Shick All-Rookie game in Phoenix. After two seasons with
Sacramento Kings, Brian was signed by the Portland TrailBlazers with a Free agent contract.
Grant was becoming more like an All-Star everyday. He was getting tons of rebounds and shooting
great. He got 24 rebounds against the Golden State Warriors. Nobody has rebounded that much
since Bill Walton's 26. He also lead the TrailBlazers to their first Pacific Divison Title since
1991. He was getting 17.5 rebounds a game which ended up being 70 rebounds in 4 games. That is
a very hard thing to do. He then went to the 1999 NBA finals against Tim Duncan and the Spurs
but lost, still, coming in second is a big honor. Winning the finals would of be alot better
but second is still well off. Even so Brian Grant was one of the top players in the Finals with 9.2
rebounds, 37.1 minutes, 1.23 blocks, and scoring 13.2 points per game. In the 1999-2000 season
Brian battled back from knee surgery, and again made it to the NBA finals, this time against the
Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers were coming into the 2002-2003 year with three Championship rings.
Brian was traded on Augest 30, 2000 to the Miami heat, which was part of a three team trade.
The cavs got Chris Gattling, Clarence Weatherspoon, Gary Grant and a first round pick. The
TrailBlazers got Shawn Kemp and of course the Heat got Brian Grant. By now Brian Grant had
made a name for himself in the NBA. He didn't click right off with teammate.
Alonzo Mourning.
He slowly got to know him and now they are dominating the floor.
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