Jerami Grant Represents Bowie In Tokyo Olympics

BOWIE, MD — The state of Maryland is well known for sending athletes to the Summer Olympic Games every four years, but the city of Bowie will have one of its very own representing the U.S. this year.

Houston Jerami Grant, forward for the Detroit Pistons, was selected for the 2021 USA national team and U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team. Grant will play alongside Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, and more.

In his NBA career, Grant has played for the Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets and now the Detroit Pistons. After being traded to the Pistons during the 2020-21 season, Grant had a breakout season averaging a career high 22.3 points per game.

He was selected 39th overall in the 2014 NBA draft after playing two years of collegiate basketball at Syracuse University. During his college career, he led the 2013-14 Syracuse team in rebounding and listed third in scoring with 6.8 rebounds and 12.1 points per game.

Prior to college, Grant attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville. Grant was listed a four-star recruit and ranked 37th in the 2012 ESPN Top 100. He was also selected for the 2012 Jordan Classic all-star high school basketball game.

The Bowie native comes from a background of sports with five professional basketball players in his family. Grant is the son of Beverly and Harvey Grant, former NBA player. He has three brothers, two who also played professional basketball: Harvey Jerai, Holdyn Jerian and Harrison Jaelin.

Grant’s uncle is Horace Grant, four-time NBA champion and 17-year veteran. The Grant family is filled with basketball success and will have one of their own play in the Olympics for the first time ever.

The seven-year NBA veteran will make his first appearance in the Olympics this year, but it is not his first time representing the country. In 2012, Grant played for the USA Under 18 national basketball team that claimed the sixth FIBA Americas U18 championship for the country.

Maryland athletes have a history of dominating the Olympics, with 11 of the 18 U.S. gold medals from the 2016 Rio Olympics coming from Maryland natives. This year, the state of Maryland will send 14 athletes to the Olympics, including Grant and Durant, who is also from Prince George’s County.

The Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games are set to begin July 23. The basketball tournament will occur from July 25 to Aug. 1 with the elimination stage running from Aug. 3-7.

The Olympics will be broadcast on NBC with additional coverage on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.