Temeka Rochelle Johnson (born September 6, 1982) 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. Her primary position was a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

Early life

Johnson attended Bonnabel High School in

Kenner, Louisiana Kenner is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the most populous city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, Jefferson Parish, and is the largest incorporated suburban city of New Orleans. The population was 66,448 at the 2020 United States cen ...

College career

Johnson played for the LSU Lady Tigers from 2001 to 2005, graduating from the school in 2005. She broke LSU's career assist record. She was also teammates with

Seimone Augustus Seimone Delicia Augustus (born April 30, 1984) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. She is currently an assistant coach for the LSU Tigers women's basketball, Louisiana State University women's basketball team. She was ...

. * AP All-American honorable mention (2004, 2003, 2002) * All-SEC First Team (2005, 2004) * All-SEC Third Team (2003) * SEC Tournament MVP (2003) * SEC All-Tournament Team (2003, 2002)

WNBA career

Johnson was selected 6th overall in the 2005 WNBA draft. Upon joining the

Mystics A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult. Mystic may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Books and comics * Ms. Mystic, comic book superheroine * ''Mystic'' (c ...

she was doubted for being too short to play professional basketball. That same year she would walk away with the 2005 WNBA Rookie of the Year award. In addition, she ranked 2nd in the league in assists. At the beginning of the 2006 season, she was traded to the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

, and during the 2009 off-season, to the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

who went on to win the WNBA Championship later that year. On January 12, 2012, Johnson was traded to the Tulsa Shock for Andrea Riley. On February 7, 2013, Johnson signed with the Seattle Storm to fill a gap at the starting point guard position left by Sue Bird who was out for the whole season while recovering from knee surgery. In her second season with the Storm, Johnson became the shortest player in WNBA history to record a triple-double with a performance of 13 points, 11 assists and a career-high 10 rebounds while standing only 5'3". On March 17, 2015, it was announced that Johnson was released by the Storm. Johnson signed once again with the

on March 23, 2015. While playing with the Sparks in the 2015 season, Johnson scored her 2500th career point and recorded her 300th career steal.

International career

Johnson was a member of the gold medal 2003 USA World Championship Young Women Team in

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Overseas career

In the 2005–06 WNBA off-season, Johnson played in both

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

for Bnei Yehuda and Lotos VBW Clima Gdynia. She played for Raanana Hasharon in Israel during the 2008–09 WNBA off-season. In the 2009–10 WNBA off-season, Johnson played in

for Maccabi Bnot Ashdod. From 2011 to 2013, Johnson played two off-seasons in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

for Dynamo Kursk. In the 2013–14 WNBA off-season, Johnson played for another Russian team,

Nadezhda Orenburg PBK Nadezhda Orenburg () is a Russian professional women's basketball club from Orenburg founded in 1994. Nadezhda has been 3rd in the Russian Women's Basketball Premier League, Russian Premier League in 2010 and 2011, and reached the Russian Wo ...

. In October 2015, Johnson signed with AGÜ Spor for the 2015–16 WNBA off-season. In November 2016, Johnson signed once again with Maccabi Bnot Ashdod for the 2016–17 WNBA off-season.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, align="left" , Washington , 34, , 34, , 28.6, , 45.8, , 30.2, , 78.8, , 3.1, , 5.2, , 1.3, , 0.0, , 2.6, , 9.3 , - , align="left" ,

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 ...

, align="left" ,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 32, , 30, , 25.3, , 40.2, , 11.5, , 80.0, , 3.0, , 5.0, , 1.5, , 0.0, , 2.2, , 8.0 , - , align="left" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, align="left" ,

, 11, , 11, , 18.7, , 33.0, , 33.3, , 68.8, , 2.6, , 2.7, , 0.7, , 0.1, , 2.8, , 6.4 , - , align="left" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, align="left" ,

, 23, , 8, , 17.1, , 34.7, , 0.0, , 72., , 1.9, , 3.1, , 1.0, , 0.1, , 1.6, , 4.2 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

^† , align="left" , Phoenix , 34, , 34, , 26.5, , 44.5, , 41.4, , 84.0, , 3.5, , 4.6, , 0.9, , 0.1, , 2.2, , 9.6 , - , align="left" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, align="left" , Phoenix , 34, , 34, , 27.3, , 41.1, , 30.9, , 79.6, , 3.2, , 4.7, , 0.9, , 0.2, , 2.0, , 9.2 , - , align="left" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, align="left" , Phoenix , 30, , 30, , 23.9, , 43.5, , 38.5, , 86.4, , 2.0, , 4.4, , 0.8, , 0.2, , 1.9, , 6.4 , - , align="left" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, align="left" ,

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, 29, , 28, , 28.7, , 41.6, , 53.1, , 84.0, , 3.2, , 4.7, , 1.2, , 0.0, , 2.7, , 12.2 , - , align="left" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, align="left" ,

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 ...

, 32, , 32, , 27.4, , 42.9, , 36.8, , 87.5, , 2.6, , 4.0, , 0.9, , 0.1, , 2.7, , 10.2 , - , align="left" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, align="left" ,

, 34, , 3, , 17.0, , 36.1, , 34.0, , 92.1, , 2.1, , 3.2, , 0.7, , 0.1, , 1.6, , 5.8 , - , align="left" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, align="left" ,

, 34, , 11, , 21.2, , 32.3, , 24.6, , 84.1, , 2.4, , 3.6, , 0.7, , 0.0, , 1.5, , 5.1 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 11 years, 5 teams , 327, , 255, , 24.3, , 40.7, , 34.5, , 82.5, , 2.7, , 4.2, , 1.0, , 0.1, , 2.1, , 8.0

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 5, , 5, , 28.0, , 41.7, , 20.0, , 83.3, , 1.8, , 4.8, , 1.6, , 0.0, , 2.0, , 9.2 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 6, , 0, , 19.2, , 45.5, , 28.6, , 85.7, , 2.3, , 3.5, , 1.0, , 0.2, , 2.2, , 8.0 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

^† , align="left" , Phoenix , 11, , 11, , 24.3, , 39.5, , 48.1, , 83.3, , 1.9, , 3.1, , 0.7, , 0.2, , 1.5, , 7.5 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Phoenix , 4, , 4, , 30.3, , 35.6, , 33.3, , 100.0, , 3.8, , 8.3, , 1.0, , 0.0, , 2.0, , 9.5 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Phoenix , 5, , 5, , 27.0, , 25.0, , 11.1, , 62.5, , 2.4, , 5.0, , 0.8, , 0.0, , 2.0, , 5.8 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 2, , 2, , 23.5, , 54.5, , 100.0, , 60.0, , 0.5, , 3.0, , 1.5, , 0.0, , 2.5, , 8.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3, , 0, , 12.3, , 25.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 2.0, , 1.7, , 0.7, , 0.0, , 1.0, , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 7 years, 3 teams , 36, , 27, , 23.9, , 38.0, , 31.5, , 73.8, , 2.2, , 4.1, , 1.0, , 0.1, , 1.8, , 7.3

College

References

External links

WNBA player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Temeka 1982 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Basketball players from New Orleans Los Angeles Sparks players LSU Tigers women's basketball players Phoenix Mercury players Point guards Seattle Storm players Tulsa Shock players Washington Mystics draft picks Washington Mystics players