Frank Johnson (basketball)
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born |
Weirsdale, Florida | November 23, 1958
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Lake Weir (Summerfield, Florida) |
College | Wake Forest (1976β1981) |
NBA draft | 1981 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11th overall |
Selected by the Washington Bullets | |
Playing career | 1981β1994 |
Position | Point guard |
Number | 15, 3 |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1981β1988 | Washington Bullets |
1988β1989 | Houston Rockets |
1989β1991 | A. Ranger Varese (Italy) |
1991 | Marr Rimini (Italy) |
1991β1992 | Olympique Antibes (France) |
1992β1994 | Phoenix Suns |
As coach: | |
2002β2003 | Phoenix Suns |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
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 (1981β1988), the Houston Rockets (1988β89) (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 (1992β94) 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 (1989β91, 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 routineβthe team had performed poorly in 2003-04βbut 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.
Head coaching record
Legend | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | WβL % | Win-loss % | |
Post season | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PWβL % | Playoff win-loss % |
Team | Year | G | W | L | WβL% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PWβL% | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phoenix | 2001β02 | 31 | 11 | 20 | .355 | 6th in Midwest | β | β | β | β | Missed playoffs |
Phoenix | 2002β03 | 82 | 44 | 38 | .537 | 4th in Midwest | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | Lost in First Round |
Phoenix | 2003β04 | 21 | 8 | 13 | .381 | (fired) | β | β | β | β | β |
Career | 134 | 63 | 71 | .470 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 |
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
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