Bryant Reeves

Bryant Reeves
Personal information
Born	June 8, 1973 (age 51); Fort Smith, Arkansas
Nationality	American
Listed height	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight	275 lb (125 kg)
Career information
High school	Gans (Gans, Oklahoma)
College	Oklahoma State (1991–1995)
NBA draft	1995: 1st round, 6th overall pick
	Selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies
Playing career	1995–2001
Position	Center
Number	50
Career history
1995–2001	Vancouver Grizzlies
Career highlights and awards
	NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1996); 2× Second-team All-American – UPI (1994, 1995); 2× Third-team All-American – AP (1994, 1995); 2× Big Eight Player of the Year (1993, 1995); 3× First-team All-Big Eight (1993–1995);
Career NBA statistics
Points	4,945 (12.5 ppg)
Rebounds	2,745 (6.9 rpg)
Blocks	302 (0.8 bpg)
	Stats at NBA.com
	Stats at Basketball Reference

Bryant Reeves (born June 8, 1973) is an American retired professional basketball player. Reeves spent his entire career with the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies, playing with the team from 1995 until 2001. He was nicknamed "Big Country" by his college teammate Byron Houston after Reeves was amazed following his first airplane flight across the United States,^[1] having grown up in the small community of Gans, Oklahoma.^[2]

College career

Standing seven feet (210 cm) tall and weighing between 275 and 300 pounds (125 and 136 kg), Reeves was an imposing physical presence on the court and was primed to become a dominant center in the NBA. After a strong collegiate career with Oklahoma State University, where he averaged 21.5 points per game as a senior and led OSU to the 1995 Final Four, Reeves became the Grizzlies' first-ever draft choice, selected sixth overall in the 1995 NBA draft.^[3]

Professional career

Reeves played six seasons with the Grizzlies. After averaging 13.3 points per game in a solid rookie season, he averaged 16.2 points per game in 1996–97 season and was subsequently awarded with a six-year, $61.8 million contract extension. The next season was his best, when he averaged 16.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.08 blocked shots per game. During that season he scored a career-high 41 points against the Boston Celtics.

After 1998, weight-control problems and injuries began to take a toll on Reeves, and his numbers fell off dramatically.^[4] He was still the starting center for the Grizzlies, but his minutes per game dropped, and his field goal percentage dropped significantly. Eventually, after the Grizzlies moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 2001, Reeves started the season on the injured list due to chronic back pain and was never able to play another game (the only games he played with the team in Memphis were two preseason games). During the preseason play in the fall of 2001, Reeves had experienced back pain and had to be taken off the court on two connected stretchers carried by eight of his teammates.^{[citation needed]} He retired from the league midway through the 2001–02 season.^[5]

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1995–96	Vancouver	77	63	24.9	.457	.000	.732	7.4	1.4	0.6	0.7	13.3
1996–97	Vancouver	75	75	37.0	.486	.679	.704	8.1	2.1	0.4	0.9	16.2
1997–98	Vancouver	74	74	34.1	.523	.346	.706	7.9	2.1	0.5	1.1	16.3
1998–99	Vancouver	25	14	28.1	.406	.694	.578	5.5	1.5	0.5	0.3	10.8
1999–00	Vancouver	69	67	25.7	.448	.000	.648	5.7	1.2	0.5	0.6	8.9
2000–01	Vancouver	75	48	24.4	.460	.250	.796	6.0	1.1	0.6	0.7	8.3
Career		395	341	30.6	.475	.074	.703	6.9	1.6	0.5	0.8	12.5

Personal life

Reeves owns a large cattle ranch outside Gans, where he lives with his wife and four children.^[6]

References

External links

[1] NBA.com player file

[2] Reeves' Town Reacts When `News' Breaks

[3] The First Face of the Grizzlies Franchise and a Big Country

[4] PRO BASKETBALL; Some Scales Tipping Over As N.B.A. Season Tips Off

[5] Back injury forces Grizzlies' Reeves to retirement

[6] ttps://vancouversun.com/sports/Hunting+down+Grizzlies+years+later/4312436/story.html

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