Bryant Reeves may be one of the most mocked players from his time, but is he really deserving of the hate he receives? Today we cover the untold story of Big Country Bryant Reeves.
He got everything he needd from the game - and has spent decades a happy farmer chilling in the country. Played the game, it didn't play him. Not a bad life.
@wraithyoshidj6702 how do you know that #1? Putting words in someone's mouth there. And Kwame is better than BC. Dude was a journeyman according to me. He is even better off the court.
@@wraithyoshidj6702 Kwame was hot garbage. Injuries destroyed Big Country's career compared to Kwame who lacked skill and had a fragile mentality. I'll take the guy who almost averaged a double-double and had Shaq struggling to stop him over a guy who averaged 6 and 5 and cried like a little girl who skinned her knee because somebody yelled at him.
Agreed. Dude was solid. I think that narrative came from his contract. 60 mil for 6 years? By that contract, sure he was bust, but it’s not his fault they overpaid lol
He’s not the worst player ever…but he was a flop. This commentator is way off the mark saying he was headed to being a future all-star. His defense was abysmal & he was extremely inefficient-and that was before his weight & back issues. He was a serviceable big man for two or three years & only lasted 6 years in the NBA-mainly due to terrible conditioning/work ethic. He was the 6th pick in the draft. He most certainly was a bust.
@@NotSoOriginal06”48% from the field” doesn’t mean anything. 1) that’s not even good for a big who didn’t attempt threes. it’s horrid actually. 2) FG% only measures accuracy. TS% is efficiency. he had a 51% TS for his career, a 98 TS+ (2% worse than league average which is always TS+ 100). that is AWFUL for a low volume scorer, hell it’s awful for a 30ppg scorer. 65% at the rim for his career, which would be fine if he was a point guard. as an off ball big man mostly being assisted? heinous. do you know ball or just like to say stuff for fun?
@@sjturner15 He was young, and was putting up solid #'s. If he had a decent team around him, who could hit from the outside and a pg that could get him some easy ones, he would've looked a lot better. And if he had that, being a few years older, instead of breaking down, he may have been an all star a couple of times. Where he was a bust was his poor conditioning, which likely lead to his quick decline. If he focused on being in shape, he probably could've lasted a 4 or 5 more more years before knee n back issues took over.
Idk tho shaq always got nice things to say abt yao ming, rik smits, big country but if u ask him abt hakeem ewing admiral he will brag abt how he is better than legends and he destroyed them
As some have said, anyone who calls Reeves one of the worst players has no concept of NBA history and basketball. He was a solid player, ask Shaq. I can think of literally hundreds of NBA players who when compared with their NBA colleagues, should not have been in the league.
Big Country was a solid player the problem is some fans and sports writers don’t know the difference between a HOF player and all star a solid player a role player a bust and the worst player ever:
I was born (also in Fort Smith) and raised just 20 miles from him. Graduated 4 years before him. Ex wife went to Gans with him (in a graduating class of FOURTEEN 😅). Let me tell you, and anybody reading this, what they REALLY need to know- What Bryant Reeves IS NOT, and HAS NEVER, been? An a$$hole. He is a good man, and a loving father. He cares about his community. He treats everyone he meets graciously and respectfully. Whomever wrote "mouth breathing hippopotamus" should have been fired just for being an a$$hole. Thank you for a respectful, honest take on him. It would have been easier and 'funnier' to simply dunk on him for views, but you didn't. Good on ya.
Absolutely. But we have to listen to a bunch of ball bouncing felons, who actively help the murderous Chinese communists, tell us all how racist America is. If Reeves is a failure, I pray to God my children grow up to be a failure just like him.
@Arena-nv2ul you were better rright. You should have had a shot in the NBA like he did right. Your the the better man , right? Get a job,, instead of trolling.
He wasn't as bad as people claim. Averaging 16 and 8 before injuries are good numbers. Luc Longley, Jason Collins, and alot other centers never averaged those numbers and noone ever called them bad
Also, looking at that draft class he was in. It wasn’t like the other too big men in that draft did much better than him outside of Jerry Stackhouse. McDysss and Kurt Thomas weren’t exactly great players despite long careers as reliable secondary players.
The documentary about him "finding big country" is one of the most wholesome things on this site. Dude's just living his life out on a badass ranch in his hometown. Donated most of his NBA stuff to a museum in Vancouver
Anybody sayin Big Country Reeves is one of the "worst players of all time" is just stupid. Shareef Abdul Rahim was good too for the Vancouver Grizzlies.
Anybody that averaged 13 ppg and 7 rebounds as a rookie and 16 ppg and 8 rebounds a game for 2 other seasons in the NBA is not the "worst" of anything as far as basketball goes. Many other NBA players haven't averaged half of that. Anyone that says that they are does not know what they are talking about as far as basketball.
