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The Phoenix Suns added defensive intensity, rebounding and veteran leadership to its frontcourt today with the signing of free agent forward/center Brian Grant.

An 11-year NBA veteran, Grant has played for four teams (Sacramento, Portland, Miami and L.A. Lakers) during his career averaging 10.7 points and 7.6 rebounds in 28.8 minutes over 735 career games. He has appeared in 53 career playoff games and averaged 7.1 points and 8.6 rebounds on .466 shooting from the field.

A durable competitor, Grant played and started in 309 of 312 games during his four-year stint with Miami from 2000-04 and averaged 11.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in 32.0 minutes. In 2002-03 he finished the season ranked fifth in the NBA in rebounds (10.2), 10th in field goal percentage (.509) and tied for 11th in double-doubles (31). In one of his last appearances in a Heat uniform on May 10, 2004 against Indiana, he grabbed a postseason career-high 16 rebounds in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Grant departed from Miami ranked fourth all-time in team history with 2,654 rebounds, fifth with 123 consecutive games played, eighth with 9,971 minutes played and fourth with a .482 field goal percentage.

The 6-9, 254-pound forward/center saw limited action with the Los Angeles Lakers last season after suffering an early-season neck injury and knee tendonitis. He finished the season averaging 16.5 minutes in 69 appearances after being traded from the Miami Heat along with Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and a future first-round draft pick in exchange for Shaquille O’Neal on July 14, 2004. Grant becomes the first player to be signed to a team after becoming the designated player by his former club under the amnesty provision of the new collective bargaining agreement.

He was born in Columbus, Ohio and was selected with eighth overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings and earned 1994-95 NBA All-Rookie First Team honors.

The former Xavier University star was named Midwestern Collegiate Conference Player of the Year in 1993 and 1994 and finished his junior season ranked second in the nation with a .654 field goal percentage. Grant is one of only two players (Tyrone Hill) in school history to lead the Musketeers in rebounding all four years.

He has been known throughout his career as one of the most active and generous NBA players, founding The Brian Grant Foundation in 1998 to assist a variety of youth-oriented charities and organizations. In 1999 he was honored with the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for his work in assisting underprivileged youth, seriously ill children and their families.