Ervin Johnson Jr. (born December 21, 1967) is an American former 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 who is a community ambassador for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He played in the NBA for the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

, Denver Nuggets,

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

and

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

as a center from 1993 to 2006.

Early life

Johnson attended Block High School in

Jonesville, Louisiana Jonesville is the largest town in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, United States, at the confluence of the Ouachita, Tensas, and Little rivers. The three rivers become the Black River at Jonesville. The Jonesville population was 2,265 at the 20 ...

, where he played

until he quit in the 10th grade. Three years after high school, he worked at a

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

supermarket and grew 8 inches. A friend suggested that he try out for the New Orleans Privateers, which did not have a big man. Privateers head coach Tim Floyd offered Johnson a scholarship on sight despite Johnson not having played basketball in years.

College career

UNO recorded 87 victories during Johnson's time in the program. They earned two NCAA tournament bids and one NIT tournament appearance. When he finished, he was the second all-time leading scorer in UNO history (1,608 points), first all-time in field goal percentage (59%), first all-time in double-doubles with 55, first all-time in rebounds with 1,287 (10.5 per game), third all-time in double-figure scoring games (81), eighth all-time in steals (109), second all-time in games played (123) and first all-time in blocks (294). Johnson was named All-American South Conference for the 1990–1991 season, All-Sun Belt Conference for the 1991–1992 season, and the 1992–1993 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. Johnson completed his degree in general studies from the University of New Orleans during the 1996–97 NBA season, and was commencement speaker at graduation ceremonies.

Honors

Johnson was named Basketball Times 2nd Team All-American for 1992–93 and 3rd Team All-American by Basketball Weekly and United Press International. He was named Honorable Mention All-American for the same season by the Associated Press. Johnson was named MVP of the NABC All-America Game in 1993. On December 29, 1997, his Privateer jersey (40) was retired at Lakefront Arena. In 2005, Johnson was named to the All-Time Men's Basketball Team for the Sun Belt Conference in celebration of the conference's 30th basketball season.

Professional career

A 6'11", 245-pound center from the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a Public university, public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. First opened in 1958 as Louisiana State University in New Orleans, it is the largest public university and one of t ...

, Johnson was selected 23rd overall by the

in the

1993 NBA draft The 1993–94 NBA season, 1993 NBA draft took place on June 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The draft had some talented players at the top, but injuries and personal problems hurt many of them. Chris Webber, Pen ...

, and played for the Sonics,

and

. On February 14, 1996, Johnson scored a career-high 28 points, alongside grabbing 12 rebounds, in a win against the Timberwolves. Johnson and the Sonics would make it to the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

that postseason, before losing to the Bulls. The following season, after signing with the Nuggets, Johnson scored 19 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked 5 shots on December 20 in a win against the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division (NBA), Midwest Division of the Western Conference ( ...

. That

year A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 Synodic day, solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) ...

, Johnson led the league in total defensive rebounds, with 682. During the 1997 offseason, Johnson was traded to the Bucks for Danny Fortson, Johnny Newman, and

Joe Wolf Joseph James Wolf (December 17, 1964 – September 26, 2024) was an American professional basketball player and coach. Wolf played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for seven different teams. He played college basketba ...

. On April 11, 1998, Johnson scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a loss against the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. Johnson played a key role on the 2000–01 Bucks, grabbing a playoff career-high 17 rebounds on May 15 against the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

, and playing in every game of their playoff run leading up to their Game 7 loss (in which he started and played 42 minutes) in the Eastern Conference Finals against the 76ers. Three years later, now in Minnesota and 36 years old, Johnson played an important role on another team's deep playoff run. This time, he averaged 20 minutes a game in the playoffs, but still started most games en route to a Western Conference Finals loss to the Lakers. Johnson returned to the Bucks for one season, and retired after the end of the 2006 NBA playoffs.

NBA career statistics

Source

Regular season

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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, 81 , , 9 , , 20.5 , , .461 , , .000 , , .455 , , 5.8 , , .3 , , .5 , , 1.0 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 69 , , 17 , , 17.0 , , .452 , , – , , .682 , , 4.3 , , .3 , , .5 , , .9 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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Playoffs

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1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

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1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

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1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

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1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

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2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

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2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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Post-playing career

Johnson was a community ambassador for the

. He also hosts clinics to teach basketball fundamentals to children in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

References

External links

NBA.com Profile – Ervin Johnson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ervin 1967 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Orleans Centers (basketball) Denver Nuggets players Medalists at the 1991 Summer Universiade Milwaukee Bucks players Minnesota Timberwolves players New Orleans Privateers men's basketball players Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Summer World University Games medalists in basketball