Happy 60th Birthday to Horace and Harvey Grant
- Jake C
- Jul 4
- 6 min read
Two NBA veterans with a unique circumstance celebrate a milestone birthday on July 4 as identical twins Horace and Harvey Grant turn 60.
Born on July 4, 1965 in Augusta, Ga., the Grant brothers would become the second set of twins to ever play in the NBA, following Dick and Tom Van Arsdale. Since Horace and Harvey, there have been Jason and Jarron Collins, Brook and Robin Lopez, Marcus and Markieff Morris, and most recently 2023 draft choices Amen and Ausar Thompson.
Playing their high school ball at Hancock Central High School in Sparta, Ga., the Grant brothers sported different color headbands in practice so that their head coach, Arthur Daniels, could tell the two apart.
The twins enrolled at Clemson University, and after one season alongside his twin brother, Harvey for one year (1985-86) relocated to Independence Community College in Independence, Kan. For the Pirates, Harvey was a NJCAA All-American, made the All-Region VI team (22.4 points, 11.8 rebounds per game) and was awarded the 1986 Jim Goodman Fan Favorite of the Year Award. He was also an East-West Juco All-Star that season and played in the Texas Juco-USA All-Star Game.
Harvey played his final two collegiate seasons at the University of Oklahoma, where he averaged 16.9 points and 9.9 rebounds in 1986-87 and 20.9 points and 9.4 rebounds in 1987-88. In his senior season, Harvey along with fellow future NBAers Mookie Blaylock and Stacey King led the Sooners to a 35-4 record and the National Championship game. In 101 college games, Harvey averaged 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds.
Horace, meanwhile, played all four of his NCAA seasons as a Clemson Tiger and averaged 13.9 points and 8.0 rebounds in 122 games. He averaged 16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as a junior and as a senior averaged 21.0 points and 9.6 rebounds. He was a 2nd team All-American in his senior season.
Harvey, 6 foot 9, 220 pounds to his brother’s 6 foot 10, 235 pounds, was drafted twelfth overall in the 1988 Draft by the Washington Bullets, two slots behind the selection his brother Horace was taken with in 1987 (10th).
For three consecutive seasons from 1990-91 through to 1992-93, Harvey averaged at least 18 points per game.
1990-91: 18.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 49.8% FG (sixteen shots per game), 76 games started out of 77, 36.9 minutes per game
1991-92: 18.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 47.8% FG (sixteen shots per game), 60 games started out of 64, 37.3 minutes per game
1992-93: 18.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 48.7% FG (sixteen shots per game), 72 games started out of 72, 37.0 minutes per game
Harvey played three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers from 1993-94 to 1995-96, and in 1993-94 averaged double-digits in scoring (10.4 points) for the final time in his career. He spent the last three seasons of his career with the Bullets (1996-97), Wizards (1997-98) and Philadelphia 76ers (1998-99). Overall in eleven seasons in the NBA, Harvey averaged 9.9 points on 46.9% from the field (nine shots per game) and 4.4 rebounds per game. He started 439 out of 783 games and played 26.2 minutes per game.
Harvey’s sons Jerami, Jerian, Jerai, and Jaelin all followed in their dad’s footsteps as basketball players. Jerami, the most accomplished of the foursome, was drafted 39th overall in the 2014 draft by the 76ers, and has spent the last three seasons with the Trail Blazers. Jerami is a great utility forward with offensive capabilities who can defend multiple positions and rebound well. He averaged a career-high 22.3 points per game in 2020-21 with the Detroit Pistons.
Jerian was drafted 19th overall in 2015 by the Wizards, and played 279 games over five NBA seasons with the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic, and the Wizards. In 2017-18 with the Bulls, he averaged a career-high 8.4 points per game.
Jerai played at Clemson from 2007-2011 and has played overseas. He currently plays for Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos.
Jaelin played at Independence Community College and played for the Central Coast Crusaders of Australia’s NBL1.
