NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of The 1990s
By Phil Watson
50 greatest NBA players from the 1990s — 34. Dan Majerle
Dan Majerle came into the NBA as the 14th overall pick in the 1988 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns and burst onto the scene as the new decade began.
He was a three-time All-Star for the Suns in the 1990s as well as a two-time All-Defensive pick. He led the NBA in 3-pointers with 167 in 1992-93 and 192 in 1993-94 and was fourth in the league in minutes played in 1992-93 and fifth in minutes per game in 1993-94.
He also helped the Suns to the NBA Finals in 1993, where they lost to the Chicago Bulls in six games. In the series, Majerle averaged 17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.2 blocks and 1.3 steals in 46.8 minutes per game, shooting .443/.436/.800.
In October 1995, Majerle was traded with Antonio Lang and a first-round pick in 1997 to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Hot Rod Williams.
In six seasons with Phoenix in the 1990s, Majerle averaged 15.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals in 35.5 minutes per game, shooting .449/.369/.755.
He spent one season in Cleveland, averaging 10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a steal in 28.9 minutes per game on .405/.353/.710 shooting before he was released in August 1996.
Majerle signed with the Miami Heat as a free agent in August 1996.
Injured in 1996-97 and limited to 36 games, Majerle was a starter and a reserve during his three seasons in Miami in the 1990s, averaging eight points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a steal in 30.9 minutes per game, shooting .409/.353/.724.
Majerle played two more seasons with the Heat before returning to Phoenix as a free agent in July 2001, retiring at the end of the 2001-02 season.
In the decade, Majerle was ninth with 1,087 3-pointers.
An assistant coach with the Suns from 2008-13, Majerle has been head coach at Grand Canyon since 2013, where he has a record of 32-30 in two seasons with the fledgling Division I program.
He is 28th in NBA history with 1,360 3-pointers.