Anthony peelers8/19/2023 ![]() ![]() He sits now on the edge of a table at KeyArena and shrugs slightly. Nobody falls so far, so hard, so fast they wind up buried on the Vancouver Grizzlies. Fourth Quarter" ended up on the bench of the worst team in the league? How had it come to this? How had Anthony Peeler, once the player the experts said was the best guard in high school, the one the TV commentators regularly called "the next Jordan" all the way through college, the one people in the NBA loved to call "Mr. Never had he not played, and suddenly he wasn't playing at all and no one would tell him why." "Never in his life had he been in a situation like that. ![]() "We hurt as much as he did," Larry Peeler says. The smile was gone from Anthony's face.Įven in the worst times, Anthony Peeler could always find a way to smile. He watched the television, saw the games and noticed the fear on his son's face. He didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. His name was Anthony Peeler.Īlmost a decade later, Larry Peeler held the phone against his ear and heard the words spilling out from a country away. Then there was silence.įor on that night in Norman, in that packed arena, basketball fans were convinced this was like nothing they had seen. There was loud crack as the rim snapped down, then up. Suddenly, he was in the air - his feet pedaling a graceful arc, his eyes locked on some distant prize - and then in one giant circle, the arm swirled around, sending the ball crashing through. ![]() It happened on a warm February night in Norman, Okla., when the boy was just 18, and there was a basketball in his hand in the biggest game of the year. *His highest yearly salary was in 2003, when he earned $3,350,000.Once his child walked across the sky. *He played in a total of 57 playoff games during his NBA career. Peeler finished his playing career as one of the most prolific scorers in Missouri basketball history at all levels of play. He finished his final two years in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings and the Washington Wizards.ĭuring his 13 years in the NBA, he played in the playoffs 10 separate years. Peeler was traded to Minnesota midway through the 1997–98 season and stayed with the team for the next five seasons. Peeler also set a career high for scoring as he poured in forty points against the New Jersey Nets. ![]() He had a great deal of success with the Grizzlies, averaging twelve points per game with his slash and jam style. played four years in Los Angeles, then traded to Vancouver. He became the first Lakers rookie in nearly a decade to average double figures in scoring.Ī.P. Just like at Mizzou, his first year with the team exceeded expectations. Peeler became one of the highest draft picks ever from the Show Me State, as the Los Angeles Lakers picked him in the first round as the fifteenth overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. He also earned the coveted Second-Team All-American honor and was a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Awards for the top player in college basketball. He was named Player of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year in the Big 8 Conference. During his final season in the black and gold, Peeler averaged more than twenty-three points per game. The entire country, and of course NBA scouts, were watching closely as Peeler took the court for his senior year at Mizzou. He continued his dominance as a sophomore and junior, averaging seventeen and nineteen points respectively. His impact on the team was immediate, as he averaged more than ten points a game as a freshman. Peeler arrived on the campus in Columbia as one of the most anticipated recruits in Missouri basketball history. He also starred in the McDonald’s All American basketball game, in one of the best classes in history. Show Me Basketball before heading to Columbia to play for the University of Missouri Tigers. He had a great deal of success over his next three years, leading Paseo High School to the state championship numerous times, where he thrilled the crowds with high scoring performances and amazing dunks.ĭuring his senior year, Peeler was named Mr. He rose to prominence in Missouri basketball early in his high school career by becoming the leading scorer in Class 4A during his freshman year. THE EARLY YEARSĪnthony Peeler was born on November 25, 1969, in Kansas City. Much to the delight of Missouri fans, they were also able to watch him star at Mizzou, and ultimately in the NBA. This teenager, Anthony Peeler, was such a Missouri celebrity in high school that thousands of basketball fans packed the Hearnes Center in Columbia during the state basketball championships to get a glimpse of him. During the mid-1980s, a basketball phenom from Paseo High School burst onto the scene. ![]()
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