It took a trade to unlock Kevin Johnson’s potential – but once he found a home in Phoenix, he powered the Suns to 11 playoff seasons.
Johnson was the No. 7 overall pick in 1987 by the Cleveland Cavaliers. David Robinson was the first pick and Scottie Pippen was taken fifth. Those two are solid picks. But Johnson also went after Armen Gilliam (2nd, Suns), Dennis Hopson (3rd, Nets), Reggie Williams (4th, Clippers) and Kenny Smith (6th, Kings).
Johnson didn’t do much in 1987-1988, sitting behind Mark Price so the Cavs swung a trade with the Suns. Cleveland sent Johnson, two other players and a first round pick that would turn into Dan Majerle, to Phoenix for Larry Nance, Mike Sanders and a pick that would turn into Randolph Keys.
The trade wasn’t a disaster for Cleveland. Nance was an All-Star player for several Cavaliers teams that didn’t have quite enough firepower to beat Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. For Phoenix though, the trade took the Suns to a new level. Majerle was a starter for a decade and Johnson averaged more than 20 points per game five times and more than 10 assists per game four times over the next 10 seasons.
The Suns were a consistent winner in Johnson’s career. KJ’s career regular season winning percentage topped 64 percent. That included one trip to the NBA Finals after the Suns swung a trade for Charles Barkley. The Suns fell to the Chicago Bulls in six games. A three-time all-star, Johnson consistently upped his production in the playoffs, boosting his scoring from 17.9 points in the regular season to 19.3 points. He was especially deadly in the 1993-1994 and 1994-1995 playoff runs when he had three games of 38 points, another of 43 and another of 46 in 20 games over two seasons to go along with topping 10 assists 11 times.
Johnson would rank higher if not for a freak injury. Johnson averaged 78 games per season his first five years. In 1992, he helped overweight teammate Oliver Miller up from the floor and suffered an undiagnosed hernia. That injury led to numerous muscle strains and pulls in his legs. From 1992-1993 forward, Johnson played as many as 70 games once and three seasons played fewer than 50. He was done as a star player at age 30.
|
Kevin Johnson bio info |
|
|
Career |
1987-2000 |
|
Games |
735 |
|
Points |
17.9 |
|
Rebounds |
3.3 |
|
Assists |
9.1 |
|
FG Pct. |
49.3% |
|
All-Star Games |
3 |
|
MVPs |
0 |
|
NBA Titles |
0 |
|
Playoff seasons |
11 |
|
Playoff games |
105 |
|
Points |
19.3 |
|
Rebounds |
3.3 |
|
Assists |
8.9 |
|
FG Pct. |
46.9% |
|
Hall of Fame |
|
6th
|
Top 100 rankings |
||
|
|
Points |
Top 100 ranking |
|
1-year |
275.64 (1994-1995) |
Not in top 100 |
|
5-year |
1,313.71 |
88th |
|
10-year |
2,274.51 |
74th |
|
Career |
2,477.28 |
88th |
|
Kevin Johnson at his peak |
|||
|
1994-1995 |
Johnson |
NBA Top 5 |
Points |
|
PER |
21.0 |
26.79 |
|
|
Win Shares |
4.8 |
14.44 |
|
|
Box +/- |
0.4 |
6.98 |
|
|
VORP |
0.8 |
6.67 |
|
|
Total Advanced Stats |
27.0 |
54.87 |
49.21 |
|
Playoff PER |
27.4 |
26.70 |
|
|
Win Shares |
1.9 |
2.77 |
|
|
Box +/- |
7.4 |
7.20 |
|
|
VORP |
0.9 |
1.56 |
|
|
Total Advanced Stats |
37.6 |
38.23 |
98.35 |
|
Reg. Season Win % |
68.09 |
|
68.09 |
|
Playoff Win % |
60.00 |
|
60.00 |
|
MVP Voting (75 points) |
0 |
|
0 |
|
Finals MVP (25 points) |
0 |
|
0 |
|
Total Score |
|
|
275.64 |
|
Johnson’s 10 greatest seasons |
|
|
1994-1995 |
275.64 |
|
1988-1989 |
269.22 |
|
1989-1990 |
265.29 |
|
1993-1994 |
254.08 |
|
1991-1992 |
249.25 |
|
1992-1993 |
216.03 |
|
1995-1996 |
195.14 |
|
1996-1997 |
188.43 |
|
1997-1998 |
180.85 |
|
1990-1991 |
177.79 |
|
Career winning percentage |
|||
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
|
Regular Season |
472 |
263 |
64.2% |
|
Playoffs |
54 |
51 |
51.4% |
No comments:
Post a Comment