Allan Houston

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Allan Houston bigraphy, stories - Basketball player

Allan Houston : biography

April 20, 1971 –

Allan Wade Houston (born April 20, 1971) is a retired American professional basketball player for the NBA, and currently the Assistant General Manager for the New York Knicks. He was one of the top 3-point shooters in the NBA until a knee injury forced him to retire. Houston also currently spends his time helping different charity and non-profit organizations.

Career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 1993–94 | align="left" | Detroit | 79 || 20 || 19.2 || 0.405 || 0.299 || 0.824 || 1.5 || 1.3 || 0.43 || 0.16 || 8.5 |- | align="left" | 1994–95 | align="left" | Detroit | 76 || 39 || 26.3 || 0.463 || 0.424 || 0.860 || 2.2 || 2.2 || 0.8 || 0.18 || 14.5 |- | align="left" | 1995–96 | align="left" | Detroit | 82 || 75 || 37.5 || 0.453 || 0.427 || 0.823 || 3.7 || 3 || 0.74 || 0.2 || 19.7 |- | align="left" | 1996–97 | align="left" | New York | 81 || 81 || 33.1 || 0.423 || 0.385 || 0.803 || 3.0 || 2.2 || 0.51 || 0.22 || 14.8 |- | align="left" | 1997–98 | align="left" | New York | 82 || 82 || 34.7 || 0.447 || 0.385 || 0.851 || 3.3 || 2.6 || 0.77 || 0.29 || 18.4 |- | align="left" | 1998–99 | align="left" | New York | 50 || 50 || 36.3 || 0.418 || 0.407 || 0.862 || 3.0 || 2.7 || 0.7 || 0.18 || 16.3 |- | align="left" | 1999–2000 | align="left" | New York | 82 || 82 || 38.6 || 0.483 || 0.436 || 0.838 || 3.3 || 2.7 || 0.79 || 0.17 || 19.7 |- | align="left" | 2000–01 | align="left" | New York | 78 || 78 || 36.6 || 0.449 || 0.381 || 0.909 || 3.6 || 2.2 || 0.67 || 0.13 || 19.7 |- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | New York | 77 || 77 || 37.8 || 0.437 || 0.393 || 0.870 || 3.3 || 2.5 || 0.7 || 0.13 || 20.4 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | New York | 82 || 82 || 37.9 || 0.445 || 0.396 || 0.919 || 2.8 || 2.7 || 0.66 || 0.09 || 22.5 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | New York | 50 || 50 || 36 || 0.435 || 0.431 || 0.913 || 2.4 || 2 || 0.76 || 0.04 || 18.5 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | New York | 20 || 11 || 26.6 || 0.415 || 0.388 || 0.837 || 1.2 || 2.1 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 11.9 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 839 || 727 || 33.7 || 0.444 || 0.402 || 0.863 || 2.9 || 2.4 || 0.67 || 0.1 || 17.3

Playoff

|- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 63 || 63 || 40.1 || 0.448 || 0.42 || 0.884 || 2.9 || 2.2 || 0.68 || 0.16 || 19.3

New York Knicks

In 1996 after his rookie contract expired, Houston signed as a free agent with the New York Knicks, for whom he played for the next nine seasons. In his first year as a Knick, Houston took the place of John Starks in the starting lineup, with Starks serving as a mentor for him coming off the bench. Houston kept his scoring average at 17 points per game, and helped lead the team to the 1999 NBA Finals. His most famous play came in the decisive Game 5 of the first round of the 1999 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Miami Heat. In the fourth quarter, with the Knicks inbounding the ball trailing by one point, Houston caught the inbounds pass, and made a running jumper in the lane with 0.8 second left on the clock to win the game and the series for the Knicks, 78-77, which was then only the second time in NBA playoffs history where a #8 seed had defeated a #1. The Knicks would go on to the NBA Finals. He was a member of the USA men’s national basketball team that won the basketball tournament and gold medal along with 11 other NBA players at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Houston also made the All-Star team in 2000 and 2001.

Despite the accolades, though, Houston’s lasting legacy may be something that happened off the court: In 2001, Houston signed a maximum contract extension with the Knicks. Houston’s yearly salary of over $20 million made him virtually untradeable and injury problems would burden the Knicks. Houston missed 32 games in 2003-04 due to a knee injury, and despite claims in the summer of 2004 that he would be ready to play the next season (he even refused to have surgery on his knee that summer), he played in only 20 games that season because his injury hadn’t completely healed. The knee injury would eventually force Houston to announce his retirement, on October 17, 2005.