Larry Johnson Former American Basketball Player

Larry Johnson was born on March 14th, 1969 in Tyler, Texas. He is an ex-American Basketball player who played for the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks in the NBA all through his professional career. He stands 6 ft 7 inch (2.01m) tall. He played for his Odessa College in 1988-89 and then joined UNLV and won the 1990 NCAA championship.

He was selected in the 1991 NBA Draft by the Hornets and won the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1992. Larry Johnson reached the peak of success and fame in the mid 1990s along with his colleagues Alonzo Mourning and Muggsy Bogues. They all played for the Hornets.

Larry Johnson was popularly known as LJ and was also nicknamed as Grandmamma because of a famous Converse advertisement in which he dresses up like an old woman which eventually led to a role in the sitcom Family Matters. He got featured on the cover of Slam Magazine.

He and Alonzo Mourning were at loggerheads due to which the organization was compelled to make a change where the Hornets transferred Mourning to the Miami Heat. After a year, Larry Johnson himself was sent making a way for the most favorite Knicks player named Anthony Mason.

Larry Johnson played for the US national team in the FIBA World Championship in 1994 and won the gold medal. He played an important role as a member of the Knicks 1999 Eastern Conference championship team and was a player who was hit with a foul by Antonio Davis of the Indiana Pacers.

With 11.9 seconds left, Larry Johnson took the ball and began to dribble and bended over defender Davis before he jumped up. The referee declared a foul just about half-second before Johnson left the ball but it was considered as a continuation of shooting foul. The three point basket and a following free throw helped the Knicks to gain a 92-91 victory.

Larry Johnson contributed a great deal in the NBA conference finals against the Indiana Pacers. Though the Knicks had lost the series 4-2, Johnson managed to win two games all by himself. In 1999 NBA Finals, he tagged the Knicks to be a bunch of rebellious slaves. His performance was not up to the mark.

He announced his retirement on October 20th, 2001 due to severe back problems that had troubled him for many years. However, in 2007, Larry Johnson expressed his desire to comeback and guides the Knicks with his leadership skill. He also played a small part in the film Space Jam in 1996. Wikipedia