Marques Johnson

Marques Johnson
	Johnson with UCLA in 1976–77
Personal information
Born	February 8, 1956; Natchitoches, Louisiana
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High school	Crenshaw (Los Angeles, California)
College	UCLA (1973–1977)
NBA draft	1977 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
	Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks
Playing career	1977–1990
Position	Small forward
Number	8
Career history
1977–1984	Milwaukee Bucks
1984–1987	Los Angeles Clippers
1989	Golden State Warriors
1989–1990	Fantoni Udine
Career highlights and awards
	5× NBA All-Star (1979–1981, 1983, 1986); All-NBA First Team (1979); 2× All-NBA Second Team (1980, 1981); NBA Comeback Player of the Year (1986); NBA All-Rookie First Team (1978); No. 8 retired by Milwaukee Bucks; NCAA champion (1975); National college player of the year (1977); Consensus first-team All-American (1977); Second-team All-American – NABC (1976); Pac-8 Player of the Year (1977); 2× First-team All-Pac-8 (1976, 1977); No. 54 retired by UCLA Bruins;
Career NBA statistics
Points	13,892 (20.1 ppg)
Rebounds	4,817 (7.0 rpg)
Assists	2,502 (3.6 apg)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
	College Basketball Hall of Fame; Inducted in 2013

Marques Kevin Johnson (born February 8, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player who is a basketball analyst for the Milwaukee Bucks on Fox Sports Net. He played as a small forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1977–1989, where he was a five-time All-Star. He played the majority of his career with the Bucks.

Johnson was a Los Angeles City Section player of the year in high school before attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and won a national championship in 1975. In his senior year, he won multiple national player of the year awards. Johnson was the third overall pick in the 1977 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. He played seven seasons with Milwaukee before finishing his NBA career with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors.

Early life

Johnson was born in Natchitoches, Louisiana and raised in South Los Angeles, where he played high school basketball at Crenshaw High School in Crenshaw, Los Angeles, winning the Los Angeles City Section 4-A Division Player of the Year in 1973.[1]

College career

He later attended UCLA, and became an All-American player on its basketball teams, under Coach John Wooden and coach Gene Bartow.

In his sophomore season in 1974–75, Johnson helped to lead the Bruins to Coach John Wooden's 10th and final NCAA Men's Division I basketball championship. Wooden retired from coaching after the season, and Gene Bartow became the head coach. Johnson continued to excel, averaging 21.1 points and 11.1 rebounds per game in his senior season and won the inaugural John R. Wooden Award in addition to the USBWA College Player of the Year as the nation's top collegiate basketball player. Johnson also majored in Theater Arts at UCLA.[2]

Professional career

Milwaukee Bucks (1977-1984)

Johnson was selected third overall in the 1977 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, coached by Don Nelson. Johnson helped lead Milwaukee to several division titles (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984).

In his second season in 1978–79, he was the NBA's third leading scorer (25.6 PPG), behind George Gervin (29.6) and Lloyd Free (28.8).

Johnson claims to have coined the term point forward, a position he played out of necessity in 1984. During the 1984 playoffs, Milwaukee became short on point guards due to injuries. Nelson instructed Johnson to set up the offense from his forward position. Johnson responded, "OK, so instead of a point guard, I'm a point forward".[3] Johnson and the Bucks reached as far as the Eastern Conference Finals twice, in 1983 and again in 1984.

Los Angeles Clippers (1984-1987)

In the 1984 off-season, Nelson — who was also Bucks general manager — traded Johnson, forward-guard Junior Bridgeman, forward Harvey Catchings and cash to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for forward Terry Cummings, and guards Craig Hodges and Ricky Pierce. This was a homecoming for Johnson, as he grew up and attended high school just a few miles from the Clippers' home at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

The Clippers struggled to win. Johnson later said that playing for those losing Clippers teams "kind of wore you down and made you feel like you were kind of the JV team in Los Angeles." Being named the team captain by head coach Don Chaney, a fellow Louisianan, was one of the few things that kept him from demanding a trade.[4] During a game in the 1986–87 season, Johnson suffered a neck injury, which effectively ended his career.[5]

Golden State Warriors (1989)

Johnson made a brief comeback during the 1989–90 season,[6] playing only 10 games with the Warriors before retiring on December 27, 1989.[7]

Personal life

Johnson has five sons, Kris, Josiah, Joshua, Moriah and Cyrus.

