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Allan Houston

Position	Shooting guard
Nickname	H20
Height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg)
Nationality	United States
Born	April 20, 1971 Louisville, Kentucky
College	Tennessee
Draft	11th overall, 1993 Detroit Pistons
Pro career	1993–2005
Former teams	Detroit Pistons (1993–1996) New York Knicks (1996–2005)
Awards	2-Time NBA All-Star

Olympic medal record
Men's basketball
Gold	2000 Sydney	United States

Allan Wade Houston (born April 20, 1971, in Louisville, Kentucky, USA) is an American former professional basketball player who spent the majority of his career playing shooting guard for the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks. His nickname is "H2O", derived from the first letter of his name and his jersey number of "20", and acknowledges his graceful jumpshot, which was said to be "as smooth as water."

Contents 1 Early life 2 NBA career 3 "Allan Houston Rule" 4 External links

Houston played at Ballard High School in Louisville, helping them to win the 1988 Kentucky state championship. He went on to play at the University of Tennessee (where he played under his father Wade) and graduated in 1993 as the school's all-time leading scorer.

Houston was selected 11th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 1993 NBA Draft, and averaged 8.5 points per game in his rookie year. His average was boosted to 14.5 and 19.7 points per game in the next two years.

In 1996, Houston signed as a free agent with the Knicks, where he played for the next nine seasons. In his first year as a Knick, Houston took the place of John Starks in the starting lineup, with Starks serving as a mentor for him coming off of the bench. Houston kept his scoring average at a consistent clip of about 17 points per game, helping to lead his team to the 1999 NBA Finals. He made the All-Star team in 2000 and 2001.

Despite the accolades, though, Houston's lasting legacy may be something that happened off of the court: In 2001, Houston signed a maximum contract extension with the Knicks. This move that proved to be a huge mistake for New York because it cut deeply into the Knicks' already-grim salary cap situation, and prevented them from making any free agent moves. Houston's yearly salary of over $20 million made him virtually untradeable and injury problems would further burden the Knicks. Houston missed 32 games in 2003-04 due to a knee injury, and despite claims in the summer of 2004 that he would be ready to play the next season (he even refused to have surgery on his knee that summer), he played in only 20 games that season because his injury hadn't completely healed. The knee injury would eventually force Houston to announce his retirement, on October 17, 2005.

Houston retired as one of the most prolific scorers in Knicks history, and his last-second bank-shot in the deciding game of the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Miami Heat was one of the most dramatic moments in Knicks history, sending the team into the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and eventually to the NBA Finals. Houston also ranks 10th on the NBA's all-time list for career 3-point field goals made.

On March 30, 2007, Houston reportedly was interested in making a comeback. He is waiting for his current contract to expire with the Knicks. Despite not having played in the league since 2005, Houston was the second highest paid player in the league two years later during the 2006-2007 NBA season at $20.7 million.[1]

YEAR TEAM      G GS MPG    FG% 3P% FT%  OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO    PPG 
93-94  DET    79 20 19.2 .405 .299 .824 .2 1.3 1.5 1.3 .43 .16 1.25  8.5 
94-95  DET    76 39 26.3 .463 .424 .860 .4 1.8 2.2 2.2 .80 .18 1.49 14.5 
95-96  DET    82 75 37.5 .453 .427 .823 .7 3.0 3.7 3.0 .74 .20 2.84 19.7 
96-97  NYK    81 81 33.1 .423 .385 .803 .5 2.4 3.0 2.2 .51 .22 2.06 14.8 
97-98  NYK    82 82 34.7 .447 .385 .851 .5 2.8 3.3 2.6 .77 .29 2.44 18.4 
98-99  NYK    50 50 36.3 .418 .407 .862 .4 2.6 3.0 2.7 .70 .18 2.60 16.3 
99-00  NYK    82 82 38.6 .483 .436 .838 .5 2.8 3.3 2.7 .79 .17 2.27 19.7 
00-01  NYK    78 78 36.6 .449 .381 .909 .3 3.4 3.6 2.2 .67 .13 2.06 18.7 
01-02  NYK    77 77 37.8 .437 .393 .870 .5 2.8 3.3 2.5 .70 .13 2.21 20.4 
02-03  NYK    82 82 37.9 .445 .396 .919 .3 2.5 2.8 2.7 .66 .09 2.17 22.5 
03-04  NYK    50 50 36.0 .435 .431 .913 .4 2.0 2.4 2.0 .76 .04 2.04 18.5 
04-05  NYK    20 11 26.6 .415 .388 .837 .2 1.0 1.2 2.1 .40 .10 1.05 11.9
Career      839 727 33.7 .444 .402 .863 .4 2.5 2.9 2.4 .67 .10 2.10 17.3 
Playoff       63 63 40.1 .448 .420 .884 .3 2.6 2.9 2.2 .68 .16 2.59 19.3 
All-Star       2 0 16.5 .333 .400 1.000 .0 1.5 1.5 2.5 .50 .00 1.00  8.0

In 2005, the NBA agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The most striking innovation grants NBA teams a one-time exception to waive a player without paying any further luxury tax on the player's contract, regardless of how long or how rich the contract was. The provision did not negate the player's contract, a team's obligation to pay the player, or the impact on the salary cap; it merely removed the player's salary when computing the luxury tax. This rule benefited teams that were in danger of facing the "luxury tax" penalty, a tax paid on salaries spent above a certain threshold of total team salary. The correct term is "amnesty clause," but because the team with the worst problems was the Knicks, and their worst financial liability was Houston, it was quickly dubbed the "Allan Houston Rule." Ironically, the Knicks chose not to use the exception for Houston, but for forward Jerome Williams instead, since the Knicks correctly predicted Houston would retire due to lingering injuries over his last two seasons. As a result, Houston made $40 million for the last two years of his contract even though he did not participate in any games for the Knicks.

• Official site
• NBA career stats @ basketball-reference.com
• NBA career stats @ databasebasketball.com

2000 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball

Shareef Abdur-Rahim | Ray Allen | Vin Baker | Vince Carter | Kevin Garnett | Tim Hardaway | Allan Houston | Jason Kidd | Antonio McDyess | Alonzo Mourning | Gary Payton | Steve Smith

Coach Rudy Tomjanovich