Frank Johnson (basketball)

For other people with the same name, see Frank Johnson (disambiguation).

Frank Johnson

Johnson with Wake Forest in 1981
Personal information
Born	(1958-11-23) November 23, 1958 (age 66) 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
Selected by the Washington Bullets
Playing career	1981–1994
Position	Point guard
Number	15, 3
Career history
As player:
1981–1988	Washington Bullets
1988–1989	Houston Rockets
1989–1991	A. Ranger Varese
1991	Marr Rimini
1991–1992	Olympique Antibes
1992–1994	Phoenix Suns
As coach:
1997–2002	Phoenix Suns (assistant)
2002–2004	Phoenix Suns
2017–2018	Milwaukee Bucks (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-ACC (1981) 2× Second-team All-ACC (1978, 1979)
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

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

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

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

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

Family

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

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. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved August 16, 2007.
4. Coughenour, Jim (January 19, 2017). "#TBT: Fourth Quarter Frank". Bright Side Of The Sun. Retrieved December 8, 2020.