Glen Rice - Trades

Trades

Days before the start of the 1995-96 NBA season, newly hired Coach/GM Pat Riley organized a trade in which Rice was sent to the Charlotte Hornets along with Matt Geiger in exchange for disgruntled Hornets center Alonzo Mourning who had refused any contract negotiations. It was a trade that worked out for both teams. 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 NBA 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 fan favorite, Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell. The trade didn't immediately sit well with Laker fans but Rice was considered the last piece of the puzzle for the Lakers to return to the NBA Finals. Rice was leaving a Hornets team in turmoil with many players demanding trades coming out of a 4 month lockout. Coach Cowens had resigned, Anthony Mason was out for the year, Rice was coming back from an elbow injury that he needed to have surgery on, and the owner was in legal trouble.

The trade to the Lakers made Rice the third scorer behind Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, a trio that Jerry West envisioned would bring Los Angeles another NBA championship. The Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the 1999 NBA playoffs, but Rice averaged 18 points per game. A year later, the Lakers would go on to win the 2000 NBA Championship over the Indiana Pacers with Rice playing a key role in the scoring trio.

Although the Lakers had won the championship, a lot of drama had unfolded behind the scenes between Rice, Phil Jackson (head coach), and Jerry West (GM) of the Los Angeles Lakers in the time between getting swept by the Spurs and the eventual championship. There was a report that Rice was upset when the Lakers exercised a $7-million option for 1999-2000 instead of letting him become a free agent. Shaquille O'Neal, Rice's close friend, believed that Rice was the pure shooter he needed to keep teams from double- and triple-teaming him in the playoffs, and felt partly responsible for bringing Rice to the Lakers (and trading Eddie Jones to do it). In the end, Rice wasn't able to win the hearts of Los Angeles fans after being traded for fan-favorite, Eddie Jones with many citing suspect defense and Rice's inability to perform in the triangle offense.

A disgruntled Rice was eventually 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. The Lakers had addressed a pressing need at power forward by signing and trading Rice to the Knicks. For New York, Rice played in 72 games, averaging 12 points-per-game. Rice made 25 starts, averaging 14.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in those games and led the Knicks in scoring 9 times. While Rice's defense is often singled out as the reason for his departure, Rice actually ranks 145th among all-time NBA players in career steals (958).

Rice's tenure with Knicks lasted only one year as he was hobbled by a foot injury (plantar fasciitis) and was unable to find a niche in NY behind Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell. He was later traded to the Houston Rockets where he joined their starting frontcourt. Rice was excited about returning to a starting role after be relegated to more of a third-option with both the Lakers and Knicks. Things started slow in Houston as Rice was still on the mend, rehabbing from his foot injury. A knee-injury (partially torn tendon) derailed and eventually brought his career to an end. Rice's final stop would be the Los Angeles Clippers. In his final season, Glen Rice became the 48th player in NBA history to score 18,000 career points. Fittingly, it was on Feb. 18 against the Lakers.