Wally Szczerbiak is one of our headliners for March 5 birthday celebrations.
With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including four Leap Day ballers. Our day-by-day breakdown of the players born on each day of the year continues.
Below are the most notable NBA players born on March 5.
Brian Grant (1972)
Grant was a standout at Xavier University, making him the eighth overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. The big man finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting in a remarkable rookie campaign, making the All-Rookie team as well. He spent three years with the Kings and became a force in the paint when he joined the Portland Trail Blazers in 1997.
From 1997-98 to 1999-00 while with the Blazers, Grant averaged 10.2 points and 8.0 rebounds in 172 contests. His next four years were spent in Miami (2000-01 to 2003-04), where he posted 11.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in 312 contests. Grant finished the final two years of his 12-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers (2004-05) and Phoenix Suns (2005-06) before retiring.
Wally Szczerbiak (1977)
‘Wally World’s’ father was an NBA player as well, and he raised a heck of a shooter. Szczerbiak was the sixth overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft out of Miami University, spending his first seven seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The sharpshooter averaged double-digits in scoring every year until his final season in 2008-09, and his breakout season came in Year 3. That was Wally’s lone All-Star appearance, averaging 18.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 45.5% from 3-point range. He posted a career-high 20.1 ppg in his final season with the Wolves in 2005, leading him to be dealt in a midseason trade to the Boston Celtics. Szczerbiak closed his career with short stints for the Seattle SuperSonics and Cleveland Cavaliers before retiring in 2009.
Want to see every NBA player born on March 5? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
- Johnny Norlander (1921)
- Tom Kelly (1924)
- Leroy Chollet (1925)
- Carroll Hooser (1944)
- Bob Quick (1946)
- Charles Dudley (1950)
- Scott Skiles (1964)
- Reggie Williams (1964)
- Brian Grant (1972)
- Sarunas Jasikevicius (1976)
- Wally Szczerbiak (1977)
- Corsley Edwards (1979)
- Rob Kurz (1985)
- Cedric Johnson (1986)
- Corey Brewer (1986)
- Larry Drew II (1990)
- Mason Plumlee (1990)
- Emmanuel Mudiay (1996)
- Killian Tillie (1998)
- Joel Ayayi (2000)
