| No. 24 – Kawasaki Brave Thunders | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward |
| League | B.League |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1996-04-22)April 22, 1996 (age 28) Williamsport, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Listed weight | 212 lb (96 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | St. John Neumann (Williamsport, Pennsylvania) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 2018: 2nd round, 50th overall pick |
| Selected by theIndiana Pacers | |
| Playing career | 2018–present |
| Career history | |
| 2018–2020 | Indiana Pacers |
| 2018–2020 | →Fort Wayne Mad Ants |
| 2021 | Raptors 905 |
| 2021 | Brooklyn Nets |
| 2021 | Chicago Bulls |
| 2021–2022 | Washington Wizards |
| 2022 | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 2022 | Austin Spurs |
| 2022 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2022–2023 | Austin Spurs |
| 2023 | Wisconsin Herd |
| 2023–2024 | Busan KCC Egis |
| 2024 | Atléticos de San Germán |
| 2024–present | Kawasaki Brave Thunders |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Alize DeShawn Johnson (born April 22, 1996) is an American professionalbasketball player for theKawasaki Brave Thunders of theB.League. He playedcollege basketball for theMissouri State Bears of theMissouri Valley Conference.[1]
Johnson was selected with the 50th pick in the second round of the2018 NBA draft by theIndiana Pacers.
Johnson was born inWilliamsport, Pennsylvania. As a freshman atSt. John Neumann Regional Academy Johnson was a physically underwhelming 5-foot 9-inch point guard. By the time his high school days were over, however, Johnson had grown to 6 feet 4 inches while turning in a fairly decorated career along the way. Despite leading his team to a 30–1 record while averaging 24.1 points, 15.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, Johnson had no Division I offers after his senior year, with only a little bit of interest fromSt. Peters andSt. Francis. Johnson played his AAU basketball for Team Pennsylvania, based out of Harrisburg.[2]
Because of Johnson's lack of Division I offers he attendedFrank Phillips College for his freshman and sophomore years. He then transferred toMissouri State University to finish his athletic and academic career.
On November 11, 2016, Johnson scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 91–65 win over Jacksonville State,[3] and on December 14, 2016, he scored 20 points and recorded 16 rebound in a ten-point win overOral Roberts.[4] Later that month on December 30 Johnson scored a career-high 30 points on 50% shooting and grabbed 15 rebounds in an 81–75 overtime win overIndiana State.[5] Johnson finished 2016–17 with 17 double-doubles scoring 20 or more points in nine games and grabbing 10+ rebounds in twenty-two games including a stretch in January of ten straight 10+ rebounds. Also Johnson had 20 or more rebounds twice and one thirty-point game, including a 21-rebound effort in February. He was named to the MVC All-Tournament team.[6]
On April 21, 2017, Johnson declared for the2017 NBA draft; however, Johnson did not hire an agent allowing him to return for his senior season. This move was most likely to receive feedback fromNBA teams to see the interest. On May 15, 2017, Johnson was invited for a private workout with theBoston Celtics.[7] Prior to the draft Johnson withdrew his name from the draft and returned to MSU for his senior year.
Prior to the 2017–18 season, Johnson was invited to theAdidas Nations basketball camp with the likes ofMichael Porter Jr. and other top level NBA talent. Johnson was named Most Valuable Player in the camp over these players and thus improved his draft stock and multiple NBA teams took notice. Mock drafts had Johnson in the middle to the late first round and others beginning of the second round prior to the season.[8]
On June 21, 2018, Johnson was selected by theIndiana Pacers with the 50th pick in the2018 NBA draft. On July 6, 2018, Johnson made his debut for the Pacers at the2018 NBA Summer League inLas Vegas where against theHouston Rockets Johnson scored 15 points had 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 16 minutes of play.[9] In the Pacers 2018 summer league finale Johnson started scoring 12 points grabbing 14 rebounds and having 4 assists.[10] Johnson played in 4 games during the 2018 summer league averaging 12.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg and 1.6 apg in 23 minutes played.