@@brycekilkenny4623 There is a career graveyard of players that never had a career that Big Country had. These people act like if you are not the greatest player of all time with 10 championships, you are the worst player of all time. No in between and that type of talk is stupid talk.
He was pretty good for 2 or 3 years with a lot of upside. Very good post game( excellent hands and footwork), good rebounder, knew his limitations on defense. Also an excellent low post passer. His legs were terrible, he was on a team where he was needed for 3000 minutes a year whereas he still needed to develop his fitness. Was done after 5 years. Todd McCollough had a similar problem. He was a pretty fun player in his time, people still look upon his career pretty fondly nearly 30 years later
Shows the impact of player development and trainers. He had basically the same physical gifts coming into the NBA as Nikola Jokic the current MVP but just happened to be on a horrible team where he never got close to his potential
@@stevelau7694 I'm going to disagree. Reeves had a much better vertical than Jokic while Jolic has a million, billion times more agility, both physical and mental.
I met him as a child at a summer camp in Tulsa. He was such a gentle giant and the absolute biggest human being i have ever seen especially as a 10 year old.
The OSU tourney run showed just what this kid "COULD" do, as he friggin ABUSED all the supposed big time soon-to-be NBA centers: Camby and even Duncan (Duncan held him A LITTLE, and Country couldn't shut Dunc down like he did everyone else, i.e. Duncan did NOT have his typical amazing game).... My cousin and I were convinced he was the next big thing, especially when combined with that nickname, his fun attitude, etc... I always work him up to like 98 level in NBA2K lol
Big Country was on one of the worst teams in the NBA. He was never considered a franchise player, but a very good center that could help a team who just needed a big man to put them over the top. Heck even Lebron would have problems putting that Grizzlies team on his back and he had to put a pretty bad Cavs team on his back when he first came in the league as a high school talent. BC could of been a lot more under a better system and better team. Not a team full of scrubs with young high draft picks being your team leaders.
No, he was supposed to be the franchise player. Point guards were to bring the ball down the court and get it to him. When he was healthy that could work. That was the GM's stated intention and he had his coaches follow through with that style. I was in the building for at least one of his great games and wow, but obviously it didn't make up for everything else and kind of made it more frustrating: when he was on he was a lot like his hero Patrick Ewing, but the amount of times he was on were not enough.
Not too bad when healthy. In his 6 seasons had a career high of 41 pts. 17 games of 30 or more points. Career highs of 18 rebounds and 7 blocks. In his 3rd season his shooting percentage was 52%. Most teams would take that over whoever they've got playing center now.
He wasn’t bad. He just underachieved. He lacked self-discipline and his body wouldn’t hold up. He’s nowhere close to being the worst pro in NBA history. His overall numbers for his career: 13/7/2/1/1 on a shooting splits of 48/7/70. Those aren’t bad numbers. They just aren’t great, either.
There’s no way he is a draft bust or worst player in league history. Multiple season over 15ppg and almost averaging a double double is not in the same class as Darko. Also being a 7 footer with size is taxing on the body. Chet, Bol Bol, Wembi are all modern 7 footers built like twigs. Being that large is going to put a tax on the his body more than people give credit
He was a bucket for years. He got paid tens of millions for a reason. And now he’s living a happy life, and raised at least one brilliant kid who’s an academic all american at oklahoma state.
Context is important. The guy was picked 6th in a pretty weak draft in retrospect. Not a lot of guys were standouts in his draft class. And realistically he had maybe the the 6th or 7th best career as a big man even if it was cut short. A lot of big guys in this draft lasted longer but they were like career backup bigs. Of the big men in this draft only Rasheed Wallace, Joe Smith(barely), Mcdyess, and Garnett had better careers and they were all picked ahead of him. Only guy that disputedly had a better career as a big man picked after him was Theo Ratliff. And have a look at the actual perimeter players in that draft available. No-one was going to pick Michael Finley at no 6. If you redrafted the 1995 NBA draft he'd still be a lottery pick
@@rapgodreloaded9259 What about Kwame? he was not part of the 1995 NBA draft. He was part of the 2001 draft. The 2001 draft was much deeper. Big Country was picked 6th - he was around the 6-7th best player in that draft. Kwame was picked 1st in 2001. He was probably the 12th-13th best player in his draft. That's the difference. That's the context. Gasol, Zach Randolph, Tyson Chandler, Richard Jefferson, Shane Battier, Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace, Mehmet Okur, Tony Parker Joe Johnson and Gilbert Arenas was that class. Almost all those guys were top tier starters for some really good teams. Then you had guys like Troy Murphy, Jamal Tinsley and Brendan Haywood that were long time solid contributors. All those guys would get drafted ahead of Kwame in a redraft. But IMO he wasn't even the biggest draft bust in that class- Eddy Curry was. Kwame at least became a journeyman backup big, Eddy Curry got a huge contract and promptly ate his way out of the league on top of being absolutely allergic to rebounding and defence. So while Kwame was a bust he was still was useful for a lot of teams and had a decent career. Eddy Curry's contract killed the Knicks, he effectively busted twice: he was a bust for the team that drafted him Chicago and then busted for the team that gave him a stupid contract - the Knicks.
