Bryant Reeves (born June 8, 1973) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Reeves spent his entire career with the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division (NBA), Midwest Division of the Western Conference ( ...

, playing with the team from 1995 until 2001. He was nicknamed "Big Country" by his college teammate Byron Houston after Reeves was amazed by the size of the United States following his first cross-country airplane flight, having grown up in the small community of Gans, Oklahoma.

College career

Standing tall and weighing between , Reeves was an imposing physical presence on the court and was primed to become a dominant center in the NBA. He had 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.

Professional career

Vancouver / Memphis Grizzlies (1995–2002)

Reeves became the Grizzlies' first-ever draft choice, selected sixth overall in the 1995 NBA draft. 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 the 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 The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. He was the first and last player to wear #50 before Zach Randolph, whom it was retired in honor of. After 1998, weight-control problems and injuries began to take a toll on Reeves, and his numbers fell off dramatically. 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 Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, 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 preseason play in the fall of 2001, Reeves experienced back pain after just two preseason games. On January 29, 2002, the Grizzlies announced Reeves' retirement from the NBA due to chronic back pain caused by degenerative discs. At the time he was the Grizzlies all-time leader in games played with 395.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1995–96 , align="left" ,

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, 77 , , 63 , , 24.9 , , .457 , , .000 , , .732 , , 7.4 , , 1.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.7 , , 13.3 , - , align="left" , 1996–97 , align="left" ,

, 75 , , 75 , , 37.0 , , .486 , , .091 , , .704 , , 8.1 , , 2.1 , , 0.4 , , 0.9 , , 16.2 , - , align="left" , 1997–98 , align="left" ,

, 74 , , 74 , , 34.1 , , .523 , , .000 , , .706 , , 7.9 , , 2.1 , , 0.5 , , 1.1 , , 16.3 , - , align="left" , 1998–99 , align="left" ,

, 25 , , 14 , , 28.1 , , .406 , , .000 , , .578 , , 5.5 , , 1.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 10.8 , - , align="left" , 1999–00 , align="left" ,

, 69 , , 67 , , 25.7 , , .448 , , .000 , , .648 , , 5.7 , , 1.2 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 8.9 , - , align="left" , 2000–01 , align="left" ,

, 75 , , 48 , , 24.4 , , .460 , , .250 , , .796 , , 6.0 , , 1.1 , , 0.6 , , 0.7 , , 8.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 395 , , 341 , , 30.6 , , .475 , , .074 , , .703 , , 6.9 , , 1.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.8 , , 12.5 , -

Personal life

Bryant was the subject of Kathleen Jayme's documentary film '' Finding Big Country'' in 2018. Following his career, Reeves went back to Oklahoma and is now a cattle farmer and a family man, living on a ranch in Sequoyah County. His son Trey was a three year walk on at Oklahoma State, earning a scholarship his final year and was accepted to

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

References

External links

Historical Player Profile
at NBA.com *
TheDraftReview.com: Bryant Reeves's NBA Draft History Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, Bryant 1973 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball players from Arkansas Basketball players from Oklahoma Centers (basketball) Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball players People from Sequoyah County, Oklahoma Sportspeople from Fort Smith, Arkansas Vancouver Grizzlies draft picks Vancouver Grizzlies players 20th-century American sportsmen