On July 17, 2018, Johnson signed a two-year, guaranteed contract worth $2,255,316 with thePacers.[11]
On October 19, 2018, Johnson made his NBA debut vs theMilwaukee Bucks and scored two points in four minutes of play in a 118–101 loss.[12] Johnson remained with the team playing in two more games before being moved down to theFort Wayne Mad Ants on October 27. Johnson remained on the Mad Ants being called up for three games in December. He remained with the Pacers throughout all of January playing in seven games with limited minutes played.[13][14] Johnson remained in theG League until its season ended. Johnson finished the season with averages of 18.8 points per game, 13.5 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists per game and 1.4 blocks per game. In the Pacers season finale on April 10, 2019, Johnson saw significant playing time in 25 minutes he score 7 points and 11 rebounds in a 135–134 win over theAtlanta Hawks.[15]
On August 14, 2020, Johnson recorded a career-high 17 rebounds in the Pacers' 109–92 win over theMiami Heat.[16]
On November 27, 2020, Johnson signed anExhibit 10 deal with the Toronto Raptors[17] The signing was confirmed by the Raptors on December 1, 2020.[18] and was waived on December 19.[19] On January 27, 2021, Johnson signed withRaptors 905 of theNBA G League.[20] In 15 games, he averaged 16.6 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals in 32.1 minutes per game, helping the Raptors have the season's best record.[21]
On March 22, 2021, Johnson signed a 10-day contract with theBrooklyn Nets.[21] On March 24, in his debut with the Nets, Johnson recorded a career-high 23 points along with 15 rebounds in the Nets' 118–88 loss to theUtah Jazz.[22] On April 1, Johnson was signed to a second 10-day contract.[23] On April 11, Johnson agreed to a multi-year contract.[24] On April 29, Johnson recorded a double-double with 20 points and a career-high 21 rebounds in a 130–113 win over theIndiana Pacers.[25] On September 3, he was waived by the Nets.[26]
On September 8, 2021, Johnson signed with theChicago Bulls.[27] On December 26, he was waived.[28]
On December 28, 2021, Johnson signed a 10-day contract with theWashington Wizards.[29]
On March 2, 2022, Johnson signed another 10-day contract, this time with theNew Orleans Pelicans. He made his debut for the team that evening.[30] On March 11, he was waived.[31] A day later, he signed a 10-day contract with the Pelicans via the hardship exception.[32]
On October 24, 2022, Johnson joined theAustin Spurs training camp roster.[33]
On November 29, 2022, Johnson signed a contract to join theSan Antonio Spurs.[34] On December 13, he was waived by the Spurs[35] and two days later, he rejoined Austin.[36]
On January 28, 2023, theWisconsin Herd announced via theirTwitter account that they had acquired Johnson fromAustin Spurs for Brandon Randolph.[37][38]
On August 3, 2023, Johnson signed withJeonju KCC Egis of theKorean Basketball League.[39]
On May 15, 2024, Johnson signed with theAtléticos de San Germán of theBaloncesto Superior Nacional.[40]
On June 24, 2024, Johnson signed with theKawasaki Brave Thunders of theB.League.[41]
Johnson is the son of David Hill and Chanelle Johnson. Johnson has three brothers David, Davion, and Nasza as well as four sisters, Davesha, Destiny, Davida and Alana. He is the cousin of fellow professional basketball playerChevon Troutman, who plays overseas. Johnson graduated with a communications degree fromMissouri State University in 2018.[42]
Johnson is very active in the charity and activism landscape. Johnson mainly focuses on his hometown ofWilliamsport, Pennsylvania, but has also been a player in theIndianapolis area as well, participating in multiple community events with the Pacers and Mad Ants.[43][44] In late 2018, Johnson launched the Alize Johnson Foundation; the foundation's first major fundraiser gave outThanksgiving meals to over 100 families in need in Williamsport.[45] In November 2018, Johnson donated basketball shoes for threeLycoming County varsity high school basketball teams, over 40 players fromWilliamsport,Loyalsock andSt. John Neumann high schools were given pairs. In early 2019, Johnson announced he was donated $145,000 to open a basketball court at park.[46] On June 2, 2019, Johnson and city officials opened the court.[47] In July 2019, Johnson held his first annual basketball camp inSpringfield at his alma mater.[48][49][50][51] On July 19, 2019, Johnson held his first basketball camp at his former high school. Forty-five kids participated and were given signed Pacers gear and all of the costs were absorbed by Johnson's foundation.[52]
| 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 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–19 | Indiana | 14 | 0 | 4.6 | .250 | .500 | .500 | 1.4 | .1 | .1 | .2 | .9 |
| 2019–20 | Indiana | 17 | 1 | 6.9 | .414 | .375 | .700 | 2.8 | .4 | .2 | .1 | 2.0 |
| 2020–21 | Brooklyn | 18 | 0 | 10.5 | .588 | .167 | 1.000 | 5.0 | .8 | .3 | .3 | 5.2 |
| 2021–22 | Chicago | 16 | 0 | 7.6 | .522 | .000 | .571 | 2.3 | .5 | .2 | .0 | 1.8 |
| Washington | 3 | 0 | 6.0 | .333 | .000 | .000 | 4.0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 1.3 | |
| New Orleans | 4 | 0 | 7.0 | .300 | — | .750 | 3.3 | .3 | .5 | .0 | 2.3 | |
| 2022–23 | San Antonio | 4 | 0 | 7.4 | .500 | .000 | .500 | 2.5 | .3 | .3 | .0 | 1.8 |
| Career | 76 | 1 | 7.5 | .481 | .227 | .711 | 3.0 | .4 | .2 | .1 | 2.5 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Indiana | 1 | 0 | .2 | — | — | — | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| 2021 | Brooklyn | 5 | 0 | 4.6 | .571 | — | — | 2.6 | .0 | .6 | .0 | 1.6 |
| Career | 6 | 0 | 3.8 | .571 | — | — | 2.2 | .0 | .5 | .0 | 1.3 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | Missouri State | 33 | 33 | 30.2 | .488 | .388 | .667 | 10.6 | 1.9 | .6 | .1 | 14.8 |
| 2017–18 | Missouri State | 33 | 33 | 31.2 | .430 | .281 | .759 | 11.6 | 2.8 | .5 | .4 | 15.0 |
| Career | 66 | 66 | 30.7 | .457 | .325 | .716 | 11.1 | 2.4 | .5 | .3 | 14.9 | |
Alize Johnson, a seldom-used 6-foot-9 forward, had 11 points and 17 rebounds to set career highs in both categories.
Alize Johnson, who was signed to a 10-day contract on Monday, had a career-high 23 points and 15 rebounds.