Eddie Johnson (basketball, born 1959)

This article is about Eddie A. Johnson, a basketball small forward. For the basketball guard nicknamed "Fast Eddie", see Eddie Johnson (basketball, born 1955).
Eddie Johnson
Personal information
Born (1959-05-01) May 1, 1959
Chicago, Illinois
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight 215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school Westinghouse (Chicago, Illinois)
College Illinois (1977–1981)
NBA draft 1981 / Round: 2 / Pick: 29th overall
Selected by the Kansas City Kings
Playing career 1981–1999
Position Small forward
Number 8, 22
Career history
1981–1987 Kansas City / Sacramento Kings
1987–1990 Phoenix Suns
1990–1993 Seattle SuperSonics
1993–1994 Charlotte Hornets
1994–1995 Olympiacos
1995–1997 Indiana Pacers
1997–1999 Houston Rockets
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 19,202 (16.0 ppg)
Rebounds 4,832 (4.0 rpg)
Assists 2,550 (2.1 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Edward Arnet "Eddie" Johnson (born May 1, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball player who spent 17 seasons in the NBA and a year in the Greek Basket League midway through his career. With nearly 1,200 games in the NBA, he is notable for having scored the most career points of a player to never play in an NBA All-Star game. He is currently a broadcaster for Sirius XM NBA Radio and Fox Sports Arizona.

Early life and college

After graduating from Chicago's Westinghouse High School, Johnson, a sharpshooting 6'7" forward/guard, attended the University of Illinois, majoring in history, before being selected by the Kansas City Kings in the 1981 NBA draft. Among Fighting Illini fans he is probably best remembered for his game-winning shot against Michigan State University (MSU). At the time, MSU, which was led by future all-time NBA great Earvin "Magic" Johnson, was undefeated and ranked #1 in the nation, but Illinois was also undefeated at 14-0. The victory gave Illinois a 15-0 record and the #2 ranking nationally (Illinois subsequently faded during regular season play, but MSU went on to become eventual National Champions).

Johnson was elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004.

NBA career

Johnson would play for the Kings, the Phoenix Suns, the Seattle SuperSonics, the Charlotte Hornets, the Indiana Pacers, the Houston Rockets, and Greek team Olympiacos (1994–1995) before retiring from basketball in 1999. Although his 19,202 points over 1,199 NBA games was the 22nd highest total in NBA history at the time of his retirement, Johnson was never selected to play in the All-Star game nor ever chosen for an All-NBA team. In fact, the "awards highlight" of his career occurred in 1989, when he received the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award as a member of the Suns. Johnson's career point total of 19,202 is also higher than all but 30 inductees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Europe

He also played for one year in the Greek League, with Olympiacos in the 1994–95 season. He became a cult favorite with the fans for his phenomenal shooting from outside the 3-point line. One game in particular established his enduring legend for fans of the Thrylos (Legend), when he scored four 3-pointers in the final minutes of the low-scoring and tense semi-final of the 1995 FIBA Champions' Cup (Euroleague) against arch-rivals Panathinaikos. Olympiacos won that game 58-52, but lost the final to Real Madrid. In 18 games played, Johnson averaged 21.9 points and 4.6 rebounds, in 35.1 minutes per game in the Euroleague.[1]

Johnson did, however, taste success in the Greek League, where he was instrumental in Olympiacos' 3-2 series win over Panathinaikos, in the Greek playoff finals of 1995. The fifth and vital game of that series ended in one of the lowest-scoring games ever, as Olympiacos scraped a 45-44 victory in a match that caused heart attacks for the fans. In 25 games with Olympiacos, Johnson totaled averages of 21.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game in the 1994–95 season.[2]

Return to NBA

After his season overseas, he then returned to the NBA and started the 1995–96 season with the Pacers. He was traded to the Nuggets on February 20, 1997 where he was quickly released. However, he signed with the Rockets for the remainder of the season and then returned to the Rockets for the next two seasons. Along with his Sixth Man of the Year Award, he is also remembered for hitting the game-winning three-pointer as time expired in a 95-92 Rockets win over the Utah Jazz in Game 4 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals.[3] Johnson would play an additional season for the Rockets and then 3 games the following season before retiring as a player for good.

Post-NBA career

After his playing career was over, Johnson turned to broadcasting, serving as a color commentator for the Arizona State University men's basketball team, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, and currently the Phoenix Suns. Johnson is also an accomplished motivational speaker, and he has recently released an instructional DVD called Eddie Johnson's Jumpshot and Offensive Skills. Johnson is also a regular article contributor to the website Hoopshype.com and also enjoys debating his ideas, opinions, and thoughts with his readers.

