NBA.com: Eddie Johnson Bio

A true scorer, Eddie Johnson has tallied over 19,000 points in a solid 17-year NBA career, yet is the only player to reach that plateau and never be selected to an NBA All-Star team. He had some brilliant moments for the Houston Rockets in the 1997 NBA Playoffs and continued to contribute scoring off the bench in the 1997-98 season, although a back injury limited him to three games in 1998-99. At 6-7, Johnson has a quick release and doesn't hesitate to put it to use. He also finishes drives with an array of flip shots, half-hooks and scoops. Occasionally prone to cold streaks as a jump shooter, he put up scoring numbers with unfailing consistency and averaged in double figures for 12 consecutive seasons. After one year in Greece, Johnson rejoined the NBA in 1995-96 with the Indiana Pacers and moved on to Houston during the 1996-97 campaign. Johnson enjoyed some of his best years in the Kings organization at both Kansas City and Sacramento. Those teams didn't attract much national publicity, however, and Johnson's merits went relatively unnoticed. A personal highlight came when he won the NBA Sixth Man Award in 1989 while a member of the Phoenix Suns, after a campaign in which he had averaged 21.5 points. His efforts that season seemingly would have warranted All-Star credentials, but fellow Suns forward Tom Chambers had an even better year, averaging 25.7 points. Johnson spent the last several years of his career as a hired gun off the bench for several teams. With the Seattle SuperSonics he experienced team success and came closest to an NBA Finals appearance. Although the Sonics lost to Phoenix in seven games in the 1993 Western Conference Finals, Johnson scored 34 points in the final game. He also came close in 1996-97 with the Houston Rockets, but they were eliminated by the Utah Jazz in six games in the Conference Semifinals. Johnson grew up in inner-city Chicago, playing basketball at various neighborhood courts. The competition placed an emphasis on offense, Johnson recalled, a concentration that gave birth to his sweet stroke and offensive repertoire. "Growing up in the city you weren't really given accolades for how good a defensive player you were or a rebounder; you were given accolades for how good you shot the ball, what kind of moves you had," Johnson said in 1992. "I just worked on my shot every day, and it's just something that I developed." As a collegiate player at Illinois he compiled a career average of 14.0 points per game. The Kansas City Kings drafted him in the second round (29th pick overall) of the 1981 NBA Draft. As a rookie Johnson averaged 9.3 points; he then reeled off five straight seasons averaging better than 18.7 points for the Kings. In 1984-85 his average of 22.9 points per contest ranked 13th in the league. But during his six seasons with the Kings (who moved to Sacramento before the 1985-86 season), the team made the playoffs only twice and never won a postseason contest. Frustrated in Sacramento, Johnson was traded to the Phoenix Suns on June 21, 1987, for forward Ed Pinckney and a 1988 second-round draft choice. Johnson joined a Phoenix franchise that was in transition. The team's record had been 36-46 the previous season, and a new roster was being assembled. Acquiring Johnson was the first move Cotton Fitzsimmons made as director of player personnel. (Fitzsimmons had coached Johnson at Kansas City.) The Suns were 28-54 in 1987-88, Johnson's first season in Phoenix, but they reversed the trend the following season with a 55-27 squad that advanced to the Western Conference Finals before being swept in four games by the Los Angeles Lakers. That campaign was a rewarding one for Johnson. The team was more successful than any he had yet played with, and although Chambers and guard Kevin Johnson received the lion's share of attention, Johnson won the NBA Sixth Man Award, recorded the highest scoring average among NBA reserves, finished 19th in the league in scoring, and spread his reputation as a dangerous gun. "Eddie Johnson's outside shot can change the tempo of a game," said Fitzsimmons, who coached Phoenix that season. "He can bury a team." The Suns reached the Western Conference Finals again in 1990 but fell to Portland in six games. Johnson averaged 16.9 points in that series. Midway through the 1990-91 season he was involved in a significant trade that sent him to Seattle in exchange for forward Xavier McDaniel. In Seattle, Johnson played the role of elder statesman, providing instant offense and averaging 17.1 points on a 1991-92 Sonics squad that featured young stars Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp. In 1992-93 Johnson posted his lowest scoring average (14.4 ppg) since his rookie season, but he nevertheless helped Seattle to a 55-27 record and made his third trip to the Western Conference Finals, losing to his former team. Traded to Charlotte along with guard Dana Barros in exchange for guard Kendall Gill, Johnson spent the 1993-94 campaign with the Hornets. The team already had a sixth man in Dell Curry, and consequently the 34-year-old Johnson had trouble finding playing time. However, when forwards Larry Johnson and Scott Burrell suffered injuries, Johnson started for a stretch and in the month of February caught fire, averaging 20.6 points. But as the season went on his playing time dwindled. Johnson, who said he would rather spend the twilight of his career on the floor than on the pine, left the NBA before the 1994-95 season to sign with Olympiakos Piraeus in Greece. After a season in which he averaged 21.1 ppg, Johnson returned to the NBA, signing with the Indiana Pacers and averaging 7.7 points in a reserve role at forward and guard. He spent the first half of 1996-97 with Indiana, then was dealt to Denver, released by the Nuggets and signed by Houston for the final six weeks of the regular season and the playoffs. He was a valuable reserve for the Rockets, averaging 11.5 ppg in 24 regular season games and coming through with several outstanding playoff performances, including 31 points against Utah in Game 3 of the Conference Finals and the game-winning three-pointer against the Jazz in Game 4. In 1997-98 he played in 75 games, all but one off the bench, and contributed 8.4 ppg. He became the 31st player in NBA history to reach 19,000 career points on March 5 against Miami. He spent most of the 1998-99 season on the injured list due to a lower back strain, playing in only three games for the Rockets.

