Larry Johnson
Larry Johnson was born in Tyler, Texas, United States on March 14th, 1969 and is the Basketball Player. At the age of 55, Larry Johnson biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 55 years old, Larry Johnson has this physical status:
Lawrence Demetric Johnson (born March 14, 1969) is an American basketball player who competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks.
He fought at the power forward position when he was officially listed at 6'7" (2.01 m) tall.
Personal life
Johnson converted to Islam. During the NBA season, he observed Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.
Johnson has five children with four women. In 2015, he filed for bankruptcy in a California court, claiming he owes more than $120,000 in unpaid child care.
High school career
Johnson was a member of the 1987 McDonald's High School All-American Team in his senior year of high school.
College career
Johnson made a verbal promise to play for Dave Bliss at Southern Methodist University, but instead enrolled at Odessa College in Texas after a debate with the SMU administration over the validity of one of his SAT ratings. He spent his time at Odessa in 1987–88, 1988–89, scoring 22.3 points per game as a freshman and 29 points per game his sophomore year, making him the first and only player to win the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1 Player of the Year award for both years. Even some basketball analysts who believed Johnson might have been a first-round pick in the 1989 NBA draft (and even a potential NBA lottery pick), even if he had requested for early entry.
Johnson eventually enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to play under head coach Jerry Tarkanian. In the 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament championship game, Johnson, along with future NBA stars Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony, Johnson met the Duke Blue Devils. UNLV won the game by a score of 103–73, with Johnson providing 22 points and 11 rebounds. Multiple NCAA records were set in the tournament, including simultaneous NCAA records for the largest margin of victory and the highest score in a NCAA tournament championship game.
An agreement was reached between the university and the NCAA to allow for the defense of their title for the 1990–91 season, which would be followed by a suspension from post-season play the following season. Johnson and the Runnin' Rebels continued their perfect regular season record of 27–0, with an average scoring margin of 26.7 points per game; this total included a 112-105 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks, ranked second in the country at the time.
UNLV won the West Regional Tournament in 1991, but was stunned by eventual champion Duke in the Final Four. Johnson was named a First Team All-American twice, and he has received the Big West Conference Player of the Year and tournament Most Valuable Player awards in 1990 and 1991. In 1991, he received the coveted John R. Wooden Award and was named Naismith College Player of the Year. Despite playing just two seasons, Johnson is ranked 12th in career scoring and 7th in rebounding at UNLV. He also holds the single-season and career field goal percentages. Johnson, Jr., and Anthony were inducted into the UNLV Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002, as well as the 1990–91 UNLV men's basketball team. They are the only UNLV team to make back-to-back Final Four appearances to date.
Professional career
Johnson was voted first overall in the 1991 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets and received the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in his first season. He appeared in the 1992 Slam Dunk Contest in Orlando, finishing second to Cedric Ceballos of the Phoenix Suns in second place.
Johnson was selected to debut in 1993's All-Star Game, making him the first Hornet to win the award; he had an excellent statistical season with averages of 22.1 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game in 82 games, earning him All-NBA Second Team honors; Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, Muggsy Bogues, and Dell Curry all played for the Hornets from the early to mid-1990s. During this period, Johnson, who went by his initials "LJ" and the term "Grandmama" (because of a well-known series of advertisements for Converse, who signed Johnson to an endorsement deal following his NBA debut), was included on the front page of the first issue of SLAM.
Johnson also signed a 10-year, $84 million contract with the Hornets in October 1993, the first lucrative deal in NBA history. Nevertheless, he played in 31 games after spraining his back against the Detroit Pistons on December 27, 1993. He competed with the US national team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship (nicknamed Dream Team II), winning the gold medal during the summer.
Johnson had a high success in the league as a power forward, with over 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. Johnson was forced to play an all-around game with an improved outside shot due to his back injury. He made 81 three-pointers, nearly 60 more than in his first three years combined, and was voted to the 1995 NBA All-Star Game.
Johnson and Mourning's friction caused the company to make a change, and the Hornets' subsequent moves put both players on different teams. Mourning was traded to the Miami Heat for Glen Rice and Matt Geiger prior to the 1995-1996 season. Following Johnson's release, the New York Knicks dealt him and Brad Lohaus for Anthony Mason and Brad Lohaus.
In his first season as a Knick, Johnson earned 12.8 points, a career low, and although he would never return to his old All-Star form, he was a key player on the Knicks' 1999 Eastern Conference championship team.
He was involved in a pivotal play in which Antonio Davis of the Indiana Pacers fouled him during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Johnson dribbled outside the three-point line with 11.9 seconds remaining and then began to dribble. Before leaping up, he turned into defender Davis. The referee called the foul about a half-second before Johnson released the ball, but it was counted as a continuation shooting foul. Following the basket, Johnson made the shot and converted the free throw for a four-point play, which was the winning margin in a 92-91 victory for the Knicks.
Johnson characterized the Knicks as a band of "rebellious slaves" during the 1999 NBA Finals. Bill Walton later called Johnson and his appearance a "disgrace." When Johnson was asked about the availability of San Antonio Spurs point guard Avery Johnson in Game 4, Johnson shifted the conversation to slavery: "We're from the same plantation." Bill Walton is the subject of this interview. We learned of Massa Johnson's plantation. "Here's the NBA, full of blacks, fantastic opportunities, they made beautiful strides," he continued. But what does it mean if I go back to my neighborhood and see the same thing? I'm the only one who came out of my neighborhood. Everybody died, on heroin and selling opioids. By my achievements, I'm supposed to be respected and content, or whatever. Yes, I am. But I can't deny the fact that these things have happened to us over years and years, and that we are still at the bottom of the totem pole."
Johnson resigned from basketball after many years of back pain that had dogged him for many years, but his point production was down for three years in a row.
Post-playing career
In July 2007, Johnson expressed an interest in playing a "leadership" role with the Knicks. Johnson received a bachelor of arts degree in social science research from UNLV on December 21, 2007. On April 8, 2012, the Knicks announced him as a basketball and business operations representative. In 2008, Johnson was inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 and in 2014.