#2 Anthony Johnson
Player File
Johnson, 6' 3", is a point guard
from Charleston (SC) in his 6th season as a pro.
Birthday:
October 2, 1974
Drafted:
40th overall in the 1997 Draft by the Sacramento Kings.
NBA Career:
Sacramento '97-'98; signed as a free agent by Atlanta on January 21, 1999;
Atlanta '99-'00; traded to Orlando on February 24, 2000 for a conditional
2nd round draft choice; Orlando '00; Atlanta '00-'01; traded by Atlanta
with Jim Jackson and Larry Robinson to Cleveland for Brevin Knight on
January 2, 2001; signed as free agent to back-to-back 10 day contracts
by New Jersey starting on January 7, 2002; signed to remainder of '01-'02
season by New Jersey on January 28, 2002.
2001 - 2002 Regular Season Stats:
Games Played:
34
Minutes PG:
10.8
Points PG:
2.8
PCT: .411
Free Throw PCT:
.640
Rebounds PG:
0.9
Assists PG:
1.4
Blocks PG:
0.03
Steals PG:
0.91 (career best)
Turnovers PG:
0.59
Nicknames:
"Beetlejuice" seems to have stuck with our readers.
Known For: Those long damned arms, bouncing through the league, short stints as Jason Kidd's backup last season, decent jumper, vitamin "D" deficiency.
The Real Deal: He's only here because Chris Childs is fat. Johnson understands the complicated motion offense that Eddie Jordan (his former head coach in Sacramento) installed (which is more than we can say for Dikembe, eh?), so he gets the nod to return as back up to Jason Kidd. All the Nets have to do is wind him up, trust him for about 5 minutes or so, and let him work with the second teamers, all in the name of getting Jason Kidd some goddamned rest. He's expendable once Childs proves he can get into shape and play, which at this rate (with all the good eating holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, coming up) won't be until 2003 at the earliest.
Joe's Take: I'd almost rather have Lucious Harris playing the point, but he's too valuable as the only shooter worth a damn off the bench right now. Johnson's not bad offensively, but he's terrible defensively, and on this team that's a really, really bad thing. Has a tendency to try to "get his" while he's in the game, taking a shot whenever he touches the ball, seemingly. I don't know – something about him I don't like, but if he can keep his nose clean and the second teamers humming, then he's welcome to stay in my book.
Champagne's Take: I didn't think he was too bad last year, defensively – he seemed to pry out a lot of balls with those octopus arms. All I've watched him do this season is get burned by young hot-shot PGs looking to demonstrate their cross-over. I agree with Joe about his "get his" mentality; it's not as bad as some other guys who rarely see daylight, but bad enough.
Anthony Johnson stats and bio: click here.
2002 - 2003 Nets Roster
Brandon Armstrong - G
Chris Childs - G
Jason Collins - C
Lucious Harris - G
Richard Jefferson - F
Anthony Johnson - G
Jason Kidd - PG
Kerry Kittles - G
Kenyon Martin - F
Dikembe Mutombo - C
Rodney Rogers - F
Brian Scalabrine - F
Tamar Slay - G
Aaron Williams - PF/C
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