Former NBA Champion John Thomas "Spider" Salley was born on May 16, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York and was educated at Georgia Institute of Technology College of Management. He got his nickname “Spider” because of his bold style of guarding his opponents. He was also the first player in NBA history to play on three different championship-winning franchises. In 1986, Salley was drafted by the Detroit Pistons right after he got out of Georgia Tech. He is one among the Pistons' all time leaders in blocked shots and he also holds Georgia Tech's blocked shot record. He even had his jersey number 22 retired, which is a very rare honor in college basketball. Salley became close friends with Adrian Dantley after he joined the Pistons and Dantley was responsible for teaching Salley proper nutrition, exercise and court conduct, thus Salley called him "The Teacher". In 1992, Salley was traded to the Miami Heat and a few years later was left unprotected by the team in the 1995 expansion draft. He then did a short stint with the inaugural Toronto Raptors team where he was given little playing time. He then negotiated a buyout of his contract to sign with the Chicago Bulls. With the Bulls, he helped Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and former Pistons teammates Dennis Rodman and James Edwards lead the Bulls to a record-breaking 72-win season. Shortly thereafter, Salley retired. He only played again in 1999, when he joined the Lakers team led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. There he provided a veteran post presence and locker room leadership to the team while they were vying for their first of three consecutive NBA championship from 2000 to 2002. He retired after the first championship season. Salley's later projects include hosting for The Best Damn Sports Show Period on Fox Sports Network and his participation in the reality series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race.

John Salley appears in Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, the new reality series from ABC featuring twelve celebrities train and race with professional Gillette Young Guns and eventually, with each other.


(Photo courtesy of ABC)