N.B.A. Player Spotlight: If only Harold "Baby Jordan" Miner could of stayed healthy

I could only begin to imagine how much longer Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner could have played professional basketball had he never sustained the various knee injuries that he did during his short-lived N.B.A. (National Basketball Association) career. Ever since his playing days for the U.S.C. (University of Southern California) Trojans under former U.S.C. men’s basketball head coach George Raveling, Harold Miner had been one of the most explosive and electrifying players in professional basketball history. Recognized as one of the highest and most powerful leapers in N.B.A. history, the southpaw Miner frequently dazzled N.B.A. crowds with his spectacular, acrobatic dunks and athletic acumen. Not to mention his ability to beat opponents off-the-dribble with his super-quick first step and admirable work ethic on the floor. In my humble opinion, Miner’s ‘above the rim’ style of play was definitely the main contributing factor to his premature retirement from N.B.A. basketball. Perhaps similar to the former Toronto Raptors N.B.A. All-Star shooting guard Vince “Air Canada” Carter’s athletically-inclined style of play in some respects.

Originally hailing from Inglewood, California, U.S.A., Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner opted to play college basketball for a hometown school; the academic and athletic powerhouse U.S.C. (University of Southern California). When Miner began playing for U.S.C. as a freshman during the 1989-90 N.C.A.A. (National Collegiate Athletics Association) Division I college basketball season, the U.S.C. men’s basketball program played second fiddle to their cross-town Pac-10 rival U.C.L.A.’s (University of California at Los Angeles) men’s basketball program and were considered perennial Pac-10 doormats. Historically speaking, U.C.L.A. had dominated the heads-up competition between the two and had produced legendary players/coaches such as former N.B.A. Hall of Fame center Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar), former N.B.A. All-Star center Bill Walton and the late legendary U.C.L.A. men’s basketball head coach John “Wizard of Westwood” Wooden. Not to mention the 11 N.C.A.A. Division I National Championships that the U.C.L.A. men’s basketball program had amassed during their storied history versus zero N.C.A.A. Division I National Championships for U.S.C. U.S.C. finished the 1989-90 season (Miner’s freshman year) with a dismal 12-16 overall record (.429 winning percentage), tied for seventh place in the Pac-10 with the Arizona State University Sun Devils.

Despite U.S.C.’s team shortcomings that season, Miner played his part and performed admirably finishing with a superb 20.7 per game regular season scoring average and 48% field goal shooting percentage. Within two seasons, Miner improved his stat line to a sparkling 26.3 points, 7.0 rebound and 1.3 assists per game average leading U.S.C. to a superb 24-6 overall record (including a 15-3 Pac-10 division record) in the process. On March 14, 1992 at the former Los Angeles Sports Arena, Miner became the second Pac-10 player in history to score more than 2,000 career points (the other player was Lew Alcindor) in a close 70-69 U.S.C. win versus the the highly-ranked Lute Olson-led Arizona Wildcats. He also helped lead U.S.C. to a #2 Midwest Regional seeding behind the Roy Williams-led Kansas Jayhawks (27-5 overall record) in the 1992 N.C.A.A. Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. Unfortunately, the Trojans were upset by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the second round of said tournament, courtesy of a three-point buzzer beater by Georgia Tech forward James Forrest. After U.S.C.’s heart-wrenching tournament loss versus Georgia Tech, Miner left U.S.C. after his junior year and declared himself eligible for the 1992 N.B.A. Draft. He would eventually be selected as the 1992 N.B.A. Draft’s 12th overall pick by the Miami Heat, immediately after future N.B.A. champion small forward Robert Horry (selected by the Houston Rockets) of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Among the highlights of Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner’s career; on December 11, 1993 at Miami Arena, Miner dropped an N.B.A. career-high 28 points in a regular season Miami Heat 111-80 blowout win against the Boston Celtics. On March 13, 1994, Miner grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in another Miami Heat 106-87 blowout win versus the Boston Celtics at Boston Garden. Miner displayed his athletic prowess at the 1993 and 1995 N.B.A. Dunk Contest’s respectively, winning both competitions with spectacular dunks (including an insane “Around the World” reverse power dunk). He could of potentially three-peated and won the 1994 N.B.A. Dunk Contest had he never been hobbled by nagging knee injuries during that season. Not to mention had the Minnesota Timberwolves’s Isaiah “J.R.” Rider never mesmerized the dunk contest judges and audience with his unbelievable so called “East Bay Funk Dunk” during the 1994 N.B.A. Dunk Contest. Miner first experienced N.B.A. playoff basketball on April 28, 1993, when Miami won their first playoff game in franchise history 93–88 against the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of the 1993-94 N.B.A. Playoffs first round series. After taking a 2–1 series lead, the Heat would eventually bow out in five games to the Hawks thereby eliminating themselves from playoff competition in the process. Although the Miami Heat fielded a decent roster that season with the likes of All-Star sharpshooter shooting guard/small forward Glen Rice and Lebanese-American former center Rony Siekaly, the 1993-94 N.B.A. Playoffs would be the only N.B.A. playoffs exposure Miner would have as a Miami Heat player as they did not qualify for the playoffs the following year.