You are 100% true. If you go back and re-do the 1995 draft, considering the pick they had, there’s nobody else that jumps out and says “Vancouver should have taken him instead!” because the better guys were already gone by then.
@@Greenfrom3 I just don't like Kwame getting shit on unnecessarily. Disappointing career? Not worth a no1 pick? Absolutely yes. But the Wizards were a giant mess behind the scenes. Guns being pulled on each other in the locker room, Jordan being Jordan etc etc. Who has any chance of developing let alone an 18 year old kid who already was drafted way too high.
It's tough to blame Vancouver losing their team on Big Country when the front office decides drafting the guy who refused to play for them (Steve Francis) is the best move.
Keep it up Swish🫡 You’re my primary source for these mini player Bio’s and they are always entertaining. Maybe Antoine Walker, Larry Johnson, or Zo Mourning next on the “How Good” side?
Honestly, I’m not sure he *couldn’t* have made it today. He has a lot of the same descriptions as negative Jokic press and so much of NBA success does come from routine and conditioning. I’m not aware of his game like that but if he was giving Duncan (albeit a young one but still he was still 2nd team All-Defense in his rookie year) and Lakers Shaq problems, he would at least be a huge scoring threat now
Giving Duncan problems is overstating it they head to head 10 times he averaged 9.4 pts on 41.6 fg% wish I had ts% srry his high was 12 pts. Shaq was a little better he averaged than 11.2 on 44.3 in 13 games
I watched BC-closely-for all four of his years at OK State. He was very much a hardworking kid, but I think he needed supervision when it came to conditioning. Left to his own devices during the lockout, he allowed himself to fall out of shape. That contributed heavily to his injuries. NO ONE said he was a “bust,” much less a “bad” player, until he got injured. In hindsight, the Griz should have send a full time trainer to work with BC during the lockout. In light of all the money they invested in BC, that step would not have been an unreasonable demand. In fact, I think BC would have welcomed the help. Yes, BC absolutely had a responsibility to keep himself in shape. But if I’m investing $61 million in someone, I’m leaving little to chance.
As is the case with some 7 footers in the NBA his career was cut short by injuries. He obviously was good enough to put up some pretty decent numbers but 82 games per season takes a pounding on guys who are 7 foot and 280 pounds. That's just a lot of wear and tear on those joints.
I spent a bit of time as a kid around the grizzlies and Big Country was always nice and had time for ya. Unlike say Mike Bibby who clearly hated every moment in Van.. tragic they didnt get to stay.. Vancouver has grown alot since then and I think players would embrace the city differently now.. talking to you steve francis
As you stated He was an okay player, he was a traditional center, with good back to the basket game a good midrange shooter for his size. He was slow footed defender, then let his body go with the lockout season if no lockout probably he would have been in the league for 2-3 more years. You can't be a bumm scoring this much in the nba even if your team is the last in the standings
Reeves was a decent player who flamed out early. It's only the very rare players that stay for over a decade, mainly because of the insane work ethic required, and the luck to avoid injuries. He's nowhere near the bust level of someone like Darko Miličić, Anthony Bennet, or Greg Oden.
He averaged 12.5/7 over 400 games. And earned $55 mill by age 27. That isn’t anyone’s all star, but NBA isn’t a charity so you can’t do that without being a decent player. Worst ever? Definitely no. That said, he had problems staying fit and his back failed him. But he has nothing to apologize for.
If the Grizzlies had drafted Steve Nash in 96 would have taken the pressure off of Reeves thanks again Stu Jackson the guy didnt miss a shot at his pro day and you passed on a local kid killed the franchise 🤦♂️ oh and the Steve Francis disaster🤬
Huh? I remember him as decent in the NBA (good college player) but had some injuries that hampered him. Definitely not anywhere close to historically bad.
He is not the worst ever... There are more terrible players with 100M plus contracts and does not play well... some dont even want to play even with 200M contract... they are the worst for the fans...
This is stupid and crazy for anybody to call him one of the worst NBA players of all time that’s totally disrespectful and false he was a good player not great but was better than a lot of people we consider good
There's a list a mile long of players that were worse than Reeves. It's hard hard to think of the names because they were shitty players & didn't last in the league that long.
He was decent. It was clear basketball was his second passion. He never came into training camp in shape. They gave him a ridiculous contract and then it went down hill. He blew out his knee getting back in shape and then was out of the league within 3 years.
