Coming in at number 16 on our Memphis Grizzlies All-Time list is a guy who never wore Beale Street Blue and retired at the age of 27.
It is a story that is not crazy for Memphis Grizzlies fans, but would be crazy to the average NBA fan who did not know who Bryant Reeves was.
Reeves was selected sixth overall by the Grizzlies in the 1995 draft after a great four seasons at Oklahoma State University.
The Memphis Grizzlies franchise, who still resided in Vancouver, thought the franchise had their guy for the next decade. Reeves had that potential, and showed throughout his first four seasons as he averaged around 14 points and seven rebounds in those four seasons. Vancouver had signed Reeves to a six year contract extension when his rookie deal expired.
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However the story would dramatically go south for Reeves and his time in the NBA, and with the Grizzlies franchise.
Starting somewhere around the 1998 season Reeves battled weight issues, this lead to several injuries due to his height, and then the weight. Add those two things together, and you have a six year career in the NBA, with so much promise, yet so little time.
We see this in today’s NBA game with several big men who had the same issues. Reeves struggled in his last three seasons in the NBA. Reeves injuries worsened, and Bryant pushed his body to the maximum, eventually having to be carted off the court during a game.
| Season | Age | Tm | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P% | 2P% | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | BLK | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 22 | VAN | C | 77 | 63 | 31.9 | .457 | .000 | .459 | .732 | 2.3 | 5.1 | 7.4 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 13.3 |
| 1996-97 | 23 | VAN | C | 75 | 75 | 37.0 | .486 | .091 | .490 | .704 | 2.3 | 5.8 | 8.1 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 16.2 |
| 1997-98 | 24 | VAN | C | 74 | 74 | 34.1 | .523 | .000 | .525 | .706 | 2.6 | 5.3 | 7.9 | 1.1 | 3.8 | 16.3 |
| 1998-99 | 25 | VAN | C | 25 | 14 | 28.1 | .406 | .000 | .408 | .578 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 0.3 | 4.1 | 10.8 |
| 1999-00 | 26 | VAN | C | 69 | 67 | 25.7 | .448 | .000 | .452 | .648 | 1.8 | 3.8 | 5.7 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 8.9 |
| 2000-01 | 27 | VAN | C | 75 | 48 | 24.4 | .460 | .250 | .462 | .796 | 1.8 | 4.3 | 6.0 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 8.3 |
| Career | 395 | 341 | 30.6 | .475 | .074 | .478 | .703 | 2.2 | 4.8 | 6.9 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 12.5 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
In the chart above provided via Basketball Reference, you can see his numbers drop beginning in the 1997-98 season. Although Reeves remained the starting Grizzlies center throughout his five NBA seasons, his minutes per game dropped dramatically in his final seasons.
Reeves had all of the making of being a Grizzlies franchise player during his time in Vancouver, but like most great athletes things happened that were out of their control. For Reeves, weight control, and having a huge frame cut his time in the NBA short way too soon, but still has a special spot on our All-Time list.