| Background |
| Fiery 6'2 point guard Greg Anthony served as a key reserve during his first four NBA seasons before becoming the Vancouver Grizzlies' first pick in the 1995 NBA Expansion Draft. Greg is a great shooter, especially from behind the arc, but is even a greater, sure-handed playmaker with exellent defensive skills who led the Grizzlies in scoring and assists in the first year they were in the NBA, and topped the team in assists again in 1996-97. He moved to Seattle as a free agent and was Gray Payton's backup in 1997-98, then signed with Portland as a free agent prior to the 1998-99 season and led the Blazers in steals. Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, Greg bagan his college career at the University of Portland but transferred to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas after his freshman season. As a junior in 1989-90 he teamed with Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon to lead the Runnin' Rebels to a NCAA Championship. One season later he averaged 8.9 assists per game. He finished his UNLV career as the school's all-time assist leader and shared the No. 1 spot on the steals list with Stacey Augmon. (Stacey played one season more for UNLV) The Knicks selected Greg with the 12th overall pick in the 1991 NBA Draft. Serving as Mark Jackson's backup at point guard, Greg became the sixth rookie in Knicks history to appear in all 82 games, averaging 5.5 points and 3.8 assists. In his second season het posted the fourth-best assists-to-turnovers ratio in the league as he upped his assists numbers to 5.7 per game. With Jackson having departed, Greg shared starting responsibilities and leaded the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals. A key contributor in 1993-94, Greg filled a reserve role until Rivers went down with a season ending injury in December. Greg scored a career-high 7.9 points per game and established a career best for minutes with 1994. He also continued develop a three-point shot, posting .300 percentage from long range after two years of registering below .200. Greg Anthony and the Knicks reached the 1994 NBA Finals but lost to the Houston Rockets in seven close games. Coach Pat Riley made a big mistake while Greg slipped back into a reserve role in the playoffs, coming off the bench behing new acquistion Derek Harper. Greg saw a redused role in 1994-95 and played fewer than 1000 minutes for the first time in his career. He contributed 6.1 points and a career low 2.6 assists per game. The Knicks left Greg unprotected in the NBA Expansion Draft, and he was snatched up by the Vancouver Grizzlies with the second overall pick, after the Toronto Raptors tabbed B.J. Armstrong from the Chicago Bulls. In 1994-95, Greg led the Grizzlies in averages of 14.0 points and 6.9 assists per game, 13th in the NBA. He also topped the team with 90 three-pointers. The following season he led the club with 6.3 assists and 1.98 steals, 20th in the NBA, respectively, but by the coming of NBA rookie sensation Shareef Abdur-Rahim his scoring dipped to 9.5 ppg. Greg signed with the Seattle Supersonics as a free agent on October 9, 1997 and played a backup role behind NBA superstar point guard Gary Payton, contributing 5.2 points and 2.6 assists in 12.8 minutes per game in 1997-98, less than half the playing time he had gotten in each of his previous two seasons. Greg signed as a free agent with Portland on Januari 22, 1999, and played in all 50 games for the Blazers, leading them to the Western Conference Finals with a team high 1.32 steals per game. Although he was the backup to Damon Stoudamire, and did not start even a single game, he often was on the court in the final minutes of close games because of his defensive skills. |
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