This title is BS he wasn’t bad at all. He instantly produced and was one of the better Centers in the league his first 3 seasons. Just fell off quick mostly due to injuries
I became an nba fan as a kid in Vancouver because the grizzlies became an expansion team. I loved Country and always felt like he got a lot of shit when he was consistently there with decent numbers and he’d occasionally cook some stars trying to defend him.
i wish the Grizzlies would've stayed in BC. Those uniforms were great. It's crazy that in the 90's we had 3 nba teams in the pacific northwest. Now the TrailBlazers are the only one left. Makes you wonder if the nba will ever expand to Vancouver or Seattle again. ...& why didnt Memphis change the team name? There are no grizzly bears in Memphis to my knowledge.
@@aaronholcomb237 interesting fact. i didnt know that. They have a Canadian Football League team called the BC Lions(although i have no idea how lions & British Columbia correspond). But i will say, for any american football fans who've not seen CFL ball - it's actually quite entertaining. Especially if you're a college football fan, as lots of former NCAA stars end up playing up north. The rule differences are a bit confusing - but its still alotta fun to watch.
He wasn't a bad player, he had a solid career and had an injury that ended that. Still, he spent years playing the game and used it to make a living for himself after without any fuss. I bet he's thankful for what the game gave him. Humble and down-to-earth guy.
Shaq made a lot big dudes rich during his era. Oliver Miller, Keith Tractor Trailer, Eddie Curry, they were tossing contracts at big boddies you didnt need skill Popeye Jones.
He got everything he needd from the game - and has spent decades a happy farmer chilling in the country. Played the game, it didn't play him. Not a bad life.
Closer to a true GOAT than what many say 🎖
Funny because I'm pretty sure U think Kwame brown is a bust but he did exactly the same
@wraithyoshidj6702 how do you know that #1? Putting words in someone's mouth there. And Kwame is better than BC. Dude was a journeyman according to me. He is even better off the court.
@@wraithyoshidj6702Kwame was just a skinnier colored version of BC
@@wraithyoshidj6702 Kwame was hot garbage. Injuries destroyed Big Country's career compared to Kwame who lacked skill and had a fragile mentality. I'll take the guy who almost averaged a double-double and had Shaq struggling to stop him over a guy who averaged 6 and 5 and cried like a little girl who skinned her knee because somebody yelled at him.
I'm 40 so I watched him real time he definitely not the worst player he played in era of a lot of good bigs he was decent
It's like how people call Laettner a flop. If you got those kind of expectations 3 years of 14, 10 isn't enough.
Big country will always be a beast to me🤷🏽♂️
Imagine you have career average of 12 and 7 but people calls you a flop
While shooting 48% from the field. From a stats perspective he was a very solid big man
Agreed. Dude was solid.
I think that narrative came from his contract. 60 mil for 6 years? By that contract, sure he was bust, but it’s not his fault they overpaid lol
He’s not the worst player ever…but he was a flop. This commentator is way off the mark saying he was headed to being a future all-star. His defense was abysmal & he was extremely inefficient-and that was before his weight & back issues. He was a serviceable big man for two or three years & only lasted 6 years in the NBA-mainly due to terrible conditioning/work ethic. He was the 6th pick in the draft. He most certainly was a bust.
@@NotSoOriginal06”48% from the field” doesn’t mean anything. 1) that’s not even good for a big who didn’t attempt threes. it’s horrid actually. 2) FG% only measures accuracy. TS% is efficiency. he had a 51% TS for his career, a 98 TS+ (2% worse than league average which is always TS+ 100). that is AWFUL for a low volume scorer, hell it’s awful for a 30ppg scorer. 65% at the rim for his career, which would be fine if he was a point guard. as an off ball big man mostly being assisted? heinous. do you know ball or just like to say stuff for fun?
@@sjturner15 He was young, and was putting up solid #'s. If he had a decent team around him, who could hit from the outside and a pg that could get him some easy ones, he would've looked a lot better. And if he had that, being a few years older, instead of breaking down, he may have been an all star a couple of times. Where he was a bust was his poor conditioning, which likely lead to his quick decline. If he focused on being in shape, he probably could've lasted a 4 or 5 more more years before knee n back issues took over.
No matter what these guys say, Shaq gave him his flowers and that says a lot.
Idk tho shaq always got nice things to say abt yao ming, rik smits, big country but if u ask him abt hakeem ewing admiral he will brag abt how he is better than legends and he destroyed them
@@muhammadfarhan581 shaq gives the dream, ewing, and the admiral flowers idk what your talking about lol
@@muhammadfarhan581straight bullshit, sucuk
Rick Smitts was an interesting player. Say what you want but he had some great games against Patrick Ewing
@@muhammadfarhan581 thats the competitive nature of him. he talked to kareem about this recently. shaq has said many times that hakeem was a monster
As some have said, anyone who calls Reeves one of the worst players has no concept of NBA history and basketball. He was a solid player, ask Shaq. I can think of literally hundreds of NBA players who when compared with their NBA colleagues, should not have been in the league.
The man averaged 16 points a game for 2 seasons. That is more then what number 1 overall pick Kwame Brown has done for his entire career.
