All-Star Chicago Bulls power forward Horace Grant, one of the great players in that franchise’s storied history, reigned as one of the most physical defense-first big men during his era. The 6-foot-10 Clemson alum logged 17 seasons in the league — seven of them with Chicago, including three straight championships from 1991-93 — during a hard-fought era that predated handcheck fouls.
Now back with the Bulls as a special advisor to COO and president Michael Reinsdorf, the four-time All-Defensive Teamer has no question about his allegiance when he watches his NBA nephew Jerami, currently a 3-and-D combo forward with the Portland Trail Blazers, play Chicago.
The 6-foot-7 Jerami was actually born in Portland while his father, Harvey (Horace’s twin brother), was plying his trade with the Trail Blazers. Across 23 contests for the Trail Blazers so far, Jerami Grant has been averaging 19.5 points on .438/.394/.857 shooting splits, 3.8 boards, 2.7 dimes, 0.8 swipes and 0.6 rejections a night.
Jerami was selected with the No. 39 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft out of Syracuse by the Philadelphia 76ers, and also suited up for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Detroit Pistons prior to joining Portland. Two of Jerami’s brothers, Jerian and Jerai, are also pro basketball players in other leagues.
“I would love for my nephew to have a great game,” Grant tells Newsweek Sports. “But as far as winning, no, absolutely no way. If you ask him the same thing, he would say, ‘I want my uncle to have such a great game, but I want the Trail Blazers to win.’ So yeah, he can have a great game.”
That familial competitiveness stretches as far back as Horace and Harvey Grant’s youth in Sparta, Georgia. Back then, Horace rooted for the Boston Celtics, while Harvey was a firm Philadelphia 76ers devotee.
These days, Horace Grant obviously wants Jerami Grant to succeed on the court — just not at the expense of Horace’s Bulls.
At 9-15, the Trail Blazers presently occupy the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference. Portland may be a bit better than its record suggests, as the club has been struggling with long-term injuries to key guards Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson. Damian Lillard is technically on the roster, but is using the entire 2025-26 season to recover from an Achilles tear.
Now 31, Jerami Grant has effectively become Portland’s de facto “old head” in the frontcourt, guiding standout forwards Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara to glory as a high-scoring sixth man.
Jerami Grant is very much a modern combo forward, and his game is much more oriented around the perimeter on both sides of the ball. Although Horace Grant had the requisite footspeed necessary to cover opposing wings along the arc or even across a fullcourt press when needed, his prime terrain was the post — which he manned with lethal tenacity.
During Horace’s era, the 3-point shot was far less a point of emphasis than it is now, especially for big men, which is in part why his shot diet was more focused on converting from the interior than Jerami’s, and why he patrolled the paint defensively more often than not.
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Still, in the context of the current NBA, Horace Grant knows the perfect embodiment of his game.
“I would say the modern [me] would have to be my nephew Jerami,” Horace Grant says. “I love the way he plays defense. And if I was lucky enough back in the day to shoot 3’s when we were allowed to shoot 3’s as forwards, I’d say my nephew resembles Horace Grant back in the day.”
“He’s not as tough as I am, but the basketball style” is similar, Horace chuckles.
A four-time All-Defensive Teamer, Horace Grant embraced the dirty work on dynastic Chicago franchises alongside Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. With the Bulls, Horace did his darnedest to limit the output of rival frontcourt All-Stars like his former Bulls-mentor-turned-New York Knicks nemesis Charles Oakley, Pistons big man Bill Laimbeer, Phoenix Suns MVP Charles Barkley, and Utah Jazz All-NBA superstar Karl Malone.
Newsweek Sports’ own submission of power forward Aaron Gordon — who eventually replaced Jerami on the Denver Nuggets — as another possible modern Horace was also met with No. 54’s seal of approval.
“Aaron Gordon’s a good choice too,” Horace Grant allows. “I love his game.”
Chicago, meanwhile, recently proved just how much it still loves Grant’s game.
On Nov. 22, the Bulls named the elder Grant to its second-ever Ring of Honor class, alongside fellow Bulls standout players John Paxson, Bill Cartwright and Norm Van Lier, former Chicago assistant coach Johnny Bach, and former radio and TV Bulls play-by-play commentator Neil Funk.
“Man it was one of the best weeks of my life — first, being honored with such a great organization. Secondly, just reminiscing with guys like Pax and Bill and Neil Funk and the late great Johnny Bach — with his family there,” Grant notes of the Ring of Honor festivities. “And plus, all the fans there.”
As Jerami Grant gears up for, hopefully, a deep postseason run with the Trail Blazers in 2026, his uncle is working on his own exciting enterprise: a brand-new television show, Legends In Session, via Urban Grind TV.
On the show, Horace Grant will talk shop with a variety of NBA legends about their achievements both on and off the hardwood.
“I just felt that I should have my voice out there a little bit more. Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a no-nonsense type of guy, I wear my heart on my sleeve and just have a story to tell,” Grant says of the show. “This TV series is just going to be my journey from my adolescence and my growth [in] college, 17 years in the NBA, and my guests are going to do the same. So it’s going to be fascinating, transparent and fun. Of course we’re going to talk about ’80s and ’90s basketball compared to basketball now and things of that nature.”
Pippen, Harvey Grant, Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton, All-Stars Charles Oakley, BJ Armstrong and Penny Hardaway, champion Bulls reserve center/power forward-turned-CHSN game analyst Stacey King and two-time champion Vernon Maxwell have already been confirmed as guests for Legends In Session’s debut season.
“I already know all these guys, but I want them to share it with the public, with the fans, about their growth from childhood, adolescence, college, what were their keys to success, and what are they doing now since us old heads have retired?”
Horace Grant acolytes can stay tuned to the upcoming show’s official website and Instagram for further details as its projected mid-2026 launch approaches.
The show boasts a philanthropic side, too.
“Like I say to a lot of people, it takes a village to raise a family, and a lot of things were given to me. It’s just a part of giving back. Each guest is going to go to the Legends In Session Hall of Fame, and we’re going to sign memorabilia, and that memorabilia is going to be auctioned off to their choice of charity, so it’s just a way of giving back.”
Fans curious about hearing Horace Grant’s full conversation with Newsweek Sports can tune in to this reporter’s Bulls Bros podcast.
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