Allan Houston

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Allan Houston
Position Shooting guard
Nickname H20
Height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg)
Nationality Flag of United States United States
Born April 20, 1971
Louisville, Kentucky
College Tennessee
Draft 11th overall, 1993
Detroit Pistons
Pro career 1993 – 2005
Former teams Detroit Pistons (1993–1996)
New York Knicks (1996–2005)
Awards 2-Time NBA All-Star
Olympic medal record
Men's basketball
Gold 2000 Sydney United States

Allan Wade Houston (born April 20, 1971, in Louisville, Kentucky, USA) is an American former professional basketball player who spent the majority of his career playing shooting guard for the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks. His nickname is "H2O", derived from the first letter of his name and his regular number "20", and acknowledges his graceful jumpshot, which is as "smooth as water".

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[edit] Early life

Houston played at Ballard High School in Louisville, helping them to win the 1988 Kentucky state championship. He went on to play at the University of Tennessee and graduated in 1993 as the school's all-time leading scorer.

[edit] NBA career

Houston was selected 11th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 1993 NBA Draft, and averaged 8.5 points per game in his rookie year. His average was boosted to 14.5 and 19.7 points per game in the next two years.

On July 14, 1996 Houston signed as a free agent with the Knicks, where 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, however Starks was a valuable mentor for him coming off of the bench. Houston kept his scoring average at a consistent 17-point-or-so per-game clip, and led his team to the 1999 NBA Finals. He made the All-Star team in 2000 and 2001.

Despite the accolades, though, Houston's lasting legacy may be something that didn't even happen on the court: in 2001, Houston signed a maximum contract extension with the Knicks -- a move that proved to be a fairly damning mistake for New York, because it cut deeply into the Knicks' already-grim salary cap situation and prevented them from making any free agent moves as their team spiraled into mediocrity. Also, his yearly salary of over $20 million made him virtually untradeable. The contract was seen as particularly exorbitant because Houston was considered by many to be a very one-dimensional player -- he was primarily a spot-up jump shooter throughout his career, never showing much willingness to attack the basket on drives, distribute the ball, rebound, or play defense.

In addition, injury problems made his contract look even worse. 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 in the 2004-05 season due to the fact his injury hadn't completely healed. The knee injury would eventually force Houston to announce his retirement, on October 17, 2005.

Even when considering the contract, though, Houston still must be remembered as one of the most prolific scorers in Knicks history, and his last-second bank-shot in the deciding game of the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Miami Heat remains a dramatic moment in Knicks history (especially given that the Knicks went on to make the NBA Finals). Houston also ranks 10th on the NBA's all-time list for career 3-point field goals made.

YEAR TEAM      G GS MPG    FG% 3P% FT%  OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO    PPG 
93-94  DET    79 20 19.2 .405 .299 .824 .2 1.3 1.5 1.3 .43 .16 1.25  8.5 
94-95  DET    76 39 26.3 .463 .424 .860 .4 1.8 2.2 2.2 .80 .18 1.49 14.5 
95-96  DET    82 75 37.5 .453 .427 .823 .7 3.0 3.7 3.0 .74 .20 2.84 19.7 
96-97  NYK    81 81 33.1 .423 .385 .803 .5 2.4 3.0 2.2 .51 .22 2.06 14.8 
97-98  NYK    82 82 34.7 .447 .385 .851 .5 2.8 3.3 2.6 .77 .29 2.44 18.4 
98-99  NYK    50 50 36.3 .418 .407 .862 .4 2.6 3.0 2.7 .70 .18 2.60 16.3 
99-00  NYK    82 82 38.6 .483 .436 .838 .5 2.8 3.3 2.7 .79 .17 2.27 19.7 
00-01  NYK    78 78 36.6 .449 .381 .909 .3 3.4 3.6 2.2 .67 .13 2.06 18.7 
01-02  NYK    77 77 37.8 .437 .393 .870 .5 2.8 3.3 2.5 .70 .13 2.21 20.4 
02-03  NYK    82 82 37.9 .445 .396 .919 .3 2.5 2.8 2.7 .66 .09 2.17 22.5 
03-04  NYK    50 50 36.0 .435 .431 .913 .4 2.0 2.4 2.0 .76 .04 2.04 18.5 
04-05  NYK    20 11 26.6 .415 .388 .837 .2 1.0 1.2 2.1 .40 .10 1.05 11.9

Career 839 727 33.7 .444 .402 .863 .4 2.5 2.9 2.4 .67 .10 2.10 17.3

Playoff       63 63 40.1 .448 .420 .884 .3 2.6 2.9 2.2 .68 .16 2.59 19.3 
All-Star       2 0 16.5 .333 .400 1.000 .0 1.5 1.5 2.5 .50 .00 1.00  8.0

[edit] "Allan Houston Rule"

In 2005, the NBA agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The most striking innovation grants NBA teams a one-time exception to waive a player without paying any further luxury tax on the player's contract, regardless of how long or how rich the contract was. The provision did not negate the player's contract, a team's obligation to pay the player, or the impact on the salary cap but merely removed the player's salary when computing the luxury tax.


This rule benefitted teams that were in danger of facing the "luxury tax" penalty, a dollar for dollar tax paided for salaries spent above a certain threshold of total team salary. The correct term is "amnesty clause", but because the team with the worst problems were the Knicks and their worst financial liability was Houston, it was quickly dubbed "Allan Houston Rule". The Knicks chose not to use the rule on him, but on forward Jerome Williams instead, because the Knicks correctly predicted Houston would retire due to lingering injuries over his last two seasons. As a result, Houston made $40 million for the last two years of his contract even though he did not participate in any games for the Knicks.


[edit] External links

2000 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball
Shareef Abdur-Rahim | Ray Allen | Vin Baker | Vince Carter | Kevin Garnett | Tim Hardaway | Allan Houston | Jason Kidd | Antonio McDyess | Alonzo Mourning | Gary Payton | Steve Smith
Coach Rudy Tomjanovich
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