After the 1994-95 N.B.A. season, Miner was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He averaged only 3.2 points and 7.2 minutes per game during his single season with the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers with Miner did make the N.B.A playoffs after the
1995-96 N.B.A. regular season only to get swept (3-0) in the first round series by the New York Knicks. On October 18, 1995 he was traded to the Toronto Raptors for Victor Alexander, but that trade was rescinded four days later when Alexander failed his physical. Miner played five scoreless minutes with the Cavaliers in his last NBA game, a 26-point loss to the Chicago Bulls on February 20, 1996.

Miner was eventually waived by the Cavaliers, having played him in only 19 games that season. He tried out for the Toronto Raptors the following year but was cut during the preseason.

In conclusion, I believe that having the “Baby Jordan” label attributed to Harold Miner especially during an early part of his career was indeed too much pressure for him too handle. “I always felt the worst thing to happen to Harold was the “Baby Jordan” tag.” George Raveling was quoted as saying during his tenure as U.S.C.’s head coach. Other former extraordinary, super-athletic N.B.A. players such as the Toronto Raptors’ Vince “Air Canada” Carter and the Los Angeles Lakers’s Kobe “Black Mamba” Bryant also drew comparisons to Michael “His Airness” Jordan at one time or another during their respective careers. Although those aforementioned players had successful N.B.A. careers and were awesome players in their own respective rights, they weren’t able to fill the shoes of somebody of Micheal Jordan’s ilk. What a tall order to fulfill having to best the career of arguably the best N.B.A. basketball player in history. I still wonder at times if Miner could have extended his extremely short N.B.A. career (four seasons) and made greater strides in terms of his career accomplishments had he never experienced those devastating knee injuries. On a good note though, U.S.C. finally retired Miner’s jersey in 2012 as a token of appreciation for his college basketball career efforts.

Below are some Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner career statistics:

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner Profile and Fast Facts

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner Career Highlights and Awards

• 2× N.B.A. Slam Dunk Contest champion (1993, 1995)
• Consensus first-team All-American (1992)
• Pac-10 Player of the Year (1992)
• 3× First-team All-Pac-10 (1990–1992)
• Pac-10 Freshman of the Year (1990)

Harold Miner N.B.A. Professional Career Statistics at a Glance

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner U.S.C. (University of Southern California) College Career Statistics

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner N.B.A. Professional Career Statistics

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner 1993 N.B.A. Dunk Contest Highlights (Delta Center – Salt Lake City, Utah – February 21, 1993)

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner 1995 N.B.A. Dunk Contest Highlights (America West Arena – Phoenix, Arizona – February 12, 1995)

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner U.S.C. and Miami Heat Career Highlights

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner Highlights including Shaquille “Diesel” O’Neal, Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and Michael “His Airness” Jordan

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner (#19) – E.S.P.N. 2 Top 20 Greatest N.B.A. Dunkers of all Time

1991-92 N.C.A.A. Pac-10 Conference Regular Season – #4 U.C.L.A. Bruins (Tyus Edney/Don Maclean/Tracy Murray/Ed O’Bannon) vs #13 U.S.C. Trojans (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Duane Cooper/Yamen Sanders) – 79-83 – Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner scores 29 points – E.S.P.N. Post-Game Highlights (Los Angeles Sports Arena – Los Angeles, California – February 27, 1992)

