NBA Accessories Week (Orlando Magic Edition): Horace Grant’s Goggles

As The Step Back celebrates NBA Accessories Week, we celebrate the accessory that is the definition of hard work. It’s got to be Horace Grant’s goggles.

There are certain indices of hard work. Certain things that tell you a player is of a certain type. They play a certain way and that you will have your work cut out for you.

Anyone can buy a headband, even if they are not sweating. Anyone can buy a sleeve, regardless if they are protecting against bursitis or not. Even the wristband gets more play, worn by weekend warriors on the tennis court as much as the basketball court.

Anyone can buy those. Anyone can wear them.

It may still say something if you wore them to a pickup game and did not live up to the hype and expectation that comes with it — you are picking the stranger with the sleeve and if he is not Allen Iverson he loses all credibility.

If you show up to the gym wearing elbow pads and goggles, that sends a clear message. This person is going to work. He is going to needle you and get under your skin. He is ready to bring the toolbox out. Your life is going to be pain for the next 21 points.

You do not just wear that equipment on a lark. You wear it because you are trying to protect yourself from the way you play. And your opponent understands that the moment they begin to match up with you.

Even if you wear glasses normally, you put in contacts or go with glasses (not taped together wire-framed, that belongs to Kurt Rambis). You do not rock the goggles unless you are going to work.

The guys who have worn straight up goggles in the NBA are few. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had some protective eyewear that could be called goggles. those seemed to lay flat across his face. He made those iconic.

But no one wore goggles quite like Horace Grant. He defined the headwear and gave it the personality required to wear them. When Horace Grant walked onto the court you knew exactly what he was about.

Horace Grant’s career featured just one All-Star appearance — he averaged 15.1 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in 1994 after Michael Jordan’s retirement. Really throughout his career, he was a grinder. Someone who played defense on the low block, could switch briefly onto the perimeter on pick and rolls and step out and hit mid-range jumpers.

His role for the championship Chicago Bulls teams and then for the Orlando Magic was all about the work between the cracks. He was not the top scorer or someone you run a ton of offense for. He grabbed rebounds and did the dirty work.

Grant averaged 12.1 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game, shooting 50.0 percent from the floor, in his first run with the Magic from 1995-99. He was much more valuable for the Magic defensively than offensively with a 2.3 defensive box plus-minus (compared to 0.5 offensive box plus-minus). This was the case throughout his career.

Of course, Grant’s greater value for the Magic was in the locker room where his championship experience and veteran presence helped center a young team and push them to the Finals in 1995. Long before anyone thought Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee Hardaway would reach that height.

Grant was a proud father watching his new team come from behind to beat his former team while he recovered from an injury in Game 6 in the 1995 second round in Chicago. He was always super important.

But what made him a fan favorite were those iconic goggles. Bright blue and bulky, a true relic of the early 1990s. When Horace Grant returned to the team in 2001, he was sporting more modern-looking shades (like Bo Outlaw). That took away a bit from his return.

When Grant arrived in Orlando, shirts were made to celebrate the free-agent acquisition that read “It’s got to be the goggles.”

The Church Street Exchange building was adorned with giant blue inflatable goggles facing I-4 during the team’s playoff run. Everyone understood Grant’s importance in elevating the Magic’s stature and place in the league.

In Orlando’s 30-year history, there was not a more iconic accessory than Grant’s goggles.

Nothing stood out more. Nothing represented how he played more — Grant defined the accessory for everyone else. He became the goggles.

It had to be the goggles.

Orlando Magic

Other Notable Magic Accessories

Darrell Armstrong‘s cup of coffee: Darrell Armstrong was famous for his hustle and energy. That is how he scratched a place in the league and stayed for so long. Nobody was going to outwork Armstrong. He had a secret weapon though. Two cups of coffee and a Hershey’s Kiss at halftime gave him the boost to outwork everyone in the second half.

Bo Outlaw’s Shades: Like Horace Grant’s goggles, they evolved into the clear shades that Bo Outlaw wore. And like Grant’s goggles, they were a signal that player was going to make you work. Outlaw was a hustle player through and through. He became synonymous with the shades he wore.

Ben Wallace’s hairstyle: While Ben Wallace would later become known for his various armbands as he dominated defensively with the Detroit Pistons, it was his hair that gave him his power in Orlando. The Magic would keep a record of the team’s results when he sported his famous afro or stuck with cornrows. It was always a surprise which he would sport walking out of the tunnel as he was a key part of the team’s Heart and Hustle season.

Tracy McGrady’s leg sleeve: Everyone thinks of wearing the arm sleeves, Tracy McGrady sported a leg sleeve. Why? Did he have some lingering leg or knee issues? Who knows. But as McGrady flew lithely down the lane and scored over everyone, the only thing seemingly keeping him from flying into the atmosphere was that leg-sleeve weighing him down.

Patrick Ewing’s knee pads: Patrick Ewing always wore bulky knee pads. That is not the news. But as he got older, they seemed to get bigger. In fact, by the time he played his final season with the Magic, it seemed those knee pads were the only things keeping Ewing’s knees attached to his legs.

Dwight Howard’s Arm Sleeves: Dwight Howard was always willing to do whatever seemed cool at the time. Iverson made the arm sleeve a thing in the NBA, Howard tried to make a double arm sleeve a thing. It worked though. Along with his Magic-printed compression shirt, the double-arm sleeves seemed to highlight his physique which was impressive.

Jameer Nelson’s Mouthguard: Jameer Nelson is hardly someone who made chewing on his mouthguard a thing. Stephen Curry has seemingly turned it into an art. But Nelson was known for chewing on his mouthguard a lot too while he played. It was a habit he seemingly picked up from Steve Francis who also constantly took his mouthguard in and out.

Check out the rest of the great celebrations over NBA accessories at The Step Back.