Mistaken identity

In 2006, Johnson was mistaken in multiple media reports for "Fast Eddie" Johnson (a guard, middle name Lee, two-time NBA All-Star, one-time All-Defensive Second Team player, and four years older than Eddie A. Johnson) when the latter was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault of a minor and burglary on August 8 (that Eddie Johnson would eventually be sentenced to life imprisonment). While this was not the first time that Fast Eddie had been arrested (by estimates, that arrest neared 100 for Fast Eddie), the heinousness of the crime alleged to have been committed by Fast Eddie, combined with the fact that it happened during the NBA offseason when Eddie A. would not normally be on TV, generated major controversy after other outlets failed to read the initial Associated Press story (which detailed correctly Fast Eddie's career and background) and put up the wrong Eddie Johnson's picture. Johnson called that day the "worst...of his life" and expressed concern that the case of mistaken identity might permanently sully his reputation.[4] Johnson expressed to Jay Mariotti of The Chicago Sun-Times that he is considering legal action against the various news outlets that used pictures of him gained from the internet or did not fact check his identity against that of Edward "Fast Eddie" Johnson.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1981–82 Kansas City 74 27 20.5 .459 .091 .664 4.4 1.5 .7 .2 9.3
1982–83 Kansas City 82 82 35.8 .494 .282 .779 6.1 2.6 .9 .2 19.8
1983–84 Kansas City 82 82 35.6 .485 .313 .810 5.5 3.6 .9 .3 21.9
1984–85 Kansas City 82 81 36.9 .491 .241 .871 5.0 3.3 1.0 .3 22.9
1985–86 Sacramento 82 30 30.7 .475 .200 .816 5.1 2.6 .7 .2 18.7
1986–87 Sacramento 81 30 30.3 .463 .314 .829 4.4 3.1 .5 .2 18.7
1987–88 Phoenix 73 59 29.8 .480 .255 .850 4.4 2.5 .5 .1 17.7
1988–89 Phoenix 70 7 29.2 .497 .413 .868 4.4 2.3 .7 .1 21.5
1989–90 Phoenix 64 4 28.3 .453 .380 .917 3.8 1.7 .5 .2 16.9
1990–91 Phoenix 15 0 20.8 .473 .286 .724 3.1 1.1 .6 .1 13.5
1990–91 Seattle 66 27 26.9 .486 .333 .912 3.4 1.4 .7 .1 17.4
1991–92 Seattle 81 19 29.2 .459 .252 .861 3.6 2.0 .7 .1 17.1
1992–93 Seattle 82 0 22.8 .467 .304 .911 3.3 1.6 .4 .0 14.4
1993–94 Charlotte 73 27 20.0 .459 .393 .780 3.1 1.7 .5 .1 11.5
1995–96 Indiana 62 1 16.2 .413 .352 .886 2.5 1.1 .3 .1 7.7
1996–97 Indiana 28 0 10.9 .434 .321 .741 1.4 .6 .2 .0 5.3
1996–97 Houston 24 2 25.3 .447 .388 .854 4.1 1.5 .4 .0 11.5
1997–98 Houston 75 1 19.9 .417 .333 .831 2.0 1.2 .4 .0 8.4
1998–99 Houston 3 0 6.0 .462 .000 – .7 .3 .0 .0 4.0
Career 1,199 479 27.2 .472 .335 .840 4.0 2.1 .6 .2 16.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1984 Kansas City 3 – 35.7 .438 .400 1.000 3.3 4.0 1.0 .3 17.0
1986 Sacramento 3 1 32.0 .436 .000 .889 7.0 1.3 1.0 .3 18.7
1989 Phoenix 12 0 32.7 .413 .342 .769 7.3 2.1 1.0 .2 17.8
1990 Phoenix 16 0 21.1 .450 .395 .787 3.6 1.1 .6 .3 12.3
1991 Seattle 5 5 34.2 .517 .267 .828 4.2 1.4 1.4 .2 24.0
1992 Seattle 9 0 27.4 .474 .182 .941 3.0 .9 .3 .3 18.4
1993 Seattle 19 0 20.1 .390 .333 .935 2.4 .9 .2 .1 10.8
1996 Indiana 1 0 9.0 .000 .000 .0 1.0 .0 .0 .0
1997 Houston 16 0 17.8 .410 .298 .958 2.3 .6 .3 .0 8.3
1998 Houston 5 0 17.8 .333 .300 .875 1.6 .2 .0 .0 5.6
Career 89 6 [a] 23.8 .429 .310 .864 3.5 1.1 .5 .1 13.1

Euroleague career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
1994–95 Olympiacos 18 - 35.1 .467 .387 .850 4.6 1.8 0.7 .0 21.9 -

See also

References

  1. ↑ EDWARD ARNETT JOHNSON (OLYMPIAKOS BC PIRAEUS).
  2. ↑ Έντι το... γρήγορο πιστόλι! (vids & pics) (Greek).
  3. ↑ Sam Smith. "Rockets 95, Jazz 92: Wake up: It's Wild In West". Chicago Tribune. May 26, 1997. Sports, 1.
  4. ↑ Pells, Eddie (2006-08-11). "Former Sun has worst day of life". Associated Press. Retrieved 2006-08-11.
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