Avery DeWitt Johnson (born March 25, 1965) is an Americanbasketball television commentator, former player and coach who previously served as head coach of theAlabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team. He is an NBA and college basketball analyst forCBS Sports.

Avery Johnson

Johnson coaching Alabama in 2016
Personal information
Born	(1965-03-25)March 25, 1965 (age 60) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Listed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school	St. Augustine (New Orleans, Louisiana)
College	New Mexico JC (1983–1984) Cameron (1984–1985) Southern (1986–1988)
NBA draft	1988:undrafted
Playing career	1988–2004
Position	Point guard
Number	15, 6, 5
Coaching career	2004–2019
Career history
As a player:
1988	Palm Beach Stingrays
1988–1990	Seattle SuperSonics
1990	Denver Nuggets
1991	San Antonio Spurs
1992	Houston Rockets
1992–1993	San Antonio Spurs
1993–1994	Golden State Warriors
1994–2001	San Antonio Spurs
2001–2002	Denver Nuggets
2002–2003	Dallas Mavericks
2003–2004	Golden State Warriors
As a coach:
2004–2005	Dallas Mavericks (assistant)
2005–2008	Dallas Mavericks
2010–2012	New Jersey / Brooklyn Nets
2015–2019	Alabama
Career highlights and awards
As player: NBA champion (1999) NBA Sportsmanship Award (1998) No. 6retired by San Antonio Spurs 2×NCAA assists leader (1987, 1988) 2×SWAC Player of the Year (1987, 1988) No. 15retired by Southern Jaguars As coach: NBA Coach of the Year (2006) NBA All-Star Game head coach (2006)
Career NBA statistics
Points	8,817 (8.4 ppg)
Rebounds	1,751 (1.7 rpg)
Assists	5,846 (5.5 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats atBasketball Reference

Johnson spent 16 years in theNational Basketball Association as a player, and subsequently served as the head coach of two NBA teams: theDallas Mavericks andNew Jersey/Brooklyn Nets. He led the Mavericks to their firstNBA Finals appearance and to three consecutive 50+ win seasons. During his playing days, Johnson was known as the "Little General" for his small stature (by NBA standards), his leadership skills as apoint guard, and his close friendship with formerSan Antonio Spurs teammateDavid Robinson.

As a high school senior in 1983, Johnson led New Orleans'St. Augustine High School to a 35–0 record and the Class 4A Louisiana State Championship. Johnson matriculated toNew Mexico Junior College before moving on toCameron University, and finallySouthern University, at which in his senior season in 1988 he ledNCAA Division I with 13.3 assists per game, an all-time record as of 2007^[update].^[1] In that season, he also averaged 11.4 points per game, making him the first men's Division I player ever to average double figures in points and assists in the same season—a feat that was not duplicated untilJason Brickman ofLIU Brooklyn did so in2013–14.^[2]

Upongraduation in 1988, Johnson was not selected in theNBA draft.^[3]

• Most assist per game in a career: 12.0 (note: played 2 seasons)
• Most assists per games in a season : 13.3
  • (note: 399 total in 30 games as a senior which is most all time)
• Most assists in a Junior season: 333
• Most assist per game in a junior season: 10.74
• Most 20+ assists games in a career: 4
  • Accomplished in only 2 seasons, only 1 other player has 2 which was in 4 seasons
• Most 20+ assists in a season: 2
  • Twice in both Junior & Senior seasons

Johnson spent the summer of 1988 with thePalm Beach Stingrays of theUnited States Basketball League. Johnson also played in six playoff games for the Stingrays.^[4]

After the Stingrays, Johnson signed with the Seattle SuperSonics for the 1988–89 season. In 43 games, Johnson averaged 1.6 points and 1.7 assists as a reserve. In the 1989–90 season, Johnson played 53 games with 10 starts for theSeattle SuperSonics. He made 18 assists on January 5, 1990, against the Miami Heat.^[4]

On October 24, 1990, the SuperSonics traded Johnson to theDenver Nuggets for a conditional pick in the1997 NBA draft. After playing 21 games, Johnson was waived from the Nuggets in December before signing with theSan Antonio Spurs on January 17, 1991. Johnson played 47 games with seven starts for the Spurs and averaged 9.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 5.4 assists.^[4]

In the beginning of the 1991–92 season, Johnson played 20 games and averaged 5.0 points and 6.8 assists for the Spurs before being waived in December. On January 10, 1992, Johnson signed the first of several 10-day contracts with theHouston Rockets that preceded a longer-term contract. Johnson scored a then-career-high 22 points against theMinnesota Timberwolves on January 28.^[4]

Signed as an unrestricted free agent, Johnson returned to the Spurs on November 19, 1992. Promoted to starter, Johnson averaged 8.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 7.5 assists and improved his field goal percentage to .502 in 75 games. In the playoffs, Johnson averaged 8.2 points and 8.1 assists.^[4]

Johnson signed with theGolden State Warriors on October 25, 1993, and was named team captain just nine days into his signing. Starting 70 of 82 games, Johnson reached a new career high 10.9 points per game along with 5.3 assists per game.^[4]

Johnson was with the Spurs from 1994 to 2001, and played an integral role on the1998–99 Spurs team that won theNBA championship against theNew York Knicks. Johnson made the go-ahead, championship-clinching shot in Game 5 on a jumper with 47 seconds remaining in the game.^[5] The Spurs retired Johnson's number 6 on December 22, 2007.^[6] He was also inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame on February 20, 2009.^[7]