Big Country was a solid player the problem is some fans and sports writers don’t know the difference between a HOF player and all star a solid player a role player a bust and the worst player ever:
I was born (also in Fort Smith) and raised just 20 miles from him. Graduated 4 years before him. Ex wife went to Gans with him (in a graduating class of FOURTEEN 😅).
Let me tell you, and anybody reading this, what they REALLY need to know-
What Bryant Reeves IS NOT, and HAS NEVER, been?
An a$$hole.
He is a good man, and a loving father.
He cares about his community.
He treats everyone he meets graciously and respectfully.
Whomever wrote "mouth breathing hippopotamus" should have been fired just for being an a$$hole.
Thank you for a respectful, honest take on him. It would have been easier and 'funnier' to simply dunk on him for views, but you didn't. Good on ya.
He was a solid big who's career got cut short like many. Def a misleading title for the video. He was NEVER bad.
I hate fort smith, it’s a trap
Absolutely. But we have to listen to a bunch of ball bouncing felons, who actively help the murderous Chinese communists, tell us all how racist America is. If Reeves is a failure, I pray to God my children grow up to be a failure just like him.
It doesn't change the fact that he was a crap as a player
@Arena-nv2ul you were better rright. You should have had a shot in the NBA like he did right. Your the the better man , right? Get a job,, instead of trolling.
He wasn't as bad as people claim. Averaging 16 and 8 before injuries are good numbers. Luc Longley, Jason Collins, and alot other centers never averaged those numbers and noone ever called them bad
We will not know how good Luc Longley would be, he was on the Bulls
@@gregoryeverson741 true
Hasheem Thabeet also comes to mind
Also, looking at that draft class he was in. It wasn’t like the other too big men in that draft did much better than him outside of Jerry Stackhouse. McDysss and Kurt Thomas weren’t exactly great players despite long careers as reliable secondary players.
@@eduardoolivas5027Still have no idea how he flamed out as hard as he did.
The documentary about him "finding big country" is one of the most wholesome things on this site. Dude's just living his life out on a badass ranch in his hometown. Donated most of his NBA stuff to a museum in Vancouver
Yawn Bron stan
Jesus people were harsh on him. he could've been solid if his conditioning was better didn't go to Vancouver
Anybody sayin Big Country Reeves is one of the "worst players of all time" is just stupid. Shareef Abdul Rahim was good too for the Vancouver Grizzlies.
Worst NBA* players of all time at least, some people’s game just doesn’t translate to that next level in sports.
Big Country was a decent player. Clicked on this just cuz the title made me mad
@@BigJonahJ Cmon man do you even watch the NBA? There are some dudes that never even play.
Anybody that averaged 13 ppg and 7 rebounds as a rookie and 16 ppg and 8 rebounds a game for 2 other seasons in the NBA is not the "worst" of anything as far as basketball goes. Many other NBA players haven't averaged half of that. Anyone that says that they are does not know what they are talking about as far as basketball.
@@brycekilkenny4623 There is a career graveyard of players that never had a career that Big Country had. These people act like if you are not the greatest player of all time with 10 championships, you are the worst player of all time. No in between and that type of talk is stupid talk.
He was pretty good for 2 or 3 years with a lot of upside. Very good post game( excellent hands and footwork), good rebounder, knew his limitations on defense. Also an excellent low post passer.
His legs were terrible, he was on a team where he was needed for 3000 minutes a year whereas he still needed to develop his fitness.
Was done after 5 years. Todd McCollough had a similar problem.
He was a pretty fun player in his time, people still look upon his career pretty fondly nearly 30 years later
Back problems didn’t help matters. Hard to stay in shape when you’re dealing with back pain.
Shows the impact of player development and trainers. He had basically the same physical gifts coming into the NBA as Nikola Jokic the current MVP but just happened to be on a horrible team where he never got close to his potential
@@stevelau7694 I'm going to disagree. Reeves had a much better vertical than Jokic while Jolic has a million, billion times more agility, both physical and mental.
@@stevelau7694you seem to be living a year in the past embid is the MVP 😂😂
He was done after he missed the entire 2001-02 season.
I met him as a child at a summer camp in Tulsa. He was such a gentle giant and the absolute biggest human being i have ever seen especially as a 10 year old.
The OSU tourney run showed just what this kid "COULD" do, as he friggin ABUSED all the supposed big time soon-to-be NBA centers: Camby and even Duncan (Duncan held him A LITTLE, and Country couldn't shut Dunc down like he did everyone else, i.e. Duncan did NOT have his typical amazing game)....
My cousin and I were convinced he was the next big thing, especially when combined with that nickname, his fun attitude, etc...
I always work him up to like 98 level in NBA2K lol
“A mouth-breathing hippopotamus of a man” wtf did Big Country do to that reporter?
He was a 16 and 8 guy before the injuries. Dude made 55 million. He won in life.
