Andrew Johnson Jr. (November 8, 1932 – August 30, 2002) was an American professional basketball player and coach.
A 6'5" guard/forward, Johnson played at the University of Portland in the 1950s before serving with the US military in the Korean War. He began his professional basketball career with the Harlem Globetrotters, then played in the NBA from 1958 to 1962 as a member of the Philadelphia Warriors and Chicago Packers. He averaged 9.8 points over his NBA career, posting a high of 14.3 points per game with the Packers in the 1961–62 season.George Vecsey. "Tracing The Old Survivors". New York Times. December 12, 1990. Retrieved on December 26, 2009.
To Johnson's surprise, he was cut by Chicago before the 1962–63 season began, allegedly because he "didn't know the plays". He then joined the Philadelphia Tapers of the American Basketball League. Johnson hoped to return to the NBA after a season with the Tapers, but such an opportunity never materialized. He played eight more years in the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL) / Eastern Basketball Association (EBA). He won EPBL championships with the Allentown Jets in 1963, 1965 and 1968. Johnson was named as the EPBL Most Valuable Player with the Allentown Jets in 1964. He served as player-coach of the Camden Bullets during the 1970–71 season and led the team to a 12–16 record.
Because he had been cut by the Chicago Packers before his fifth NBA season, he did not qualify for a pension from the NBA, though after some effort, he managed to receive some money from them later in his life."Books". SLAM. February 2010. 80–81.
Johnson is the subject of a 2010 biography called Basketball Slave. The book was written by his son, Mark, who believed his father had been exploited throughout his athletic career on account of his ethnicity.
Career statistics
NBA Source
Regular season Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1958–59 Philadelphia 67 17.3 .373 .602 3.2 1.3 6.9 1959–60 Philadelphia 75 18.9 .378 .601 3.8 2.0 8.2 1960–61 Philadelphia79* 25.3 .359 .571 4.4 2.6 9.6 1961–62 Chicago 71 30.9 .448 .628 4.9 3.2 14.3Career 292 23.2 .392 .605 4.1 2.3 9.8
Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1960 Philadelphia 9 20.3 .418 .511 5.0 2.3 8.9 1961 Philadelphia 3 16.7 .318 .667 3.3 .3 6.7Career 12 19.4 .393 .536 4.6 1.8 8.3
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