On July 19, 2001, Johnson signed as a free agent with theDenver Nuggets. Johnson played 51 games (13 starts) with the Nuggets and averaged 9.4 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists.^[8] The Nuggets traded Johnson,Nick Van Exel,Raef LaFrentz, andTariq Abdul-Wahad to theDallas Mavericks on February 21, 2002, forDonnell Harvey,Tim Hardaway,Juwan Howard, and draft considerations. Johnson played 17 games all as a reserve with the Mavericks for the rest of the season.^[8]

In the 2002–03 season, Johnson played in 48 games as a reserve for the Mavericks, averaging 9.0 minutes per game. During the 2003 offseason, the Mavericks traded Johnson, Van Exel,Popeye Jones,Antoine Rigaudeau, andEvan Eschmeyer to the Golden State Warriors forAntawn Jamison,Jiří Welsch,Chris Mills, andDanny Fortson. Johnson ended his NBA career in the 2003–04 season in his second stint with theWarriors. He played 46 games with one start and averaged 4.6 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists.^[8]

On October 28, 2004, Johnson retired from playing and signed as an assistant coach with theDallas Mavericks underDon Nelson. Johnson had played under Nelson from 1993 to 1994 and from 2002 to 2003, and it was understood from the beginning that he was being groomed to eventually succeed Nelson ashead coach. His transition from assistant to head coach came five months later on March 19, 2005, after Nelson resigned.

Under Johnson, the Mavericks closed out the2004–05 season with a 16–2 run and a first-round playoff victory over theHouston Rockets, before being eliminated by thePhoenix Suns in the second round of theplayoffs. Johnson was named the April 2005 NBA Coach of the Month, only one month after becoming a head coach for the first time.

The2005–06 season was even more successful for Johnson and was marked by a series of milestones. In November 2005, Johnson won his second NBA Coach of the Month award (which was also his second consecutive award, following the one he had won in April the previous season), making him the first NBA coach to win the award in his first two months as a head coach. On January 28, 2006, when theDallas Mavericks defeated theUtah Jazz, Johnson's record as head coach improved to 50–12, making Johnson the fastest coach to reach 50 wins. In February 2006, he was chosen to coach the2006 NBA All-Star team for theWestern Conference. Although Johnson ultimately led the Mavericks to the second-best record in the Western Conference, the team entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the West due to the structure of the2006 NBA Playoffs seeding. In April 2006, Johnson was rewarded for his success throughout the season with the 2006NBA Coach of the Year Award.

In June 2006, after defeating theMemphis Grizzlies, the defending championSan Antonio Spurs, and thePhoenix Suns in the first three rounds of the playoffs, Johnson led the Mavericks to their first everNBA Finals appearance. However, the Mavs were defeated insix games by theMiami Heat, losing four straight after winning the first two games.

On December 31, 2006, Johnson became the fastest head coach (at the time) to win 100 games when his squad defeated theDenver Nuggets. This record was later broken byTom Thibodeau and theChicago Bulls. In the2006–07 season, Johnson's Mavericks had the best record in the NBA with 67 wins and entered the playoffs as the top seed. However, his Mavericks lost to the eighth-seededGolden State Warriors, led by former Mavericks head coachDon Nelson, in one of the biggest upsets in recent NBA history.

With the Mavs' win over the Grizzlies on November 18, 2007, Johnson became the fastest coach to reach 150 wins. Following the2007–08 season, the Mavericks under Johnson were eliminated in the first round of theplayoffs for the second year in a row. A day later, on April 30, 2008, Johnson was dismissed as head coach of the Mavericks and replaced by formerNBA Coach of the Year,Rick Carlisle.^[9][10][11]

On October 17, 2008, Johnson joinedESPN as a studio analyst. He remained in that role for two seasons, until he received an offer to become head coach of theNew Jersey Nets.^[12]

On June 10, 2010, Johnson was hired as head coach of theNew Jersey Nets,^[13] which had just finished a dismal2009–10 campaign with a 12–70 record. In his first year as coach of the Nets, the team improved slightly, doubling its win total from the previous season and finishing 24–58. However, the next year saw no such improvement, as his team went 22–44 in thelockout-shortened season.

Johnson remained with the Nets when the team moved to Brooklyn in 2012. He was named theEastern Conference Coach of the Month for October and November 2012 following an 11–4 start to the season. Despite that early success, the team went on to lose ten of its next 13 games, and subsequently Johnson was fired from his head coaching position on December 27, 2012.^[14][15]

In 2013, Johnson rejoined ESPN to appear as an analyst onSportsCenter,NBA Coast to Coast, andNBA Tonight.^[16]

On April 5, 2015, ESPN reported that Johnson had verbally agreed to become the new head basketball coach at theUniversity of Alabama, replacingAnthony Grant.^[17] The following day, the university officially announced Johnson's hiring as the school's 21st men's basketball coach.^[18] After losing in the first round of the2019 National Invitation Tournament, Alabama and Johnson agreed to mutually part ways.^[19]

Johnson and his wife Cassandra have two children, Avery Jr. and Christianne.^[20] Avery Jr. played for the Alabama basketball team, coached by his father.^[21] Johnson is aChristian.^[22] He had a very memorable cameo in the movieEddie even being referred to byWhoopi Goldberg as "looking like a little roach".^[23]

• List of NBA career assists leaders
• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 20 or more assists in a game

• Career statistics fromNBA.com and Basketball Reference
• Avery Johnson coach profile at NBA.com
• Avery Johnson NBA coaching statistics at Basketball-Reference.com