Horace, drafted by the Bulls in the same draft that the team drafted Olden Polynice eighth overall and traded Polynice to the Seattle SuperSonics for Scottie Pippen, became an integral part of the first 3-peat Bulls from 1991 to 1993.
In his second season, Horace became a full-time starter (seventy-nine games) and with ten shot attempts per contest averaged 12.0 points on 51.9% shooting and 8.6 rebounds in 35.6 minutes per game. In his third season, Horace averaged 13.4 points on 52.3% shooting (eleven shots) and 7.9 rebounds in 34.4 minutes per game in eighty starts.
Horace Grant in Chicago Bulls’ Championship Seasons (1991-1993)
1990-91: 12.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 54.7% FG (nine shots per game), 76 games started out of 78, 33.9 minutes per game
1991-92: 14.2 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 57.8% FG (ten shots per game), 81 games started out of 81, 35.3 minutes per game
1992-93: 13.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 50.8% FG (eleven shots per game), 77 games started out of 77, 35.6 minutes per game, 2nd team All-Defense
In 1993-94, Horace was an all-star for the first and only time and made All-Defensive 2nd team once again. He averaged 15.1 points on 52.4% shooting (thirteen shots per game), 11.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.2 blocks and played 36.7 minutes per game and started 69 of 70 contests. The Bulls without Michael Jordan went 55-27 and lost four games to three to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
In the summer of 1994, Horace left Chicago for Orlando and signed a four-year, $50 million deal with the Magic. He played with the Magic from 1994 to 1999, and made All-Defensive 2nd team in 1994-95 and 1995-96. From 1994-95 to 1997-98, he averaged double figures in scoring. Horace was a key member on the 1994-95 Magic team that won 57 games and made the NBA Finals.
Horace Grant’s Stats in First Four Magic Seasons
1994-95: 12.8 points, 9.7 rebounds, 56.7% shooting (ten shots per game), 74 starts out of 74 games, 36.4 minutes per game, 2nd team All-Defense
1995-96: 13.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 51.3% shooting (eleven shots per game), 62 starts out of 63 games, 36.3 minutes per game, 2nd team All-Defense
1996-97: 12.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 51.5% shooting (ten shots per game), 67 starts out of 67 games, 37.3 minutes per game
1997-98: 12.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 45.9% FG (eleven shots per game), 76 starts out of 76 games, 36.9 minutes per game
Horace played one more season in Orlando (1998-99, 8.9 points, 7.0 rebounds) before being traded to the Seattle SuperSonics. On draft night in 1999, he was traded to Seattle in exchange for Dale Ellis, Billy Owens, Don MacLean, and the rights to thirteenth overall draft choice Corey Maggette.
In 1999-00, Horace started 76 out of 76 games, played 35.4 minutes, and averaged 8.1 points on 44.4% shooting (eight shots per game) with 7.8 rebounds per game.
After the 1999-00 season, Horace was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers (reunited with Phil Jackson) in a three-way deal that sent the Lakers’ Glen Rice to the Knicks and the Knicks’ Patrick Ewing to the SuperSonics. Horace, 35 years old, averaged 8.5 points on 46.2% shooting (seven shots per game) and 7.1 rebounds in thirty-one minutes per game in seventy-seven starts as a Laker in 2000-01. He won his fourth NBA championship when the Lakers defeated the 76ers in five games in the ‘01 Finals.
Horace signed back with the Magic for 2001-02 and 2002-03 before one final NBA season, back with Jackson and the Lakers, in 2003-04.
Over his seventeen seasons, Horace averaged 11.2 points (50.9% FG, nine shots per game), 8.1 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game in 33.2 minutes per game. Out of 1,165 career games, he started 1,037. Horace’s best seasons were as a Bull, when over 546 games played and 468 starts he averaged 12.6 points (53.0% FG, ten shots per game), 8.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 33.3 minutes per game. He was an athletic forward with a solid jump shot who could defend at the rim, too - an ideal fit alongside Jordan and Pippen for three title teams. Horace was a one-time all-star and made four All-Defensive 2nd teams (all consecutive).
Happy 60th Birthday to Horace and Harvey Grant.
コメント