Ervin Johnson

For the former Los Angeles Lakers player named Earvin Johnson, see Magic Johnson.

Ervin Johnson
Johnson in 2010
Personal information
Born (1967-12-21) December 21, 1967 (age 56)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High schoolBlock (Jonesville, Louisiana)
CollegeNew Orleans (1989–1993)
NBA draft1993: 1st round, 23rd overall pick
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career1993–2006
PositionCenter
Number50, 40
Career history
1993–1996Seattle SuperSonics
1996–1997Denver Nuggets
1997–2003Milwaukee Bucks
2003–2005Minnesota Timberwolves
2005–2006Milwaukee Bucks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points3,473 (4.1 ppg)
Rebounds5,148 (6.1 rpg)
Blocks1,087 (1.3 bpg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  United States
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1991 Sheffield National team

Ervin Johnson Jr. (born December 21, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who is a community ambassador for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] He played in the NBA for the Seattle SuperSonics, Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves as a center from 1993 to 2006.

Early life

Johnson attended Block High School in Jonesville, Louisiana, where he played basketball until he quit in the 10th grade.[2] Three years removed from high school, he worked in a Baton Rouge supermarket and had grown 8 inches when a friend suggested that he should try-out for the New Orleans Privateers, who did not have a big man.[2] Privateers head coach Tim Floyd offered Johnson a scholarship on sight despite the fact he had not played basketball in years.[2][3]

College career

UNO recorded 87 victories during Johnson's time in the program. They earned two NCAA tournament bids and one NIT tournament appearance. When he finished, he was the second all-time leading scorer in UNO history (1,608 points), first all-time in field goal percentage (59%), first all-time in double-doubles with 55, first all-time in rebounds with 1,287 (10.5 per game), third all-time in double-figure scoring games (81), eighth all-time in steals (109), second all-time in games played (123) and first all-time in blocks (294). Johnson was named All-American South Conference for the 1990–1991 season, All-Sun Belt Conference for the 1991–1992 season, and the 1992–1993 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.[4]

Johnson completed his degree in general studies from the University of New Orleans during the 1996–97 NBA season, and was commencement speaker at graduation ceremonies.[5]

Honors

Johnson was named Basketball Times 2nd Team All-American for 1992–93 and 3rd Team All-American by Basketball Weekly and United Press International. He was named Honorable Mention All-American for the same season by the Associated Press.

Johnson was named MVP of the NABC All-America Game in 1993.[6]

On December 29, 1997, his Privateer jersey (40) was retired at Lakefront Arena.[7]

In 2005, Johnson was named to the All-Time Men's Basketball Team for the Sun Belt Conference in celebration of the conference's 30th basketball season.[6]

Professional career

Johnson signing an autograph in 2003

A 6'11", 245-pound center from the University of New Orleans, Johnson was selected 23rd overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1993 NBA draft, and played for the Sonics, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks.

On February 14, 1996, Johnson scored a career-high 28 points, alongside grabbing 12 rebounds, in a win against the Timberwolves.[8] Johnson and the Sonics would make it to the Finals that postseason, before losing to the Bulls.

The following season, after signing with the Nuggets, Johnson scored 19 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked 5 shots on December 20 in a win against the Vancouver Grizzlies.[9] That year, Johnson led the league in total defensive rebounds, with 682.

During the 1997 offseason, Johnson was traded to the Bucks for Danny Fortson, Johnny Newman, and Joe Wolf. On April 11, 1998, Johnson scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a loss against the New Jersey Nets.[10]

Johnson played a key role on the 2000–01 Bucks, grabbing a playoff career-high 17 rebounds on May 15 against the Charlotte Hornets,[11] and playing in every game of their playoff run leading up to their Game 7 loss (in which he started and played 42 minutes) in the Eastern Conference Finals against the 76ers.[12]

Three years later, now in Minnesota and 36 years old, Johnson played an important role on another team's deep playoff run. This time, he averaged 20 minutes a game in the playoffs, but still started most games en route to a Western Conference Finals loss to the Lakers.[13]

Johnson returned to the Bucks for one season, and retired after the end of the 2006 NBA playoffs.[14]

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

Source[15]

