Rice Glen life and biography

Glen Anthony Rice (born May 28 1967, in Flint where he played for Flint Northwestern High School, Michigan) is a retired American NBA basketball player. Rice was a three-time NBA All-Star small forward well known for his pinpoint shooting accuracy, ranking 4th in NBA history with 1,559 three-point field goals made during his 15-year career. Rice has been a player on both a team that won an NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship and a team that won an NBA Championship. As an individual, he has won both the NBA All-Star Game MVP and the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

NBA career

After starting his senior season as a projected mid-first round selection, after his performance in the NCAA Tournament his stock rose to the point where he was selected #4 overall in the 1989 NBA Draft by the 2nd-year Miami Heat, who were in dire need of offensive help after finishing last in the NBA in points per game in 1988-89. In Miami, after only averaging 13.6 points per game his rookie season, Rice averaged 20 ppg for his remaining five seasons in Miami, which also included two trips to the playoffs, but without winning a series during Rice's tenure. Days before the start of the 1995-96 NBA season, Rice was traded to the Charlotte Hornets along with Matt Geiger in exchange for disgruntled Hornets center Alonzo Mourning. A spokesperson for the Hornets repeatedly remarked in a press-conference that Glen Rice was "twice as nice as McDice". It was a trade that worked out for both teams, as Mourning quickly established himself as an All-Star in Miami, and Rice would make the first of three consecutive All-Star Game appearances, including in 1996-97, where he would be named the All-Star Game MVP.

In 1999, Rice was again traded along with J.R. Reid, this time to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell and was considered the last piece of the puzzle for the Lakers to return to the NBA Finals. Though the Lakers would lose to the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs that season, with Rice a virtual non-factor in the series, Rice was a key member of the Laker squad who a year later would win the 2000 NBA Championship over the Indiana Pacers. Rice played 15 seasons in the NBA from 1989-2004. He was a three-time All-Star who finished with career averages of 18.3 points and 4.4 rebounds in 1,000 regular-season games with the Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers. He finished with 18,336 career points. Rice peaked as a member of the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996-1997 season when he was third in the league in scoring behind only Michael Jordan and Karl Malone averaging 26.8 points per game. Rice also played in 55 career playoff games, averaging 16.1 points and 4.5 rebounds. He averaged 16.3 points in three All-Star games.

Early in his career, Rice was the primary scorer for the Heat and the Hornets. When he was traded to the Lakers, he became a third scorer behind Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. In the championship he won with the Lakers in 2000, he led the team alongside Bryant and O'Neal. After winning a championship with the Lakers, Rice was traded to the New York Knicks where he would take on a sixth-man role on the team and provide the Knicks with well needed support off the bench. His personal outstanding achievement in the NBA came when he was named MVP of the 1997 All-Star game, which was commerating the 50th anniversary of NBA. In the game, he set All-Star game records of 20 points in the third quarter and 24 points in the second half. He also won the NBA All-Star Long Distance Shootout at the 1995 All-Star game in Phoenix. Rice scored a career-high 56 points on April 15, 1995 while playing for the Heat in a nationally-televised game against Shaquille O'Neal and the Orlando Magic. Rice hit 20 of 27 shots from the floor, including 7-of-8 from the 3-point line. The 56 points were an NBA season-high for the 1994-95 season. Rice remains the Hornets' all-time leader in scoring average with 23.5 points per game.

Despite only playing 79 of 82 games, he led the NBA in minutes played in 1997 (3362). That same season he led the league in 3-point Field Goal percentage (47.0%). In the closing years of his career, he struggled with his weight (leading to knee problems) and became slow to keep up with the emerging younger talent in the NBA.


Awards

- NBA Champion (2000)
- NBA All-Star MVP Award: 1997
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Tournament Outstanding
Player: 1989
- 3 time All-Star
- 2 times All-NBA — 1997 second team, 1998 third team
- All Rookie NBA — 1990
- Retired Jerseys: #41 University of Michigan

Statistical Highlights

- NBA leader 3-Pt Field Goal %: 1997
- NBA leader minutes played: 1997
- NBA leader games played: 1995, 1998
- 4th All Time in Three Pointers Made

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