Ervin Johnson

Ervin Johnson
	Johnson in 2010
Personal information
Born	December 21, 1967 (age 56); New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school	Block (Jonesville, Louisiana)
College	New Orleans (1989–1993)
NBA draft	1993: 1st round, 23rd overall pick
	Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career	1993–2006
Position	Center
Number	50, 40
Career history
1993–1996	Seattle SuperSonics
1996–1997	Denver Nuggets
1997–2003	Milwaukee Bucks
2003–2005	Minnesota Timberwolves
2005–2006	Milwaukee Bucks
Career highlights and awards
	Third-team All-American – UPI (1993); Sun Belt Player of the Year (1993); 2× First-team All-Sun Belt (1992, 1993); No. 40 retired by New Orleans Privateers;
Career NBA statistics
Points	3,473 (4.1 ppg)
Rebounds	5,148 (6.1 rpg)
Blocks	1,087 (1.3 bpg)
	Stats at NBA.com
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Men’s Basketball
Representing United States
Summer Universiade

Ervin Johnson Jr. (born December 21, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who is a community ambassador for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] He played in the NBA for the Seattle SuperSonics, Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves as a center from 1993 to 2006.

Early life

Johnson attended Block High School in Jonesville, Louisiana, where he played basketball until he quit in the 10th grade.^[2] Three years removed from high school, he worked in a Baton Rouge supermarket and had grown 8 inches when a friend suggested that he should try-out for the New Orleans Privateers, who did not have a big man.^[2] Privateers head coach Tim Floyd offered Johnson a scholarship on sight despite the fact he had not played basketball in years.^[2]^[3]

College career

UNO recorded 87 victories during Johnson's time in the program. They earned two NCAA tournament bids and one NIT tournament appearance. When he finished, he was the second all-time leading scorer in UNO history (1,608 points), first all-time in field goal percentage (59%), first all-time in double-doubles with 55, first all-time in rebounds with 1,287 (10.5 per game), third all-time in double-figure scoring games (81), eighth all-time in steals (109), second all-time in games played (123) and first all-time in blocks (294). Johnson was named All-American South Conference for the 1990–1991 season, All-Sun Belt Conference for the 1991–1992 season, and the 1992–1993 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.^[4]

Johnson completed his degree in general studies from the University of New Orleans during the 1996–97 NBA season, and was commencement speaker at graduation ceremonies.^[5]

Honors

Johnson was named Basketball Times 2nd Team All-American for 1992–93 and 3rd Team All-American by Basketball Weekly and United Press International. He was named Honorable Mention All-American for the same season by the Associated Press.

Johnson was named MVP of the NABC All-America Game in 1993.^[6]

On December 29, 1997, his Privateer jersey (40) was retired at Lakefront Arena.^[7]

In 2005, Johnson was named to the All-Time Men's Basketball Team for the Sun Belt Conference in celebration of the conference's 30th basketball season.^[6]

Professional career

A 6'11", 245-pound center from the University of New Orleans, Johnson was selected 23rd overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1993 NBA draft, and played for the Sonics, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks.

On February 14, 1996, Johnson scored a career-high 28 points, alongside grabbing 12 rebounds, in a win against the Timberwolves.^[8] Johnson and the Sonics would make it to the Finals that postseason, before losing to the Bulls.

The following season, after signing with the Nuggets, Johnson scored 19 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked 5 shots on December 20 in a win against the Vancouver Grizzlies.^[9] That year, Johnson led the league in total defensive rebounds, with 682.

During the 1997 offseason, Johnson was traded to the Bucks for Danny Fortson, Johnny Newman, and Joe Wolf. On April 11, 1998, Johnson scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a loss against the New Jersey Nets.^[10]

Johnson played a key role on the 2000–01 Bucks, grabbing a playoff career-high 17 rebounds on May 15 against the Charlotte Hornets,^[11] and playing in every game of their playoff run leading up to their Game 7 loss (in which he started and played 42 minutes) in the Eastern Conference Finals against the 76ers.^[12]

Three years later, now in Minnesota and 36 years old, Johnson played an important role on another team's deep playoff run. This time, he averaged 20 minutes a game in the playoffs, but still started most games en route to a Western Conference Finals loss to the Lakers.^[13]

Johnson returned to the Bucks for one season, and retired after the end of the 2006 NBA playoffs.^[14]

NBA career statistics

Legend
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

Source^[15]

*	Led the league

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1993–94	Seattle	45	3	6.2	.415	–	.630	2.6	.2	.2	.5	2.6
1994–95	Seattle	64	30	14.2	.443	.000	.630	4.5	.3	.3	1.0	3.1
1995–96	Seattle	81	60	18.8	.511	.333	.669	5.3	.6	.5	1.6	5.5
1996–97	Denver	82	82*	31.7	.520	.000	.615	11.1	.9	.8	2.8	7.1
1997–98	Milwaukee	81	81	27.9	.537	–	.601	8.5	.7	1.0	2.0	8.0
1998–99	Milwaukee	50*	7	20.5	.508	–	.610	6.4	.4	.6	1.1	5.1
1999–2000	Milwaukee	80	74	26.6	.516	.000	.605	8.1	.6	1.0	1.6	4.8
2000–01	Milwaukee	82	19	24.2	.545	–	.538	7.5	.5	.5	1.2	3.2
2001–02	Milwaukee	81	9	20.5	.461	.000	.455	5.8	.3	.5	1.0	2.6
2002–03	Milwaukee	69	17	17.0	.452	–	.682	4.3	.3	.5	.9	2.2
2003–04	Minnesota	66	47	14.7	.534	.000	.607	3.5	.4	.4	.7	1.9
2004–05	Minnesota	46	23	8.9	.519	1.000	.640	2.5	.1	.2	.3	1.6
2005–06	Milwaukee	18	0	4.5	.412	–	.500	1.3	.1	.1	.1	.8
Career		845	452	20.1	.505	.200	.605	6.1	.5	.6	1.3	4.1

Playoffs


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1994	Seattle	2	0	4.0	.000	–	–	2.0	.0	.0	.0	.0
1995	Seattle	4	2	13.5	.286	–	1.000	5.3	.0	.3	1.0	3.5
1996	Seattle	18	18	14.1	.371	–	.818	3.9	.4	.3	.8	3.1
1999	Milwaukee	3	2	30.7	.462	–	.500	6.0	.3	.7	1.7	4.3
2000	Milwaukee	5	5	31.0	.500	–	.611	9.8	.4	1.2	1.2	6.2
2001	Milwaukee	18	10	32.1	.574	–	.625	10.8	.6	.5	2.1	5.4
2003	Milwaukee	6	3	12.7	.375	–	–	4.0	.5	.5	.8	1.0
2004	Minnesota	18	16	19.8	.500	–	.625	4.7	.7	.6	.6	2.7
2006	Milwaukee	3	0	3.7	.000	–	1.000	1.3	.0	.3	.0	.7
Career		77	56	20.5	.462	–	.678	6.1	.5	.5	1.1	3.5