Grant one of the “proudest dads” on Father’s Day
Longtime NBA veteran Harvey Grant remembers his lightswitch moment.
Nuggets forward Jerami Grant, one of his five kids and four sons, was at Dematha High School in Maryland. The elder Grant was about a decade removed from his bruising NBA playing days. The two were squared up one-on-one and, well, it’s better if he tells it.
“I’m never going to take any pity on them, not no slack or nothing,” Harvey said. “I’m going hard. Next thing I know, I’m playing Jerami, he just went by me like I was standing there. I’m like, ‘Oh shucks, like, OK.’ Of course the competitiveness came out in me. I’m trying to put my forearm on him. Man, after that, I’m like, ‘I’m done.’ ”
But the proud 11-year NBA forward didn’t go quietly.
“Then he started to go by me and dunking and I was like, ‘OK, you know what? It’s time for me to hang it up.’ ”
And just like that, Harvey ceded the family basketball reins to his longer, bouncier offspring. Three of Grant’s sons (Jerai, Jerian and Jerami) play professional basketball, while the fourth and youngest, Jaelin, is a chef. Harvey, who also has a daughter, Mikayla, remembers a lot of “excitement” around the house.
“If you know anything about us, the Grants, we hate to lose at anything,” he said. “So we had some knock-down, drag-out Monopoly games.”
As kids, they all trotted in their dad’s shadow and basked in the perks of having a father (and uncle, Horace) who played in the NBA. After practices, Harvey recalled his kids gamely challenging his Washington teammates to lopsided one-on-one battles. Before games, Harvey remembers his kids snacking on bubble gum in the locker room.
Some nights, they’d even get to be ball boys.
That is, as long as it wasn’t a school night.
“I was lucky and blessed that they wanted to be a part of the basketball scene, the basketball world,” Harvey said. Still, as a self-described “laid-back” father, he encouraged his kids to pursue any career.
“I always told them, ‘I want you to do whatever you want to do, what’s going to make you happy as long as it is a positive thing,’ ” he said. “‘If you want to be the best lawyer in the world, be the best lawyer. If you want to be the best doctor, whatever you want to be, just try to be the best at it as long as it is a positive thing.’ They kind of just grew up around (basketball).”
And yet, for all of his children’s accomplishments, few things made Harvey prouder than their actions just weeks ago amid the peaceful protests against police brutality outside the White House.
In early June, Jerami, two of his brothers, his stepsister, sister-inlaw and niece made the protests a family affair. Harvey said he’s waiting for the right moment to discuss the event with them, but while he wasn’t physically there, his heart soared.
“I’ll tell you, I was one of the proudest dads in the world,” he said.
“Those kids, my sons and my daughter, they give back to the community. I tell them this all the time. They are the future.
“So whatever they do now, that’s going to impact them right now, us right now, their kids and their grandkids.
“Whatever they believe in, truly in their hearts, go out and do it peacefully, go out and make a difference and make a change. I was so proud when I saw them
do that.”