Glory Bassey Johnson (born July 27, 1990) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for Turkish club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, ...

. Born in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, she went to

Webb School Of Knoxville Webb School of Knoxville is a private coeducational day school in Knoxville, Tennessee, enrolling students from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. It was founded in 1955 by Robert Webb (1919–2005), grandson of Webb School of Bell Buckle founde ...

and played collegiately for the University of Tennessee Lady Vols. She holds a Montenegrin passport and has represented the Montenegro national team internationally.

College career

Johnson enrolled at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2008. She recorded 36 double-doubles over the course of her college career. Johnson completed her bachelor's degree in global studies in three years, and earned a master's degree in communications during her fourth year of basketball eligibility.

College statistics

Source

USA Basketball

Johnson played on the team representing the US at the

2011 Summer Universiade The 2011 Summer Universiade ( zh, c=2011年夏季世界大学生运动会, p=Èr líng yī yī Nián xiàjì shìjiè dàxuéshēng yùndònghuì), the XXVI Summer Universiade ( zh, c=第二十六届夏季世界大学生运动会, p=Dì Èrshí ...

held in

Shenzhen, China Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...

. The team won all six games to earn the gold medal. Johnson scored 6.2 points per game and had nine steals, tied for second place on the team.

Professional career

WNBA

Johnson was selected in the first round of the 2012 WNBA Draft (4th overall) by the Tulsa Shock. In her rookie season, she was ranked fourth in steals per game (a career-high 2.1 spg). In 2013 and 2014, her second and third seasons with the Shock, Johnson was named in the Western Conference All-Star team. Johnson 20190822

Johnson sat out the 2015 WNBA season on a maternity leave after announcing her pregnancy. She returned one month into the 2016 WNBA season after her suspension stemming from her domestic violence incident with

Brittney Griner Brittney Yevette Griner (; born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's natio ...

. By this time the Tulsa Shock had relocated to Dallas and were renamed the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg ...

, Johnson had re-signed with the team during free agency. Johnson averaged 11.3 ppg in 18 games with 6 starts. Also during her comeback season, she recorded the league's 16th 20-point, 20-rebound performance of the season in a win against the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season ...

when she scored 23 points along with a career-high 22 rebounds. During the 2017 season, Johnson continued to put double-doubles in rebounds and points which is what she has become statistically known for earlier on in her career. On June 18, 2017, Johnson score a season-high 27 points in an 87–83 win over the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

. From July 31 to August 6, Johnson named the Western Conference player of the week. On August 19, 2017, Johnson recorded her 13th double-double of the season, scoring 23 points along with 13 rebounds in a 90–86 win over the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...

. During the game, Johnson threw a punch at Dream's point guard

Matee Ajavon Matee Ajavon (born May 7, 1986) is a Liberian American basketball player. A 5'8" guard, Ajavon was chosen by the Houston Comets as the fifth overall draft pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft. Early life As a child, Ajavon immigrated to the United State ...

and served a one-game suspension two days later. The Wings would finish with a 16–18 record and the number 7 seed in the league. In her first career playoff game, Johnson scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a losing effort to the Washington Mystics in the first round elimination game. In 2018, Johnson had a bit of a challenging season with a couple injuries sidelining her for a few games and causing her to play some games off the bench. She played 29 games with 17 starts and would average career-lows in scoring and rebounding. The Wings would still make the playoffs with a 15–19 record and the 8th seed in the league. They would once again be a first-round exit as they lost to the Phoenix Mercury.

Overseas

From 2012 to 2015, Johnson played three off-seasons in Russia for two different teams;

Chevakata Vologda BC Chevakata Vologda (russian: БК Вологда-Чеваката) is a Russian women's basketball club from Vologda playing in the Russian Premier League. Created in 1995 as Politehnik Vologda, it took its current name the following year after ...

and

Nadezhda Orenburg PBK Nadezhda Orenburg (russian: ПБК «Надежда») is a Russian women's basketball club from Orenburg founded in 1994. Nadezhda has been 3rd in the Russian Premier League in 2010 and 2011, and reached the Russian Cup's final from 2011� ...

. As of November 2016, Johnson signed with the Xinjiang Tiashan Deers of the WCBA for the 2016–17 off-season. In August 2018, Johnson signed with Hatay BB of the Turkish League for the 2018–19 off-season.

Personal life

On August 14, 2014, it was announced that Johnson and fellow WNBA player

were engaged. On April 22, 2015, both women were arrested for physically attacking each other after police broke up a fight between the two in their

Goodyear, Arizona Goodyear (O'odham language, O'odham: ''Valin Thak'') is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census had a population o ...

, home. Both sustained minor injuries during the incident. Nevertheless, they stayed together and married on May 8, 2015. It was announced on June 4, 2015 that Johnson was pregnant and that she would miss the 2015 WNBA season. One day later, Griner filed for annulment which was rejected. Johnson gave birth to twin girls in October 2015, 16 weeks premature. The twins were conceived by IVF treatment using her eggs and a

sperm donation Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other 'fertility treatment' of a woman or women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by ...

. The divorce was finalized in June 2016.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

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Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

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2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

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, 29 , , 28 , , 30.2 , , .446 , , .333 , , .747 , , 8.9 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 2.0 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

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, 33 , , 33 , , 32.4 , , .449 , , .000 , , .760 , , 9.2 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 2.6 , , 14.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

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Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

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2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

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2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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, 29 , , 17 , , 22.5 , , .417 , , .315 , , .780 , , 6.0 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 1.3 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 6 years, 1 team , 176 , , 145 , , 28.9 , , .452 , , .305 , , .739 , , 8.1 , , 1.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.4 , , 2.0 , , 12.7

Playoffs

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, 1 , , 1 , , 36.8 , , .375 , , .000 , , .750 , , 14.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 1 , , 1 , , 22.1 , , .500 , , .333 , , .000 , , 5.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 2 years, 1 team , 2 , , 2 , , 29.4 , , .409 , , .250 , , .750 , , 9.5 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 11.0

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Glory 1990 births Living people Montenegrin women's basketball players American women's basketball players American emigrants to Montenegro African-American basketball players All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China Atlanta Dream players Basketball players from Colorado Springs, Colorado Dallas Wings players Guangdong Vermilion Birds players Lesbian sportswomen LGBT basketball players LGBT people from Colorado American LGBT sportspeople McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Maricopa County, Arizona Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball players Tulsa Shock draft picks Tulsa Shock players Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars Xinjiang Magic Deer players Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women United States women's national basketball team players