Horace Grant was selected 10th overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 1987 NBA Draft. As good as a player as Horace Grant was, he was still only the second most valuable acquisition for the Bulls during that draft as it was also the year that they selected Scottie Pippen. This is fitting for Horace Grant as he was a very good player who was constantly overlooked due to the surrounding cast he had during his time in the NBA.
After Grant's rookie year, the Bulls traded Charles Oakley to acquire Bill Cartwright. This gave the Bulls a starting center and opened up the starting power forward position for Grant. Once that happened, he was a model of consistency. You could always count on about 13 points, 9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, a steal, a block and some sweet rec-specs every game. He was the perfect third wheel for those early Bulls teams as he provided efficient scoring as a third option while doing the dirty work of defense and rebounding in the front court.
And this is where I get sad as a writer. There is nothing more to write about Horace Grant's time with the Bulls. He was a super good basketball player, but nothing about him stands out. He was above average in everything for a power forward, but there's not a lot of ways to wax poetically about above averageness. Did he have some exciting games? Yeah, but it's not like he ever took over a series, and even in his highlight video, he's not even doing the most impressive move in half of the plays.
Never second, never fourth, he was always the third best player on those Bulls teams.
And this is driving me crazy, because Horace Grant deserves better. The man is third on this list, and maybe that says it all. He was the third best player on the championship Bulls teams, the third best player on some really strong Orlando Magic teams, and even the third best player on the first Lakers championship team with Kobe and Shaq. He had the talent of the second best player on a contending team, and he ended up as a number three that helped build a dynasty.
With his talent, Horace Grant deserved more, but hopefully this was enough. It may not be the most exciting career, but it's still damn impressive.
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