John Salley

Infobox NBAretired


width= 150
caption=
position=Power Forward
number=16, 22
birthdate=birth date and age|1964|5|16
Brooklyn, New York, USA
debutyear=1986
finalyear=2000
draftyear=1986
draftround=1
draftpick=11
college=Georgia Tech
teams=
*Detroit Pistons (1986–1992)
*Miami Heat (1992–1995)
*Toronto Raptors (1995–1996)
*Chicago Bulls (1996)
*Panathinaikos BC (1996)
*Los Angeles Lakers (1999–2000)
stat1label=Points
stat1value=5,228
stat2label=Rebounds
stat2value=3,356
stat3label=Blocks
stat3value=983
letter=s
bbr=sallejo01
highlights=
*4x NBA champion
HOF=

John Thomas "Spider" Salley (born May 16, 1964) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA, actor and talk show host.

Biography

Early life and career

Salley was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is a 1988 graduate of Georgia Tech's College of Management and a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Salley played high school ball at Canarsie High School in Brooklyn. [Anderson, Dave. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CEEDD1130F93AA25750C0A963958260 " Sports of The Times; City Teen-Agers Hold A Calm Garden Party"] , "The New York Times", March 19, 1995. Accessed October 10, 2007.]

At 6'11" (2.11 m), Salley played both power forward and center for the Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Panathinaikos BC and Los Angeles Lakers. He gained the nickname "Spider" for his in-your-face style of guarding his opponent. Salley is also the first player in NBA history to play on three different championship-winning franchises; Robert Horry joined him in this exclusive club in 2005. John Salley is considering coming back to the n.b.a.

Detroit Pistons

He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 1986 NBA Draft out of Georgia Tech. He is among the Pistons' all-time leaders in blocked shots, holds Georgia Tech's blocked shot record, and has had his jersey number 22 retired—a very rare honor in college basketball. [The retiring of players' "jerseys" is not uncommon in college basketball, but retirement of numbers is far more rare. The main reason is that far fewer numbers are available for use by college teams than in the NBA. NCAA rules, unlike those of the NBA, prohibit the use of any digits greater than five in player numbers. Georgia Tech has not only retired Salley's number 22, but also the number 25 worn by Salley's teammate Mark Price, the number 15 worn by current NBA player Matt Harpring, the number 20 worn by former NBA player Tom Hammonds, and the numbers 21 and 40 worn by Roger Kaiser and Rich Yunkus, respectively.] After joining the Pistons, he became close friends with Adrian Dantley, who taught him proper nutrition, how to exercise, and how to conduct himself off the court. Salley, for his part, called Dantley "The Teacher." Salley would become good friends with comedian Eddie Murphy and made several appearances at comedy clubs in the off-season. In 1989 and 1990, he played on two Pistons championship teams.

Heat and Bulls

He was traded to the Miami Heat in 1992 and, a few years after that, was left unprotected by Miami in the 1995 expansion draft. Following a short stint with the inaugural Toronto Raptors team where he received little playing time, he negotiated a buyout of his contract in order to sign with the Chicago Bulls, where he helped Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and former Pistons teammates Dennis Rodman lead the Bulls to a record-breaking 72-win season, after which Salley retired. However, in 1996, he came out of retirement to join Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos BC for only a few games.

Lakers

In 1999, he joined a Lakers team led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. He saw little action for the Lakers en route to their first of three consecutive NBA championships from 2000–2002; he retired again following the first championship season after proudly proclaiming that he had won "four championship rings, with three different teams, in three different decades and two different millenniums."

Post-basketball career

Currently, he is one of the hosts of "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Fox Sports Network. Salley hosted "The John Salley Block Party", a radio morning show on Los Angeles station "100.3 The Beat" from May 2005 - 2006.

In 2007, Salley appeared in the ABC reality television series , featuring a dozen celebrities in a stock car racing competition. In the first round of competition, Salley matched up against professional wrestler John Cena and tennis star Serena Williams.

For a short time, Salley provided analysis for NBC's "NBA Showtime".

In 2006, Salley was named the Commissioner of the American Basketball Association.

In 2004 he was part of the panel of celebrity judges in the TBS Superstation show He's a Lady. For a short time in the late 1990s, Salley had a late night TV talk show. It did not do well in the ratings. He is now the host of the new hit talk show that comes live from a club, Ballers.

In the fall of 1998, Salley also hosted the game show "I Can't Believe You Said That", which aired on the Fox Family Channel. During that time, he also guest-starred as a panelist on "Hollywood Squares".

John Salley also has a role in Bad Boys and Bad Boys 2, as a thick-glassed computer hacking nerd who gets out of jail because he helps crack files for Miami Police Department.

Salley has also starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie, "The Ultimate Christmas Present" as a tall elf.

In 1996, Salley starred as a veteran basketball player alongside Whoopi Goldberg in "Eddie" about a fan who takes over as coach of The New York Knicks.

In 2001, Salley made an appearance in the Luther Vandross music video, Take You Out.

Personal life

Salley is a devoted vegetarian and has appeared on PETA's testimonial videos. [ [http://veggietestimonial.peta.org/psa.aspx?CID=e16eb785-0f3e-475f-aacf-ff2065433634 "I am an athlete and I am a vegatarian"] , Featured Veggie Testimonial, "PETA", Accessed July 04, 2008.]

References

External links

* [http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=SALLEJO01 NBA stats] @ basketballreference.com
*basketball-reference
* [http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5322236 FOX Sports: The Scoop On John Salley]