Kris, like his father, played basketball at Crenshaw High and UCLA.[8] Johnson and Kris are the first father–son combo to be honored as Los Angeles City Section 4-A Player of the Year.[1][note 1] They are also one of four father-son duos to each win an NCAA basketball championship and the only ones to accomplish it at the same school.[note 2][10]

Josiah also played basketball at UCLA, but later helped create the Comedy Central show, The Legends of Chamberlain Heights.[11]

Josh played college basketball at Western Oregon State University.[12]

Moriah played basketball at Tuskegee University[13] and is an actor on the BET's Baldwin Hills.

Johnson also has two daughters. Jasmine is an accomplished tennis player and Shiloh excels at golf and swimming.

Johnson's child, Marques Kevin Johnson Jr., was 15-months-old when he fell into the family swimming pool on May 15, 1987 and drowned.[14]

Media career

As his playing career ended, Johnson got into the entertainment business, as he acted in small roles in many films, including White Men Can't Jump, Love and Action in Chicago, Blue Chips, and Forget Paris. Johnson is still actively enhancing his creative roots, writing screenplays and short stories.

Johnson was the early morning show co-host on the Clippers' flagship radio station, KFWB-AM in Los Angeles.

Johnson served a color analyst for the Seattle SuperSonics in the late 1990s. He was nationally on Fox Sports and Fox Sports 1 as a basketball analyst.

Since 2015, Johnson has worked as both a full-time and part-time analyst for Milwaukee Bucks telecasts on Fox Sports Wisconsin.

Awards and honors

The Milwaukee Bucks retired Johnson's No. 8 jersey on March 24, 2019.[15]
The Bruins retired his No. 54 jersey in 1996.
In 2013, Johnson was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 2019, Johnson was inducted into the California Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2019, Johnson was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.
5× NBA All-Star (1979–1981, 1983, 1986)
All-NBA First Team (1979)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1980–1981)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1978)
NCAA champion (1975)
Naismith College Player of the Year (1977)
John R. Wooden Award (1977)
USBWA Player of the Year (1977)
Adolph Rupp Trophy (1977)
NABC Player of the Year (1977)
AP College Player of the Year (1977)
UPI College Basketball of the Year (1977)
Helms Foundation Player of the Year (1977)
Sporting News Player of the Year (1977)
Pac-10 Player of the Year (1977)
Consensus first team All-American (1977)
Pac-10 Hall of Honor

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
1977–78	Milwaukee	80	-	34.6	.522	-	.736	10.6	2.4	1.2	1.3	19.5
1978–79	Milwaukee	77	-	36.1	.550	-	.760	7.6	3.0	1.5	1.2	25.6
1979–80	Milwaukee	77	-	34.9	.544	.222	.791	7.4	3.5	1.3	.9	21.7
1980–81	Milwaukee	76	-	33.4	.552	.000	.706	6.8	4.6	1.5	.5	20.3
1981–82	Milwaukee	60	52	31.7	.532	.000	.700	6.1	3.6	1.0	.6	16.5
1982–83	Milwaukee	80	80	35.7	.509	.200	.735	7.0	4.5	1.3	.7	21.4
1983–84	Milwaukee	74	74	36.7	.502	.154	.709	6.5	4.3	1.6	.6	20.7
1984–85	L.A. Clippers	72	68	34.0	.452	.231	.731	5.9	3.4	1.0	.4	16.4
1985–86	L.A. Clippers	75	75	34.7	.510	.067	.760	5.5	3.8	1.4	.7	20.3
1986–87	L.A. Clippers	10	10	30.2	.439	.000	.714	3.3	2.8	1.2	.5	16.6
1989–90	Golden State	10	0	9.9	.375	.667	.824	1.7	.9	.0	.1	4.0
Career		691	359	34.3	.518	.152	.739	7.0	3.6	1.3	.8	20.1
All-Star		5	2	21.2	.314	–	.750	3.8	1.8	0.2	0.4	6.8