1998-1999 REGULAR SEASON
Placed on the injured list on 2/27 due to a lower back strain

1997-1998 REGULAR SEASON
Posted a season-high 37 points (13-18 FG, 4-7 3FG, 7-7 FT) and 3 rebounds against the Utah Jazz on 3/9 Scored 13 points, including his 19,000th career point, against the Miami Heat on 3/5 Recorded 16 points (7-10 FG) and 5 rebounds in a 107-97 victory over the L.A. Clippers on 3/3 Scored 17 points (4-8 FG, 7-8 FT) against the Washington Wizards on 2/24 Totaled 14 points and 5 rebounds in a 121-99 victory over the L.A. Clippers on 2/16 Registered 16 points (6-9 FG) and 3 assists in a 102-86 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on 1/31 Posted 17 points (6-11 FG) and 3 rebounds against the Seattle SuperSonics on 1/19 Scored 24 points, hitting 4-of-7 three-pointers, against the Minnesota Timberwolves on 1/16 Recorded 14 points and 6 rebounds in a 94-87 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on 12/4 Totaled 21 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds, in 23 minutes, in a 98-89 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on 11/28 Registered 15 points and 4 rebounds against the Seattle SuperSonics on 11/4

1996-1997 REGULAR SEASON
After a half-season on the bench for Indiana, Johnson was traded to Denver and promptly released by the Nuggets. But he was signed by Houston and played productively over the final six weeks of the regular season, then made significant playoff contributions as well. Johnson played 28 games for Indiana, all as a reserve, and averaged 5.3 points in 10.9 minutes per game. He was traded to Denver along with Vincent Askew and a pair of No. 2 picks for Mark Jackson and LaSalle Thompsonon Feb. 20 and was waived by the Nuggets a week later. On March 3 he was signed by the Houston Rockets, and he proved to be a valuable pickup. Johnson averaged 11.5 points and 4.1 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game as a Rocket, playing in 24 games including two starts. Johnson posted season-highs of 27 points and 10 rebounds in a 107-89 win over Cleveland on March 27 and scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games of the regular season. Johnson averaged 8.3 ppg in 16 playoff games for Houston, but had some brilliant moments. He scored 15 points in 16 minutes in a 100-94 loss to Seattle in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals and had 31 points in 28 minutes in a 118-100 win over Utah in Game 3 of the Conference Finals. He then his a game-winning three-pointer as time expired in a 95-92 victory over the Jazz in Game 4 to pull the Rockets even in that series, before they lost the next two games.

1995-1996 REGULAR SEASON
After one year with Olympiakos in Greece, Johnson was signed by the Pacers to add scoring depth and experience. He appeared in 62 games and averaged 7.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16.2 minutes per game, shooting .413 from the field but .886 from the foul line and .352 from three-point range, where his 45 made and 128 attempted each ranked third on the club. He sank 31 consecutive free throws in one stretch, the longest streak by a Pacer this season, and finished the year at 70-for-79. He scored in double figures in five straight games from Dec. 28 to Jan. 5, averaging 19.0 ppg on 35-for-72 from the field, 14-for-28 from three-point range and 11-for-12 from the line. He also had five straight games in double figures from Nov. 10-23, averaging 15.4 ppg in that run. He made one start, scoring 23 points at Miami on Nov. 15, and posted a season-high 26 points and eight rebounds at San Antonio on Jan. 5. He had a pair of big games against the Chicago Bulls, scoring 24 points on Dec. 29 and hitting the game-winning free throw with 0:00.5 remaining in Indiana's 100-99 road win on April 20. The latter was the Pacers' 20th road victory of the season, a team record. He also scored the go-ahead basket as the Pacers rallied from a 12-point deficit with 7:44 remaining to defeat Detroit 91-86 on Apri1 13. Johnson appeared only in Game 1 of the playoffs, failing to score in nine minutes. The four playoffs DNP-CDs were the first of his NBA career.