Background and career
Joe Marcus Johnson (born June 29, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Iso Joe" for his skills on isolation plays, he spent 18 seasons in the NBA with seven different franchises and is one of 52 players in the association's history to score over 20,000 career points. After two years of college basketball with the Arkansas Razorbacks, Johnson declared for the 2001 NBA draft and was drafted 10th overall by the Boston Celtics. He then spent the remainder of his career at the Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, making seven NBA All-Star appearances and becoming a United States international. Upon his retirement, Johnson was the last active player in the NBA to have shared the court with Michael Jordan.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Johnson was a member of the William E. Thrasher Boys & Girls Club as a child and attended Little Rock Central High School, a school that had produced other professional athletes including Baseball Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson and Bill Dickey, as well as football player Fred Williams and collegiate football coach Houston Nutt. In his senior year, he led the Tigers to a state title, averaging 18.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists, and was named Arkansas Mr. Basketball.
In his freshman season at Arkansas in 1999–2000, Johnson was named to the SEC All-Freshman team and SEC All-Tournament team after averaging 16.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Johnson led Arkansas to the 2000 SEC men's basketball tournament championship. In his sophomore season in 2000–01, Johnson was named to the All-SEC second team and SEC All-Tournament team, while also receiving honorable mention All-American honors. In 30 games, he averaged 14.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
Following his sophomore season at Arkansas, Johnson declared for the 2001 NBA draft where he went on to be selected with the 10th overall pick by the Boston Celtics. Through the first half of the 2001–02 season, Johnson played 48 games for the Celtics and made 33 starts, as he averaged 6.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He was later traded to the Phoenix Suns on February 20, 2002, along with Randy Brown, Milt Palacio and a first-round pick in exchange for Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk.
Johnson became a force with Phoenix as he averaged 14.0 points per game in his three and a half seasons with the Suns, becoming a clutch three-point shooter as he averaged 39.3% from the three-point arc during his tenure with the Suns. During the 2004–05 campaign, Johnson and the Suns posted a 62–20 record. Johnson's three point accuracy improved dramatically between 2004 and 2005, shooting 30.5% on threes in 2004 and 47.8% in 2005, and shooting .556 in the 2005 playoffs. In the 2005 NBA playoffs, Johnson required surgery to repair a left orbital bone fracture sustained following a dunk attempt against the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. Johnson missed the remainder of the series against the Mavericks as well as the first two games of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. When he returned, Johnson wore a face mask for protection. The Suns fell to the eventual NBA champion Spurs, 4 games to 1.
In the summer of 2005, Johnson became a highly touted restricted free agent and expressed a desire to leave the Suns to assume a larger role on the Atlanta Hawks. Johnson particularly grew upset with Phoenix's initial offers to re-sign him feeling they were well below his market value. This rift eventually led to Johnson requesting the Suns not match Atlanta's $70 million offer. On August 19, 2005, a deal was finalized and Johnson was involved in a sign-and-trade deal with the Hawks for future teammate Boris Diaw and two future first-round draft picks. In his first season as a Hawk, Johnson led Atlanta in several categories: points (20.2 per game), assists (6.5), steals (1.26), three-point field goals made (128) and minutes (40.7). He was one of only five players in the league to average at least 20 points and six assists in the 2005–06 season, along with Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Gilbert Arenas. Johnson was also the only Hawk to play in all 82 games in 2005–06. Johnson scored a career-high 42 points on March 7, 2006, against the Golden State Warriors and recorded a career-high 17 assists on March 13, 2006, against the Milwaukee Bucks. He recorded his first career triple-double on February 1, 2006, with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against the Charlotte Bobcats. Johnson continued his development in the 2006–07 season, when he averaged 25.0 points, 4.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. His scoring average ranked ninth in the league. Johnson also shot a career-best 47.1% from the field and was subsequently named to the 2007 Eastern Conference All-Star team, replacing the injured Jason Kidd. In 2008, Johnson made the 2008 All-Star Game as a reserve. He also was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month twice during the season. Johnson averaged 21.7 points per game on the season, leading the Hawks to their first playoff appearance in nine years. In Game 4 of the Hawks' first-round matchup against the Boston Celtics, Johnson scored 35 points, including 20 in the 4th quarter, leading the Hawks to a 97–92 victory.