1991-92 N.C.A.A. Pac-10 Conference Regular Season – #13 U.S.C. Trojans (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Duane Cooper/Yamen Sanders) vs #4 U.C.L.A. Bruins (Tyus Edney/Don Maclean/Tracy Murray/Ed O’Bannon) – 86-82 – Game Highlights (Pauley Pavilion – Los Angeles, California – January 29, 1992)

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner (#9) – C.B.S. College Basketball Top 10 Greatest Dunkers of all Time

1992-93 N.B.A. Regular Season–Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat–105-100–Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner vs Michael “His Airness” Jordan–Game Highlights (Miami Arena–Miami, Florida–December 30, 1992)

1992 N.C.A.A. Tournament Midwest Regional–Round of 32 Game: #7 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Travis Best/Jon Barry/Matt Geiger/Malcolm Mackey) vs #2 U.S.C. Trojans (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Duane Cooper/Yamen Sanders)–79-78–Complete Game (Bradley Center–Milwaukee, Wisconsin–March 21, 1992)

1991-92 N.C.A.A. Non-Conference Regular Season–#3 Ohio State Buckeyes (Jim Jackson/Chris Jent/Lawrence Funderburke) vs #8 U.S.C. Trojans (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Duane Cooper/Yamen Sanders) Game Highlights–77-79 (Overtime) (Los Angeles Sports Arena–Los Angeles, California–December 21, 1991)

1991-92 N.C.A.A. Pac-10 Conference Regular Season–#8 U.S.C. Trojans (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Duane Cooper/Yamen Sanders) vs #10 Arizona Wildcats (Chris Mills/Khalid Reeves/Damon “Mighty Mouse” Stoudamire/Sean Rooks)–Game Highlights–70-69 (Los Angeles Sports Arena–Los Angeles, California–March 14, 1992)

1991-92 N.C.A.A. Pac-10 Conference Regular Season–#24 Stanford Cardinals (Adam Keefe/Brent Williams/Peter Dukes) vs #8 U.S.C. Trojans (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Duane Cooper/Yamen Sanders) Game Highlights–72-73 (Los Angeles Sports Arena–Los Angeles, California–February 22, 1992)

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner–1992 N.B.A. Draft–Miami Heat–1st Round, 12th Pick Overall

1992-93 N.B.A. Regular Season–Los Angeles Lakers (Nick Van Exel/Anthony Peeler/Sedale Threatt/Vlade Divac) vs Miami Heat (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Glen Rice/Steve Smith/Rony Seikaly)–92-109–Game Highlights (Miami Arena–Miami, Florida–December 23, 1993)

1992-93 N.B.A. Regular Season–Seattle Supersonics (Gary “The Glove” Payton/Shawn “Reign Man” Kemp/Nate McMillan/Detlef Shrempf) vs Miami Heat (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Glen Rice/Steve Smith/Rony Seikaly)–102-106–Game Highlights (Miami Arena–Miami, Florida–March 13, 1993)

1989 25th Dapper Dan Classic–West All-Stars (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Shaquille “Diesel” O’Neal/Jim Jackson/Sam Mitchell) vs East All-Stars (Bobby Hurley/Jerry Walker/Bill McCaffery/Darryl Barnes)–84-96–Game Highlights (Civic Arena–Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania–April 7, 1989)

1992-93 N.B.A. Regular Season–Miami Heat (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Glen Rice/Steve Smith/Rony Seikaly) vs New Jersey Nets (Kenny Anderson/Dražen Petrović (R.I.P)/Derrick “DC” Coleman/Bernard King)–111-117 (Overtime)–Game Highlights (Brendan Byrne Arena–East Rutherford, New Jersey–February 14, 1993)

1992-93 N.B.A. Preseason–Orlando Magic (Shaquille “Diesel” O’Neal/) vs Miami Heat (Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner/Glen Rice/Steve Smith/Rony Seikaly) –111-117 (Overtime)–Game Highlights (Miami Arena–Miami, Florida–October 14, 1992)

Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner’s U.S.C. #23 Jersey Retirement Speech–January 15, 2012

Sources: Wikipedia–https://www.en.wikipedia.org, Sports Reference–https://www.sports-reference.com, Miami Heat–https://www.nba.com/heat, N.B.A.–https://www.nba.com, U.S.C. Trojans Men’s Basketball– https://usctrojans.com/sports/mens-basketball, E.S.P.N.–https://www.espn.com, YouTube–https://www.youtube.com