Not sure why he gets so much Hate. He is just a good pl boy
Big Country was on one of the worst teams in the NBA. He was never considered a franchise player, but a very good center that could help a team who just needed a big man to put them over the top. Heck even Lebron would have problems putting that Grizzlies team on his back and he had to put a pretty bad Cavs team on his back when he first came in the league as a high school talent. BC could of been a lot more under a better system and better team. Not a team full of scrubs with young high draft picks being your team leaders.
No, he was supposed to be the franchise player. Point guards were to bring the ball down the court and get it to him. When he was healthy that could work. That was the GM's stated intention and he had his coaches follow through with that style. I was in the building for at least one of his great games and wow, but obviously it didn't make up for everything else and kind of made it more frustrating: when he was on he was a lot like his hero Patrick Ewing, but the amount of times he was on were not enough.
Not too bad when healthy. In his 6 seasons had a career high of 41 pts. 17 games of 30 or more points. Career highs of 18 rebounds and 7 blocks. In his 3rd season his shooting percentage was 52%. Most teams would take that over whoever they've got playing center now.
He wasn’t bad. He just underachieved. He lacked self-discipline and his body wouldn’t hold up. He’s nowhere close to being the worst pro in NBA history. His overall numbers for his career: 13/7/2/1/1 on a shooting splits of 48/7/70. Those aren’t bad numbers. They just aren’t great, either.
There’s no way he is a draft bust or worst player in league history. Multiple season over 15ppg and almost averaging a double double is not in the same class as Darko.
Also being a 7 footer with size is taxing on the body. Chet, Bol Bol, Wembi are all modern 7 footers built like twigs. Being that large is going to put a tax on the his body more than people give credit
Couldn’t of been that bad if Shaq said he couldn’t stop him
He was a bucket for years. He got paid tens of millions for a reason. And now he’s living a happy life, and raised at least one brilliant kid who’s an academic all american at oklahoma state.
He could have put the Utah Jazz over the top.
Context is important. The guy was picked 6th in a pretty weak draft in retrospect. Not a lot of guys were standouts in his draft class. And realistically he had maybe the the 6th or 7th best career as a big man even if it was cut short. A lot of big guys in this draft lasted longer but they were like career backup bigs. Of the big men in this draft only Rasheed Wallace, Joe Smith(barely), Mcdyess, and Garnett had better careers and they were all picked ahead of him. Only guy that disputedly had a better career as a big man picked after him was Theo Ratliff. And have a look at the actual perimeter players in that draft available. No-one was going to pick Michael Finley at no 6. If you redrafted the 1995 NBA draft he'd still be a lottery pick
@Midori _Ringo What about context for Kwame Brown?
@@rapgodreloaded9259 What about Kwame? he was not part of the 1995 NBA draft. He was part of the 2001 draft. The 2001 draft was much deeper. Big Country was picked 6th - he was around the 6-7th best player in that draft. Kwame was picked 1st in 2001. He was probably the 12th-13th best player in his draft. That's the difference. That's the context. Gasol, Zach Randolph, Tyson Chandler, Richard Jefferson, Shane Battier, Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace, Mehmet Okur, Tony Parker Joe Johnson and Gilbert Arenas was that class. Almost all those guys were top tier starters for some really good teams. Then you had guys like Troy Murphy, Jamal Tinsley and Brendan Haywood that were long time solid contributors. All those guys would get drafted ahead of Kwame in a redraft. But IMO he wasn't even the biggest draft bust in that class- Eddy Curry was. Kwame at least became a journeyman backup big, Eddy Curry got a huge contract and promptly ate his way out of the league on top of being absolutely allergic to rebounding and defence. So while Kwame was a bust he was still was useful for a lot of teams and had a decent career. Eddy Curry's contract killed the Knicks, he effectively busted twice: he was a bust for the team that drafted him Chicago and then busted for the team that gave him a stupid contract - the Knicks.
@@Midori_RingoMy man knows his ball!
You are 100% true. If you go back and re-do the 1995 draft, considering the pick they had, there’s nobody else that jumps out and says “Vancouver should have taken him instead!” because the better guys were already gone by then.
@@Greenfrom3 I just don't like Kwame getting shit on unnecessarily. Disappointing career? Not worth a no1 pick? Absolutely yes. But the Wizards were a giant mess behind the scenes. Guns being pulled on each other in the locker room, Jordan being Jordan etc etc. Who has any chance of developing let alone an 18 year old kid who already was drafted way too high.
That guy is from Oklahoma. OK STATE. He was a superstar here before the NBA and I'm a Sooners fan and was always a fan.
It's tough to blame Vancouver losing their team on Big Country when the front office decides drafting the guy who refused to play for them (Steve Francis) is the best move.
if you look at his stats, he's a decent starter if healthy
Keep it up Swish🫡
You’re my primary source for these mini player Bio’s and they are always entertaining.
