Avery Johnson
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| Player information | ||
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| Full name | Avery DeWitt Johnson | |
| Nickname | The Little General | |
| birthday | 25th March 1965 (age 55) | |
| place of birth | New Orleans , Louisiana , United States | |
| size | 178 cm | |
| Weight | 79 kg | |
| position | Point guard | |
| college | New Mexico JC (1983–1984) Cameron (1984–1985) Southern (1986–1988) |
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| NBA draft | undrafted ( 1988 ) | |
| Clubs as active | ||
1988 Palm Beach Stingrays ( USBL ) 1988–1990 Seattle SuperSonics 1990 Denver Nuggets 1991 San Antonio Spurs 1992 Houston Rockets 1992–1993 San Antonio Spurs 1993–1994 Golden State Warriors 1994–2001 San Antonio Spurs 2001–2002 Denver Nuggets 2002–2003 Dallas Mavericks 2003-2004 Golden State Warriors
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| Clubs as coaches | ||
| 2005–2008 Dallas Mavericks 2010–2012 Brooklyn Nets Since 2015 Alabama ( NCAA )
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Avery Johnson (born March 25, 1965 in New Orleans , Louisiana ) is an American basketball coach and former player. Most recently he was the head coach of the college team at the University of Alabama .
As an NBA coach, Johnson was able to lead the Dallas Mavericks to their first finals in club history ( 2006 ) and won the NBA Coach of the Year award in the same year . In just over three years with the Mavs, he was able to lead the team to three consecutive seasons with more than 50 wins.
During his time as a player, Johnson won the 1999 NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs .
Player career
During his time as a player, Johnson was nicknamed "Little General" because of his size and leadership as a point guard ( floor general ).
From 1988 to 2004 he played with the Seattle SuperSonics , Denver Nuggets , Houston Rockets , San Antonio Spurs , Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors , most of them in San Antonio.
His greatest success as a player was winning the 1999 NBA championship with the Spurs, alongside Tim Duncan and David Robinson . In the decisive game 5, Johnson hit the basket to win and decided the series in favor of the Spurs.
In the 1997/98 season , Johnson was awarded the NBA Sportsmanship Award .
On December 22, 2007, Johnson's jersey number 6 was withdrawn from the Spurs in honor of Johnson and has not been given to other players since then. In February 2009 he was also inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame .
career
Johnson was not drafted by any NBA club and played in the United States Basketball League (USBL) with the Palm Beach Stingrays until 1988 . In August 1988 he signed a free agent contract with the Seattle SuperSonics and played there for about two years.
In October 1990 Johnson was traded by the Sonics in exchange for a second-round draft pick to the Denver Nuggets , but they released him two months later, in December of that year.
In January 1991 he received another contract as a free agent, this time from the San Antonio Spurs . He played there until December 1991 and then signed the first of two consecutive 10-day contracts with the Houston Rockets in January 1992 . This was later converted into a contract until the end of the season.
His next stop was again the Spurs, with whom he signed in November 1992 and played until the end of the season. In October 1993 he was signed by the Golden State Warriors , but could not prevail and went back to the Spurs for a third time in July 1994. He managed to gain a long-term foothold this time around and spent seven seasons in San Antonio.
For the 2000/01 season he signed a working paper with the Denver Nuggets . In February 2002 this transferred him with some other players to the Dallas Mavericks . In August 2003, the Mavs traded him to the Golden State Warriors - Johnson's second stop with the Oakland team.
To complete a playing career, he returned on September 30, 2004 as a free agent to the Mavericks, but announced on October 28, 2004 his retirement from active basketball.
statistics
Johnson made an average of 8.4 points, 5.5 assists , 1.7 rebounds and 0.96 steals in 25.3 minutes per game in 1,054 NBA games (excluding play-offs ) . In 90 play-off games he averaged 10.5 points, 6.2 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 1.13 steals in 31.2 minutes per game. His 5,846 career assistants occupy 39th place in the NBA's all-time best list (as of April 2020).
He was only the fifth player in NBA history to increase his point average in each of his first seven seasons ( 1994/95 he averaged 13.4 points). In April 1995, he scored his personal career high of 29 points against the Denver Nuggets . In addition, Johnson had 20 assists twice in his career.
Coaching career
After retiring as a player in 2004, Johnson was an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks. In March 2005, he succeeded Don Nelson, who resigned for health reasons, as head coach of the Mavericks. Of 18 games this season, the Mavs won 16 under Johnson, making him one of the most successful coaching debuts in NBA history. Johnson achieved his 50th win as a coach faster than any other coach, as well as his 100th win. He surpassed the legendary Red Auerbach .
After a record of 60:22 victories, Johnson was named Coach of the Year 2006 following the 2005/06 season . During the season, the Dallas Mavericks were able to move into the NBA finals, but were subject to the Miami Heat 2: 4 in the best-of-seven series .
In the 2006/07 season Johnson achieved something with the Mavericks that is unique in NBA history. He led the team to three series of at least 12 games won in a row during one season: 12 wins (November 9 to December 1), 13 wins (December 13 to January 5) and a winning streak (and a club record at the same time for such a series) of 17 games (January 27 to March 12).
In November 2007 against the Memphis Grizzlies , he led the Mavericks to his 150th victory as a coach. He achieved this in only 191 games. Johnson Hall of Famer exceeded Phil Jackson , who needed 203 games for his 150th win.
Due to first-round elimination of the Mavericks in the play-offs in two consecutive years, Avery Johnson was dismissed in April 2008 as head coach of the Mavs.
In the 2010/11 season he coached the New Jersey Nets . For the 2012/13 season , the Nets moved to Brooklyn and were renamed Brooklyn Nets . After a good start to the season, Johnson was sacked in December 2012 after a string of losses.
Johnson then worked for a while as an expert for the US sports broadcaster ESPN .
In April 2015, Johnson became the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team at the University of Alabama , in the NCAA college league .
Web links
- Avery Johnson - player profile on NBA.com
- Avery Johnson - player profile on basketball-reference.com
Individual evidence
- ^ NBA Sportsmanship Award Winners. Accessed April 25, 2020 (English).
- ^ San Antonio Spurs retire Avery Johnson's No. 6. December 23, 2007, accessed April 25, 2020 .
- ^ San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame Names Class of 2009. In: San Antonio Sports Foundation. Wayback Machine, March 6, 2016, accessed April 25, 2020 .
- ↑ NBA vetaran Avery Johnson retires. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
- ^ NBA & ABA Career Leaders and Records for Assists. Accessed April 25, 2020 (English).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Johnson, Avery |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American basketball player and coach |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 25, 1965 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New Orleans , Louisiana |