David Ricardo Johnson (born February 26, 2001) is an American professional

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 (appro ...

player for the

Tasmania JackJumpers The Tasmania JackJumpers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Hobart, Tasmania, who entered the National Basketball League (NBL) in the 2021–22 season, and play their home games at MyState Bank Arena and the Silverdome. T ...

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

, and was drafted by the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

in the second round of the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

Early life

Johnson grew up in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, and attended

Trinity High School Trinity High School is the name of high schools: United Kingdom * Trinity High School, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland * Trinity High School, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland * Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre, in Redditch, England * Trin ...

. As a sophomore, Johnson averaged 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game and was named third team All-State. He was named first team All-State as a junior after averaging 13.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. Johnson was ranked a four-star recruit and the best college prospect in the state of Kentucky by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and committed to play at Louisville early during his senior year. He de-committed after Louisville was named as part of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, but recommitted after considering offers from Georgia and Xavier. As a senior, Johnson averaged 16.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and four assists per game and was named First Team All-State and the Player of the Year by the ''

Lexington Herald-Leader The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second larg ...

''. He was named the MVP of the Kentucky Sweet 16 state tournament after recording 22 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and four blocked shots in the state title game. He scored 1,472 points and grabbed 719 rebounds in four seasons as a starter at Trinity.

College career

Johnson missed the beginning of his freshman season with an offseason shoulder injury. Johnson played mostly as a key reserve during his freshman season with occasional starts. He scored a season high 19 points with seven assists, four rebounds and three steals in Louisville's upset win over

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

on January 18, 2020. Johnson started at point guard against

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

on February 19, 2020, and led the team with seven assists in the 90–66 win in addition to three points. Johnson averaged 6.3 points, 2.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game in 27 games with four starts for the season. As a sophomore, he averaged 12.6 points, 3.2 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. Following the season, he declared for the

, where he was a projected lottery pick.

Professional career

Toronto Raptors and Raptors 905 (2021–2023)

Johnson was selected in the second round of the

with the 47th pick by the

. On August 8, 2021, he signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

with Toronto, splitting time with their

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

affiliate,

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fine Foods ...

. That month, he played for Toronto during the

2021 NBA Summer League The 2021 NBA Summer League was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The summer league c ...

. He played two NBA games for Toronto during the 2021–22 season, as well as 34 games in the G League for Raptors 905. After playing for Toronto in the

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the cam ...

, Johnson signed an

Exhibit 10 The NBA salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that National Basketball Association (NBA) teams are allowed to pay their players. Like the other major professional sports leagues in North America, the NBA has a salary cap to control ...

contract on October 15, 2022, but was waived later that day. He then re-joined Raptors 905 for the

2022–23 NBA G League season The 2022–23 NBA G League season was the 22nd season of the NBA G League, the minor league basketball league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). For the second consecutive season, the schedule was split into two parts: the 18-game Sho ...

. Johnson played for the Toronto Raptors in the

2023 NBA Summer League The 2023 NBA Summer League (branded as ''NBA 2K, NBA 2K24'' Summer League 2023 for sponsorship reasons) was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las ...

Memphis Hustle (2023–2025)

On October 18, 2023, Johnson signed with the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

. However, he was waived three days later. He subsequently joined the

Memphis Hustle The Memphis Hustle are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in the Greater Memphis suburb of Southaven, Mississippi, and are affiliated with the Memphis Grizzlies. The team plays their home games at the Landers C ...

for the

2023–24 NBA G League season The 2023–24 NBA G League season was the 23rd season of the NBA G League, the minor league basketball league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Structure The Showcase Cup started in November 2023 and concluded with a single-eliminat ...

. On October 16, 2024, Johnson signed once again with the Grizzlies, but was waived the same day. He subsequently re-joined the Memphis Hustle for the

2024–25 NBA G League season The 2024–25 NBA G League season was the 24th season of the NBA G League, the minor league basketball league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season consists of each team playing 16 Tip–Off Tournament games starting November ...

Tasmania JackJumpers (2025–present)

On May 27, 2025, Johnson signed with the

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) for the 2025–26 season.

Career statistics

NBA

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Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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College

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Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

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2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

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Personal life

Johnson is a cousin of former Louisville and current professional basketball player Ray Spalding.

References

External links

Louisville Cardinals bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, David 2001 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Memphis Hustle players Point guards Raptors 905 players Toronto Raptors draft picks Toronto Raptors players