Maybe Antoine Walker, Larry Johnson, or Zo Mourning next on the “How Good” side?
Honestly, I’m not sure he *couldn’t* have made it today. He has a lot of the same descriptions as negative Jokic press and so much of NBA success does come from routine and conditioning. I’m not aware of his game like that but if he was giving Duncan (albeit a young one but still he was still 2nd team All-Defense in his rookie year) and Lakers Shaq problems, he would at least be a huge scoring threat now
He wasn’t a huge scoring threat *then*, why would he be now?
Giving Duncan problems is overstating it they head to head 10 times he averaged 9.4 pts on 41.6 fg% wish I had ts% srry his high was 12 pts.
Shaq was a little better he averaged than 11.2 on 44.3 in 13 games
He wasn’t even bad lol he just got bad injury luck
Could have been in better shape
He wasn't bad at all. He had a good midrange shot. He avg 15+ ppg 8+ rpg for his career. How many ppl can say that??
I watched BC-closely-for all four of his years at OK State. He was very much a hardworking kid, but I think he needed supervision when it came to conditioning. Left to his own devices during the lockout, he allowed himself to fall out of shape. That contributed heavily to his injuries. NO ONE said he was a “bust,” much less a “bad” player, until he got injured. In hindsight, the Griz should have send a full time trainer to work with BC during the lockout. In light of all the money they invested in BC, that step would not have been an unreasonable demand. In fact, I think BC would have welcomed the help. Yes, BC absolutely had a responsibility to keep himself in shape. But if I’m investing $61 million in someone, I’m leaving little to chance.
@2:52 "he needed a bra"
@8:30 "Mouth breathing hippopotamus of a man"
Good lord they had no chill back then🤣😂
Gans Oklahoma has made the basketball state tourney once in school history to this day. It was with Big Country. They did not win state though.
Shaq said he was one of his tuffest matchups
Grizzlies legend 💪
As is the case with some 7 footers in the NBA his career was cut short by injuries. He obviously was good enough to put up some pretty decent numbers but 82 games per season takes a pounding on guys who are 7 foot and 280 pounds. That's just a lot of wear and tear on those joints.
There's people like Wilt Chamberlain or Robert Parish. Kareem. Olujawon. Pat Ewing.
I spent a bit of time as a kid around the grizzlies and Big Country was always nice and had time for ya. Unlike say Mike Bibby who clearly hated every moment in Van.. tragic they didnt get to stay.. Vancouver has grown alot since then and I think players would embrace the city differently now.. talking to you steve francis
As you stated He was an okay player, he was a traditional center, with good back to the basket game a good midrange shooter for his size. He was slow footed defender, then let his body go with the lockout season if no lockout probably he would have been in the league for 2-3 more years. You can't be a bumm scoring this much in the nba even if your team is the last in the standings
I love Big Country......the band.
I know everyone make fun of him. But I like him as a player. Injuries got to him
Reeves was a decent player who flamed out early. It's only the very rare players that stay for over a decade, mainly because of the insane work ethic required, and the luck to avoid injuries. He's nowhere near the bust level of someone like Darko Miličić, Anthony Bennet, or Greg Oden.
oh man, this took me back. I totally forgot about him and his days with the grizzlies.
How can you hate on big country ?
It's weird why another of people hate on hom for no reason. They say he a bust
15-67 then 14-68 is wiiiild
He was a good basketball player. He just started getting injured
Nice guy makes millions in the NBA and continues to give back and be a good example for kids. We need more failures like Big Country.
Even shaq said he would have good games vs him maybe he never lived up to his hype but definitely wasn't a horrible player
I loved that guy and don't know anyone who considers him as one of the worst players ever. He's was pretty universally loved and respected.
He averaged 12.5/7 over 400 games. And earned $55 mill by age 27. That isn’t anyone’s all star, but NBA isn’t a charity so you can’t do that without being a decent player. Worst ever? Definitely no. That said, he had problems staying fit and his back failed him. But he has nothing to apologize for.
Big Country had a more respectable career than Kevin Durant, I think that’s not even up for debate
Dude was nowhere one of the worst players of all time, ridiculous
How bad was he? Literally not even going to watch this video, Bryant Reeves was an absolute dog. A 7 foot, 280 pound dawg!!
How do you not have more subs man love the content
he made it in the league……there are much worse who make/made more than him🤦♂️
If the Grizzlies had drafted Steve Nash in 96 would have taken the pressure off of Reeves thanks again Stu Jackson the guy didnt miss a shot at his pro day and you passed on a local kid killed the franchise 🤦♂️ oh and the Steve Francis disaster🤬
Huh? I remember him as decent in the NBA (good college player) but had some injuries that hampered him. Definitely not anywhere close to historically bad.
The only problem was being on that god forsaken team him and abdul rahim could have been a better duo anywhere else
The title is click bait because real ones know he was unstoppable. Even Shaq admits it.
