NBA Rebels: eight ex-Rebels will be playing when the season opens Friday

Steve Carp

Thursday, Feb. 4, 1999 | 12:34 p.m.

Some got there the easy way via the draft lottery. Some had to take the long and winding free agent road to get there. Others bounced around from team to team, but nonetheless still are there.

When the National Basketball Association finally opens its 1999 season Friday, eight former UNLV players will be wearing NBA uniforms, the most ever. Today is the day teams must get down to the 14-player limit.

Last year, there were five former Rebels in the NBA, six if you count one-time Rebel Kebu Stewart. In 1979, five former Rebels -- Reggie Theus, Ricky Sobers, Glen Gondrezick, Robert Smith and Tony Smith -- were in the league.

In case you're curious, North Carolina had the most alumni in the league a year ago. Fourteen Tar Heels, led by that Jordan guy, topped the list of NBA players from one school.

Obviously, when you discuss success on the hardwood as it pertains to UNLV, you have to start with 1990 when the Rebels won the national championship. Three members from that team still are earning NBA paychecks, all entering their eighth pro season.

L.J. cool in N.Y.Larry Johnson is a mainstay at forward with the New York Knicks while Stacey Augmon has settled in as a backup in Portland after beginning his career with the Atlanta Hawks, followed by a short stay in Detroit.

Greg Anthony, the third member of the national championship trio, has been well-traveled. He began his career with the Knicks, was claimed by Vancouver in the 1995 expansion draft, played two years with the Grizzlies, signed with Seattle last year as a free agent, and recently was reunited with Augmon in Portland, where he'll back up starting point guard Damon Stoudamire.

And though they were Rebels before Isaiah Rider was, the three are together in Portland, along with assistant Tim Grgurich.

Grgurich coached all three at UNLV and left Seattle for Portland. There, he has reunited with one of his best friends, former UNLV assistant Mark Warkentien, the Blazers' assistant general manager.

Rider, who averaged just under 25 points a game during his two-year stint at UNLV from 1991-93, has had his share of off-the-court problems since he entered the league with Minnesota in 1993. And things have not been all that smooth in Portland.

Yet, his immense talent has been undeniable. He has averaged just under 20 points a game his first five years in the NBA and he will start for Mike Dunleavy Sunday, when the Blazers open the season against the SuperSonics in Seattle.

In Milwaukee, veteran Armon Gilliam, a member of the 1987 UNLV Final Four team, is preparing for his 12th NBA season. The longtime power forward has been battling a dislocated right index finger that has kept him sidelined through much of George Karl's abbreviated training camp. However, Gilliam could be ready for Saturday's opener in Charlotte against the Hornets.

Popular forward Evric Gray, who has had a couple of cups of coffee in the NBA since leaving UNLV in 1993, will likely begin the season on the Washington Wizards' injured list after suffering a concussion last week in a preseason game against the 76ers in Philadelphia. Gray, a member of the 1991 Final Four squad and the last NCAA team to go through a regular season undefeated, was hospitalized overnight and has not returned to the floor.

But it's the most recent Rebels who are garnering much of the attention.

Neon KeonThere were so many questions about Keon Clark and Tyrone Nesby before the draft, nobody was really sure what would happen that deraft night in Vancouver.

Clark had left the Rebels a year ago at this time after being suspended for flunking a drug test. But he found a good agent in Houston's Tony Dutt, got himself in shape and was impressive at the pre-draft camp in Phoenix.

The Orlando Magic made him the 13th pick overall and he was looking forward to playing for veteran coach Chuck Daly.

But when the lockout ended, Clark found himself in Denver as part of a trade. He was going from Daly, one of the greatest coaches in league history, to Mike D'Antoni, who will make his NBA head coaching debut Friday when the Nuggets host Minnesota at McNichols Sports Arena.

Nesby, who helped lead UNLV to the WAC championship last season and the school's first NCAA bid in seven years, took the free-agent route to the NBA after he went undrafted. The Clippers needed scoring help and Nesby's offensive game may provide L.A. with the boost to be more competitive.

For Clark, the move may turn out to be a blessing. Minutes were going to be hard to come by in Orlando where former Utah star Michael Doleac was picked just ahead of Clark in the draft. In Denver, he's going to see a lot more time.

Clark's biggest challenge will be to add some bulk to his skinny 6-foot-11 frame. The Nuggets list him at 213 pounds, and the goal is to add 15 pounds before season's end.

"If I want to have any longevity in this game, at this level, I need to eat, sleep and drink weights -- at least for two years," Clark told the Denver Post.

"I'll never have Clydesdale legs. (Mine) are thoroughbreds, or greyhounds, or something of that nature."

Nesby breaks throughNesby's situation isn't much different from his former UNLV teammate's in the respect he, too, has never played a minute of NBA basketball. But when he didn't get drafted, he was able to hook up with Sioux Falls of the CBA and at least he got to play competitive basketball.

"That definitely helped," Nesby said from Los Angeles. "We were going twice a day and guys were all sore. I already had been through that in Sioux Falls so I was in shape and I could go longer."

He had 11 points in 12 minutes in the second preseason game against the crosstown Lakers last Saturday.

Clippers coach Chris Ford likes Nesby's ability to score and make plays offensively, as well as his friendly demeanor in the locker room.

"The big difference between pro and college is here, the guys know the game," Nesby said. "In college, you got guys running wild. I was pretty wild myself. But here, they talk to you. They tell you to slow it down, play under control."

Rebels in the NBA:

It has been 20 years since UNLV had such a large showing in the National Basketball Association. Here's a list of former Rebels who are expected to be on NBA rosters when the league opens its lockout-shortened 50-game season Friday: