Frank Johnson (basketball)

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Frank Johnson
No. 15, 3
Point guard
Personal information
Born	(1958-11-23) November 23, 1958 Weirsdale, Florida
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Listed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school	Lake Weir (Summerfield, Florida)
College	Wake Forest (1976–1981)
NBA draft	1981 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11th overall
Selected by the Washington Bullets
Pro playing career	1981–1994
Career history
As player:
1981–1988	Washington Bullets
1988–1989	Houston Rockets
1989–1991	A. Ranger Varese (Italy)
1991	Marr Rimini (Italy)
1991–1992	Olympique Antibes (France)
1992–1994	Phoenix Suns
As coach:
2002–2003	Phoenix Suns
Career NBA statistics
Points	4,937 (8.3 ppg)
Rebounds	1,025 (1.7 rpg)
Assists	2,476 (4.2 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Franklin Lenard Johnson (born November 23, 1958) is a retired American professional basketball player and coach.

Playing career

After playing collegiately for Wake Forest University, Johnson was selected in the first round of the 1981 NBA Draft with the 11th pick by the Washington Bullets. He played point guard in the NBA for the Bullets (1981–1988), the Houston Rockets (1988–89) (he signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets, but they traded him to the Rockets before he played in any games for them). He also played for the Phoenix Suns (1992–94) where his principal role was to relieve star Kevin Johnson. He was selected from the Rockets by the Orlando Magic in the 1989 expansion draft, but was waived before the 1989-90 season started. He played 650 games in the NBA (regular season and playoffs), with regular season career averages of 8.3 PPG and 4.2 APG in 21.6 minutes.^[1]

He played professionally in Italy for Ranger Varese (1989–91, played in the finals of the Italian Championship in 1990) and Marr Rimini (Serie A2, 1991).^[2]

Coaching career

Johnson coached the Phoenix Suns for almost two seasons beginning February 17, 2002, before he was fired on December 10, 2003 and replaced by assistant Mike D'Antoni. The official reason for the firing was routine—the team had performed poorly in 2003-04—but an article in the Arizona Republic ^[3] reported that some of Johnson's personal behavior caused a minor scandal for the Suns ownership. He had worked as an assistant coach with the Suns beginning late in the 1996-97 season under Danny Ainge and Scott Skiles before being promoted.

Personal life

Family

Johnson's brother "Fast Eddie" also played in the NBA. He spent more than eight seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, and closed out his career with stints in Cleveland and Seattle. Eddie was a two-time (1980, 1981) All-Star while with the Hawks, yet he is often confused with the sharpshooter Eddie Johnson, who played for NBA franchises in Kansas City, Phoenix, Seattle, Indiana, Charlotte and Houston during the 1980s and '90's.

References

Phoenix Suns head coaches

Johnny Kerr (1968–1969)
Jerry Colangelo # (1970)
Cotton Fitzsimmons (1970–1972)
Butch van Breda Kolff (1972)
Jerry Colangelo (1972–1973)
John MacLeod (1973–1987)
Dick Van Arsdale # (1987)
John Wetzel (1987–1988)
Cotton Fitzsimmons (1988–1992)
Paul Westphal (1992–1996)
Cotton Fitzsimmons (1996)
Danny Ainge (1996–1999)
Scott Skiles (1999–2002)
Frank Johnson (2002–2003)
Mike D'Antoni (2003–2008)
Terry Porter (2008–2009)
Alvin Gentry (2009–2013)
Lindsey Hunter # (2013)
Jeff Hornacek (2013–Present)

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

v t e 1981 NBA Draft

First round	Mark Aguirre Isiah Thomas Buck Williams Al Wood Danny Vranes Orlando Woolridge Steve Johnson Tom Chambers Rolando Blackman Albert King Frank Johnson Kelly Tripucka Danny Schayes Herb Williams Jeff Lamp Darnell Valentine Kevin Loder Ray Tolbert Mike McGee Larry Nance Alton Lister Franklin Edwards Charles Bradley

Second round	Jay Vincent Tracy Jackson Brian Jackson Howard Wood Gene Banks Eddie Johnson Ed Rains Danny Ainge Mike Olliver Sam Williams Ken Green Charles Davis Ray Blume Al Leslie Clyde Bradshaw Harvey Knuckles Greg Cook Claude Gregory Elvis Rolle Elston Turner Steve Lingenfelter Ed Turner Vernon Smith

Persondata
Name	Johnson, Frank
Alternative names	Johnson, Frank Lenard
Short description	American basketball player and coach
Date of birth	November 23, 1958
Place of birth	Weirsdale, Florida
Date of death
Place of death

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