He wasn't bad. He was a decent pro player. Outstanding college player.
Absolutely. 💯 Injuries got the best of him.
Seems like a very humble down to earth kinda guy. However mouth breathing hippopotamus is a quality insult im going to use
He is not the worst ever...
There are more terrible players with 100M plus contracts and does not play well... some dont even want to play even with 200M contract... they are the worst for the fans...
he could have been Nikola Jokić before Nikola Jokić if not for the lock-out
🤐. 🛑 Stop. This is absolutely not accurate.
This is stupid and crazy for anybody to call him one of the worst NBA players of all time that’s totally disrespectful and false he was a good player not great but was better than a lot of people we consider good
There's a list a mile long of players that were worse than Reeves. It's hard hard to think of the names because they were shitty players & didn't last in the league that long.
He’s living the life he really wanted on his farm now. The nba just paid him the money to be able to do it. Good for him, I envy that.
He was decent. It was clear basketball was his second passion. He never came into training camp in shape. They gave him a ridiculous contract and then it went down hill. He blew out his knee getting back in shape and then was out of the league within 3 years.
This title is BS he wasn’t bad at all. He instantly produced and was one of the better Centers in the league his first 3 seasons. Just fell off quick mostly due to injuries
Reeves was a legend in Oklahoma until Taylor & Blake Griffin came around.
I became an nba fan as a kid in Vancouver because the grizzlies became an expansion team. I loved Country and always felt like he got a lot of shit when he was consistently there with decent numbers and he’d occasionally cook some stars trying to defend him.
There's no way he's one of the worst nba players of all time. I mean, we got centers like John Henson getting time out there..
Big Country was far better than everyone commenting here and the never-was guy who made this video.
he got so lucky. he was given a big contract just before he got injured. lols
Big Nice Antonio Mcdyess was a PF with a bad knee playing C...it wasn't his fault 😪
It was Vancouver not Memphis they played in Canada remember
I’ll answer that question:
Not nearly as bad as Shawn Bradley was.
But he really wasn’t a bad player. People who say that he was one of the worst players ever are stupid
i wish the Grizzlies would've stayed in BC. Those uniforms were great. It's crazy that in the 90's we had 3 nba teams in the pacific northwest. Now the TrailBlazers are the only one left. Makes you wonder if the nba will ever expand to Vancouver or Seattle again.
...& why didnt Memphis change the team name? There are no grizzly bears in Memphis to my knowledge.
Same reason the Jazz didn't change their name, when they moved from New Orleans to Utah. There ain't no jazz in Utah.
@@saugabwoy they should've changed the team name to - the Utah Tabernacle Choir
Memphis did have a short lived WFL team called the Grizzlies.
@@aaronholcomb237 interesting fact. i didnt know that.
They have a Canadian Football League team called the BC Lions(although i have no idea how lions & British Columbia correspond). But i will say, for any american football fans who've not seen CFL ball - it's actually quite entertaining. Especially if you're a college football fan, as lots of former NCAA stars end up playing up north. The rule differences are a bit confusing - but its still alotta fun to watch.
try not to say “soft hands” once every 20 seconds challenge: impossible
That’s not Antonio Mcdyess, that was Latrell Sprewell lol
I'm going big Big Country!!
He was awesome in college
Shaq said he couldn’t stop Big Country
This is crazy, I honestly thought you had this video out already. xD Much love yall
Your videos are really great bro, short but they still paint the full picture, keep it up!
Definitely had 2x-3x the amount of cats and dogs you mentioned in the beginning
Man if he had the advantage of todays PEDs like GH and EPO he wouldn’t have had to worry about his conditioning lol
You think Jokic is on EPO? Not hating at all just how does he have that gas tank with that build it’s crazy
Great video. You showed Latrell Sprewell when you said Antonio McDyess though
“A mouth-breathing hippopotamus of a man” damn 😂
People are brutal man they weren't exactly wrong either but still
That's rich. Dude is a Multiple time all star if he played today.
Drink every time this guy tells you he had soft hands
Amazing to me that Big country had much better stats & talante than Greg Ostertag but Ostertag managed to play 5 more seasons…
I hate playing 2k and then having Gregory's sorry ass come in
He wasn't a bad player, he had a solid career and had an injury that ended that. Still, he spent years playing the game and used it to make a living for himself after without any fuss. I bet he's thankful for what the game gave him. Humble and down-to-earth guy.
Worst?!? Youve never heard of Rafael Araujo
Grew up in Vancouver, we loved the guy!
You kind of have to wonder what he'd been able to do if he wasn't drafted by an expansion team.
He is cool...I see him about every 2 weeks...
He was actually a decent Center when he was healthy.
Shaq made a lot big dudes rich during his era. Oliver Miller, Keith Tractor Trailer, Eddie Curry, they were tossing contracts at big boddies you didnt need skill
Popeye Jones.
He gave Shaq problems