Frank Johnson (basketball, born 1958)
American basketball coach and former player
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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.
Johnson with Wake Forest in 1981 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 23, 1958 Weirsdale, Florida, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Lake Weir (Summerfield, Florida) |
| College | Wake Forest (1976–1981) |
| NBA draft | 1981: 1st round, 11th overall pick |
| Drafted by | Washington Bullets |
| Playing career | 1981–1994 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 15, 3 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1981–1988 | Washington Bullets |
| 1988–1989 | Houston Rockets |
| 1989–1991 | A. Ranger Varese |
| 1991 | Marr Rimini |
| 1991–1992 | Olympique Antibes |
| 1992–1994 | Phoenix Suns |
Coaching | |
| 1997–2002 | Phoenix Suns (assistant) |
| 2002–2004 | Phoenix Suns |
| 2017–2018 | Milwaukee Bucks (assistant) |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 4,937 (8.3 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,025 (1.7 rpg) |
| Assists | 2,476 (4.2 apg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
Early days
Johnson played high school 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]
College career
Johnson 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.
Professional career
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 (no relation). 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]
International career
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]
Coaching career
Johnson coached the Phoenix Suns for almost two seasons beginning February 17, 2002, before he was fired on December 10, 2003, and replaced by assistant Mike D'Antoni. The official reason for the firing was routine—the team had performed poorly in 2003-04—but an article in the Arizona Republic [4] reported that some of Johnson's personal behavior caused a minor scandal for the Suns ownership. He had worked as an assistant coach with the Suns beginning late in the 1996–97 season under Danny Ainge and Scott Skiles before being promoted.
Career playing statistics
| 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 |
| * | Led the league |
NBA
Source[2]
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–82 | Washington | 79 | 29 | 25.7 | .414 | .215 | .750 | 1.9 | 4.8 | 1.0 | .1 | 10.7 |
| 1982–83 | Washington | 68 | 65 | 34.2 | .408 | .230 | .751 | 2.6 | 8.1 | 1.6 | .1 | 12.5 |
| 1983–84 | Washington | 82* | 81 | 32.8 | .467 | .256 | .742 | 2.2 | 6.9 | 1.2 | .1 | 12.0 |
| 1984–85 | Washington | 46 | 1 | 20.1 | .489 | .353 | .750 | 1.4 | 3.1 | .9 | .1 | 9.3 |
| 1985–86 | Washington | 14 | 9 | 28.7 | .448 | .000 | .704 | 2.0 | 5.4 | .8 | .1 | 12.6 |
| 1986–87 | Washington | 18 | 0 | 22.2 | .461 | .000 | .714 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 1.2 | .0 | 8.5 |
| 1987–88 | Washington | 75 | 17 | 16.8 | .434 | .111 | .812 | 1.6 | 2.5 | .9 | .1 | 7.4 |
| 1988–89 | Houston | 67 | 0 | 13.1 | .443 | .167 | .806 | 1.2 | 2.7 | .6 | .0 | 4.4 |
| 1992–93 | Phoenix | 77 | 0 | 14.6 | .436 | .083 | .776 | 1.5 | 2.4 | .8 | .1 | 4.3 |
| 1993–94 | Phoenix | 70 | 5 | 12.5 | .448 | .167 | .783 | 1.2 | 2.1 | .6 | .0 | 4.6 |
| Career | 596 | 217 | 21.6 | .439 | .218 | .760 | 1.7 | 4.2 | 1.0 | .1 | 8.3 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Washington | 7 | 40.0 | .385 | .417 | .857 | 3.1 | 8.4 | 1.4 | .0 | 15.6 | |
| 1984 | Washington | 4 | 39.0 | .571 | .333 | 1.000 | 3.3 | 6.3 | 1.3 | .0 | 14.3 | |
| 1985 | Washington | 2 | 0 | 19.5 | .286 | .167 | 1.000 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 1.0 | .0 | 7.5 |
| 1987 | Washington | 3 | 0 | 9.3 | .286 | – | 1.000 | .7 | 1.7 | .3 | .0 | 2.7 |
| 1988 | Washington | 5 | 0 | 8.8 | .318 | .000 | 1.000 | .4 | .2 | .8 | .0 | 3.6 |
| 1989 | Houston | 4 | 0 | 9.0 | .333 | .000 | .600 | 1.3 | 1.8 | .3 | .0 | 2.5 |
| 1993 | Phoenix | 22 | 0 | 7.8 | .440 | .333 | .862 | .5 | .8 | .3 | .0 | 3.2 |
| 1994 | Phoenix | 7 | 0 | 6.6 | .083 | .000 | .500 | .6 | .7 | .3 | .0 | .4 |
| Career | 54 | 0 | 14.8 | .397 | .276 | .857 | 1.2 | 2.3 | .6 | .0 | 5.4 | |
Head coaching record
| 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 % |
Personal life
Frank earned his nickname "Fourth Quarter Frank" for his clutch performances helping the 1992–93 Suns grind out close games.[5][6]
Family
Johnson's elder brother Edward also played in the NBA. "Fast Eddie" 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.