Nance scored 15,687 career points and grabbed 7,352 career rebounds, but he is perhaps best known as the first winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1984, earning him the nickname "The High-Ayatolla of Slamola". Nance was a model of consistency throughout his NBA career. He averaged over 16 points and 8 rebounds per game for all eleven seasons as a starter. His best scoring average year was in the 1986–1987 NBA season, where he averaged 22.5 points per game. Always among the highest in field goal percentage, Nance was an excellent mid-range shooter as well as a talented inside player. Nance was involved in a trade between the Suns and the Cavaliers in 1988. Nance's stint in Phoenix came to an end on February 25, 1988, when, with the Suns struggling to a 16–35 mark, he was traded with Mike Sanders and Detroit's No. 1 pick in 1988 to Cleveland for Kevin Johnson, Mark West, Tyrone Corbin and Cleveland's first and second round picks in 1988 and the Lakers' second round pick in 1989.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The trade worked out for both teams, as Nance proved to be the missing piece the Cavs needed to contend for a title in the East, while at the same time playing the role of frontcourt post partner to Cav center Brad Daugherty before a series of back injuries forced Daugherty to retire. For the Suns, Johnson, Majerle and West became key players in the team's late 1980s and early 1990s success. Corbin, following a successful season in Phoenix, was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1989 expansion draft. Larry Nance was a 3-time NBA All-Star 1985, 1989, and 1993, and an NBA All-Defensive TeamFirst Team member in 1989, and a Second Team Member in 1992 and 1993. He was also consistently one of the league's better shot blockers, averaging 2.2 blocks per game during his career. Upon his retirement, he held the league record for most blocked shots by any player other than a center.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
Playoffs
Personal life
Nance's son, Larry Nance Jr., played college basketball for Wyoming before being selected with the 27th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He played two and a half seasons with the Lakers before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in February 2018. Nance granted the Cavaliers permission to let his son wear his retired no. 22 jersey. Nance's daughter, Casey Nance, played college basketball for Dayton. Another son, Pete Nance, began playing for the Northwestern Wildcats during the 2018–19 season. Nance now owns a 1967 "Catch 22" Camaro NHRA drag racer, which his team races on weekends.
