Hoops Habit
Fansided

30 NBA players who also had kids play in the league

By Larry Hammonds

CHARLOTTE, NC - FEBRUARY 16: (L-R) Allie LaForce interviews Seth Curry and Stephen CUrry during the 2019 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night at Spectrum Center on February 16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - FEBRUARY 16: (L-R) Allie LaForce interviews Seth Curry and Stephen CUrry during the 2019 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night at Spectrum Center on February 16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
18 of 30
Next
Larry Nance Jr.
Larry Nance Jr. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /

NBA players who also had kids play in the league: Larry Nance/Larry Nance Jr.

Larry Nance is a former first-round draft pick, three-time All-Star, and a three-time All-Defensive player, but he is best known as the winner of the inaugural NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1984.

Nance was the model of consistency and efficiency during his playing days. From the 1982-83 season through the 1992-93 season, he started 776 of a possible 807 games while averaging 18.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.4 blocks, and 1.0 steals in 35.4 minutes per game.

Always among the highest in field goal percentage, Nance only shot under 51 percent from the field once (48.7 percent in his final season) in his entire 13-year career. He was a lethal mid-range shooter and used a combination of strength and athleticism to score amongst the trees around the rim.

He was also one of the league’s better shot blockers, averaging 2.2 blocks per game during his career, and is the only non-center other than Kevin Garnett to amass at least 2,000 blocks during his career. The Cavaliers retired his number 22 jersey after his retirement, but he gave the franchise permission to allow his son to wear it after being traded to Cleveland in 2018.

At the tender age of 16, Larry Nance Jr. was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, but that didn’t stop him from pursuing his basketball dreams. In 2015 Nance Jr. was drafted with the 27th overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers. They would eventually trade him to the Cavaliers, helping the team reach the NBA Finals in 2018. A high-flyer and solid defender like his father but never the consistent scorer he was, Nance Jr. once again followed in his father’s footsteps when he entered the 2018 Slam Dunk Contest, but he finished in second place. He’s found success as a key role player, but injuries have marred his career, and he likely won’t ever reach his true ceiling as a player as a result.