National Basketball Association

Horace Grant shares the heartwarming reason he wore his famous goggles

Published Dec. 14, 2016 8:30 a.m. ET

Andrew Lynch

Former NBA big man Horace Grant is known for two things: winning championships with Michael Jordan and rocking some of the coolest goggles his side of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In a recent Ask Me Anything on the Bulls' Reddit page, however, Grant revealed that he didn't need the specs for most of his career — yet he kept wearing them to support children who might be bullied for their own eyewear.

Via Reddit.com (h/t Stephen Noh):

"I got them because I was legally blind. I wore em because of that for a few years. After a few years I got Lasik surgery, but I kept wearing them without the perscription lenses because I had grandparents and parents come up to me and thank me for wearing them. Their kids and grandkids would get made fun of by wearing protective eyewear playing sports, so I kept wearing them to help make it cool to wear goggles for the kids."

Indeed, it's pretty easy to find a picture of Grant without his signature specs:

Most of the goggles-less pictures date from 1989 through 1991 or so. In fact, the Bulls' ophthalmologist expressed concern that same year that Grant's vision was a problem without his corrective eyewear, something Grant denied.

Whatever the case, Grant broke out the goggles once again in 1992, continuing to wear them through his tenure with the Orlando Magic.

Grant played 17 seasons in the NBA before retiring in 2004, winning four titles — three with the Bulls and one with the Lakers — and making the All-Star Game in 1994. His nephews, Jerian and Jerami Grant, are currently NBA players for the Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder, respectively.