Frank Johnson (basketball)

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Frank Johnson
Johnson with Wake Forest in 1981
Personal information
Born (1958-11-23) November 23, 1958 (age 65)
Weirsdale, Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolLake Weir (Summerfield, Florida)
CollegeWake Forest (1976–1981)
NBA draft1981: 1st round, 11th overall pick
Selected by the Washington Bullets
Playing career1981–1994
PositionPoint guard
Number15, 3
Career history
As player:
19811988Washington Bullets
1988–1989Houston Rockets
1989–1991A. Ranger Varese
1991Marr Rimini
1991–1992Olympique Antibes
19921994Phoenix Suns
As coach:
19972002Phoenix Suns (assistant)
20022004Phoenix Suns
20172018Milwaukee Bucks (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-ACC (1981)
  • 2× Second-team All-ACC (1978, 1979)
Career NBA statistics
Points4,937 (8.3 ppg)
Rebounds1,025 (1.7 rpg)
Assists2,476 (4.2 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Franklin Lenard Johnson (born November 23, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Washington Bullets, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns.

Playing career[edit]

In high school, he played basketball for the Lake Weir Hurricanes. During his junior year in 1974–1975, he was a star for the 33–0 Hurricanes team that won Marion County’s first state championship.[1] He played collegiately for Wake Forest University, becoming an All-American selection in 1980–81. He was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 1998. Johnson was selected in the first round of the 1981 NBA draft with the 11th pick by the Washington Bullets. He played point guard in the NBA for the Bullets (1981–1988), the Houston Rockets (1988–89) (he signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets, but they traded him to the Rockets before he played in any games for them). He also played for the Phoenix Suns (1992–94) where his main role was to relieve star Kevin Johnson. He was selected from the Rockets by the Orlando Magic in the 1989 expansion draft, but was waived before the 1989–90 season started. He played 650 games in the NBA (regular season and playoffs), with regular season career averages of 8.3 PPG and 4.2 APG in 21.6 minutes.[2]

He played professionally in Italy for Ranger Varese (1989–91, played in the finals of the Italian Championship in 1990) and Marr Rimini (Serie A2, 1991).[3]

Head coaching record[edit]

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Phoenix 2001–02 31 11 20 .355 6th in Midwest Missed playoffs
Phoenix 2002–03 82 44 38 .537 4th in Midwest 6 2 4 .333 Lost in First round
Phoenix 2003–04 21 8 13 .381 (fired)
Career 134 63 71 .470 6 2 4 .333

Personal life[edit]

Frank earned his nickname “Fourth Quarter Frank” for his clutch performances helping the team grind out close games.[4]

Family[edit]

Johnson's brother "Fast Eddie" also played in the NBA. He spent more than eight seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, and closed out his career with stints in Cleveland and Seattle. Eddie was a two-time (1980, 1981) All-Star while with the Hawks.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "No. 4: Frank Johnson leads Lake Weir to state title, coaches NBA team". ocala.com. Star–Banner. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  2. ^ "Frank Johnson Stats - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "Legabasket". 195.56.77.208.
  4. ^ Coughenour, Jim (January 19, 2017). "#TBT: Fourth Quarter Frank". Bright Side Of The Sun. Retrieved December 8, 2020.