Playoffs


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1978	Milwaukee	9	-	35.7	.549	-	.750	12.4	3.4	1.1	1.9	24.0
1980	Milwaukee	7	-	43.3	.422	.333	.750	6.9	2.9	.7	.9	19.9
1981	Milwaukee	7	-	38.0	.556	.000	.719	9.4	4.9	1.4	1.0	24.7
1982	Milwaukee	6	-	39.2	.440	.250	.571	7.3	3.3	1.0	.3	18.8
1983	Milwaukee	9	-	42.4	.486	.000	.651	8.0	4.2	.9	.8	22.0
1984	Milwaukee	16	-	37.8	.473	.250	.722	5.3	3.4	1.1	.4	20.3
Career		54	-	39.1	.489	.231	.701	7.9	3.7	1.0	.8	21.5

Notes

Dwayne Polee (1981) and Dwayne Jr. (2010) also won the award.[9]
The others are Scott and Sean May, Henry and Mike Bibby, and Derek and Nolan Smith.

References

Waters, Sean; Lee, Kirby (March 28, 1993). "Johnson & Johnson Score a City 4-A First". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012.
"Mixed emotions greet Hazzard at ceremony". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. February 3, 1996. p. 3B. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
Aschburner, Steve (December 21, 2010). "LeBron a point forward? Well, he wouldn't be the first". NBA.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2012.
Siegel, Alan (May 6, 2015). "What It Was Like To Play For The '80s Clippers, The Worst Team In Sports". Deadspin. Gawker Media. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
"Marques Johnson Facing Surgery". New York Times. March 24, 1987.
"Warrior Comeback". New York Times. October 8, 1989.
"Warriors Cut Johnson". New York Times. December 2, 1989.
Waters, Sean (September 12, 1993). "Crenshaw's Kris Johnson Commits to UCLA". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012.
Bolch, Ben (March 26, 2010). "For Dwayne Polee Jr., basketball wasn't always a slam dunk". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012.
"Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler and a Crystal Ball Oliver Purnell Pursuing Greener Pastures Roy Halladay Deal Good for Baseball?". ESPN. April 6, 2010. Archived from the original on January 23, 2014.
Adande, J.A. (April 2, 2003). "Howland Deal Near". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 9, 2012.
https://wouwolves.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=565
https://goldentigersports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=256
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/07/25/Veteran-Los-Angeles-Clippers-basketball-star-Marques-Johnson-was/2929585806400/
Steele, Ben (March 24, 2019). "Given a second chance, Bucks great Marques Johnson embraced Milwaukee. The 8 in the rafters shows the feeling is mutual". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.

External links

Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com
Marques Johnson at IMDb

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[10] Dwayne Polee (1981) and Dwayne Jr. (2010) also won the award.[9]

[11] The others are Scott and Sean May, Henry and Mike Bibby, and Derek and Nolan Smith.

[waters_lee-1] Waters, Sean; Lee, Kirby (March 28, 1993). "Johnson & Johnson Score a City 4-A First". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012.

[2] "Mixed emotions greet Hazzard at ceremony". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. February 3, 1996. p. 3B. Retrieved May 22, 2012.

[aschburner-3] Aschburner, Steve (December 21, 2010). "LeBron a point forward? Well, he wouldn't be the first". NBA.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2012.

[4] Siegel, Alan (May 6, 2015). "What It Was Like To Play For The '80s Clippers, The Worst Team In Sports". Deadspin. Gawker Media. Retrieved May 6, 2015.

[5] "Marques Johnson Facing Surgery". New York Times. March 24, 1987.

[6] "Warrior Comeback". New York Times. October 8, 1989.

[7] "Warriors Cut Johnson". New York Times. December 2, 1989.

[waters-8] Waters, Sean (September 12, 1993). "Crenshaw's Kris Johnson Commits to UCLA". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012.

[9] Bolch, Ben (March 26, 2010). "For Dwayne Polee Jr., basketball wasn't always a slam dunk". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012.

[12] "Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler and a Crystal Ball Oliver Purnell Pursuing Greener Pastures Roy Halladay Deal Good for Baseball?". ESPN. April 6, 2010. Archived from the original on January 23, 2014.

[13] Adande, J.A. (April 2, 2003). "Howland Deal Near". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 9, 2012.

[14] ttps://wouwolves.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=565

[15] ttps://goldentigersports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=256

[16] ttps://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/07/25/Veteran-Los-Angeles-Clippers-basketball-star-Marques-Johnson-was/2929585806400/

[17] Steele, Ben (March 24, 2019). "Given a second chance, Bucks great Marques Johnson embraced Milwaukee. The 8 in the rafters shows the feeling is mutual". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.