NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of The 1990s

50 greatest NBA players from the 1990s — 33. Larry Johnson

The consensus player of the year at UNLV, Larry Johnson came into the NBA as the No. 1 overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1991 NBA Draft.

He lived up to the hype, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1991-92 and making two All-Star appearances and earning All-NBA honors in 1992-93 for the Hornets.

Durable early in his career, Johnson led the NBA with 3,323 minutes played and 40.5 minutes per game in 1992-93 and finished third and fourth in that category in 1994-95 and 1995-96, respectively. He was also fourth in minutes per game in 1994-95.

He was traded to the New York Knicks in July 1996 for Anthony Mason and Brad Lohaus and in five seasons in Charlotte averaged 19.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 38.8 minutes per game, shooting .496/.347/.771.

Johnson never achieved the same level of success in New York as chronic back problems began to flare up more and more.

Still, he helped the Knicks to the 1999 NBA Finals—the only No. 8 seed ever to reach the Finals. In the five-game loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Johnson averaged 7.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals in 37 minutes per game, shooting .286/2-for-18/8-for-13.

Citing his back, Johnson retired after the 2000-01 season.

In three seasons with New York in the 1990s, Johnson averaged 13.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 34.2 minutes per game, shooting .489/.315/.746.

His career average of 36.3 minutes per game is 39th in NBA history.