New York Liberty
Johnson was selected 12th overall in the second round of the inaugural WNBA Elite draft in 1997 by the New York Liberty, which was composed of professional women's basketball players who had competed in other leagues, usually international leagues. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997 in a 67 - 57 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks. In her debut, Johnson recorded 13 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. [5]
She became an all - star for the first time in the 1999 season, averaging 13.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Two years later in 2001, she became an all - star again and averaged 11.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
From 1997 to 2005, the Liberty reached the playoffs in seven of those nine seasons and specifically reached the WNBA Finals in four of those instances (1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002). Unfortunately, even though Johnson was always a consistent and productive starter throughout those playoff appearances, the Liberty would lose in the Finals all four of those times.
In June 2005 in honor of Johnson's 3,000 points scored, Sandy Levine, owner of the world-famous Carnegie Deli in Manhattan, created the VJ Classic sandwich, a 3,000 calories (13,000 kJ) belly-busting sandwich.
From 1997 to 2005, Johnson started in 281 out of 282 games for the Liberty and averaged 11.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 31.7 minutes per game in the regular season. She started in all 36 playoff games for the team and averaged 11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 32.9 minutes per game in the playoffs.
For the Liberty, Johnson is the all - time leader in career minutes played (8,950), 2nd in points (3,248), 2nd in field goals made (1,245), 3rd in rebounds (1,053) and 3rd in assists (787).
San Antonio Silver Stars
Johnson signed with the San Antonio Silver Stars on February 9, 2006. [6] After not making the playoffs with the Silver Stars in her first season with the team, they would reach the playoffs in 2007 to 2009. The 2008 season specifically is the highest win - record that Johnson has been a part of, as the Silver Stars finished 24 - 10 and reached the Finals to face the Detroit Shock. The Silver Stars would fall to the Shock 3 - 0 while Johnson averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists during the entire playoffs.
Johnson retired from play at the end of 2009 season. [7] She ended her career with the most games played out of all of the draftees from the 1997 Elite Draft (410 games played) and the 2nd most amount of games played throughout all draftees from 1997 (only trailing Tina Thompson from the college draft who played 496 games in her career).
Johnson's final WNBA game ever was played in Game 3 of the 2009 Western Conference First Round on September 21, 2009 against the Phoenix Mercury. Despite Johnson's incredible performance of 24 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals, the Silver Stars would lose the game 92 - 100 and be eliminated from the playoffs. [8]
Coaching Career
After tying their franchise-worst record of 7 - 27 during the 2016 season, long time general manager and coach of the now "San Antonio Stars", Dan Hughes announced that he was relinquishing his role at both positions. On December 22, 2016, Johnson was hired as the replacement head coach in preparation for the 2017 season. [9] Due to the team being purchased and relocating to Las Vegas to become the Las Vegas Aces the next year, the 2017 season was Johnson's only season coaching the team. The franchise finished with an 8 - 26 record in their final year in San Antonio.
On December 9, 2020, Johnson was hired as the head coach of the Dallas Wings. [10] In her first season in Dallas, despite coaching great players including Arike Ogunbowale, Allisha Gray, Kayla Thornton and Marina Mabrey, the team finished the 2021 season at 14 - 18 and missed the playoffs.
The Wings turned their destiny around for the 2022 season, keeping the same core of Ogunbowale, Gray, Thornton and Mabrey and made the playoffs with an even 18 - 18 record. The team was unfortunately eliminated in the first round by the Connecticut Sun 2 - 1, including a 25 - point loss in Game 1 on August 18.
Despite the playoff berth, the Wings front office decided not to exercise Johnson's team option and fired her as head coach on September 19. [11]