* Led the league

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1993–94 Seattle 45 3 6.2 .415 – .630 2.6 .2 .2 .5 2.6
1994–95 Seattle 64 30 14.2 .443 .000 .630 4.5 .3 .3 1.0 3.1
1995–96 Seattle 81 60 18.8 .511 .333 .669 5.3 .6 .5 1.6 5.5
1996–97 Denver 82 82* 31.7 .520 .000 .615 11.1 .9 .8 2.8 7.1
1997–98 Milwaukee 81 81 27.9 .537 – .601 8.5 .7 1.0 2.0 8.0
1998–99 Milwaukee 50* 7 20.5 .508 – .610 6.4 .4 .6 1.1 5.1
1999–2000 Milwaukee 80 74 26.6 .516 .000 .605 8.1 .6 1.0 1.6 4.8
2000–01 Milwaukee 82 19 24.2 .545 – .538 7.5 .5 .5 1.2 3.2
2001–02 Milwaukee 81 9 20.5 .461 .000 .455 5.8 .3 .5 1.0 2.6
2002–03 Milwaukee 69 17 17.0 .452 – .682 4.3 .3 .5 .9 2.2
2003–04 Minnesota 66 47 14.7 .534 .000 .607 3.5 .4 .4 .7 1.9
2004–05 Minnesota 46 23 8.9 .519 1.000 .640 2.5 .1 .2 .3 1.6
2005–06 Milwaukee 18 0 4.5 .412 – .500 1.3 .1 .1 .1 .8
Career 845 452 20.1 .505 .200 .605 6.1 .5 .6 1.3 4.1

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1994 Seattle 2 0 4.0 .000 – – 2.0 .0 .0 .0 .0
1995 Seattle 4 2 13.5 .286 – 1.000 5.3 .0 .3 1.0 3.5
1996 Seattle 18 18 14.1 .371 – .818 3.9 .4 .3 .8 3.1
1999 Milwaukee 3 2 30.7 .462 – .500 6.0 .3 .7 1.7 4.3
2000 Milwaukee 5 5 31.0 .500 – .611 9.8 .4 1.2 1.2 6.2
2001 Milwaukee 18 10 32.1 .574 – .625 10.8 .6 .5 2.1 5.4
2003 Milwaukee 6 3 12.7 .375 – – 4.0 .5 .5 .8 1.0
2004 Minnesota 18 16 19.8 .500 – .625 4.7 .7 .6 .6 2.7
2006 Milwaukee 3 0 3.7 .000 – 1.000 1.3 .0 .3 .0 .7
Career 77 56 20.5 .462 – .678 6.1 .5 .5 1.1 3.5

Post-playing career

Johnson was a community ambassador for the Denver Nuggets. He also hosts clinics to teach basketball fundamentals to children in Colorado.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Spyropoulos, Eric (February 22, 2020). "Nuggets honor Black History Month: Recognizing Ambassador Ervin Johnson's impact". NBA. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Lewis, Ted (July 22, 2018). "'Ervin Legend': How Ervin Johnson's unconventional route to UNO lead to Greater New Orleans Hall of Fame induction". The Advocate. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  3. ^ "Ervin Johnson: Keeping the Faith | THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES". Nba.com. February 24, 2004. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  4. ^ "Ervin Johnson Hall of Fame". June 19, 2007. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  5. ^ "Ervin Johnson Bio". NBA.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Sun Belt Announces All-Time Men?s Basketball Team". October 26, 2005. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  7. ^ "UNO Hall of Fame". June 19, 2007. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  8. ^ "Minnesota Timberwolves at Seattle SuperSonics Box Score, February 14, 1996".
  9. ^ "Vancouver Grizzlies at Denver Nuggets Box Score, December 20, 1996".
  10. ^ "New Jersey Nets at Milwaukee Bucks Box Score, April 11, 1998".
  11. ^ "Charlotte Hornets at Milwaukee Bucks Box Score, May 15, 2001".
  12. ^ "Milwaukee Bucks at Philadelphia 76ers Box Score, June 3, 2001".
  13. ^ "2003–04 Minnesota Timberwolves Roster and Stats".
  14. ^ "Ervin Johnson Stats".
  15. ^ "Ervin Johnson". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
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