Avery Johnson

American basketball player and coach

Avery DeWitt Johnson (born March 25, 1965) is an American basketball television commentator and former player and coach who most recently served as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team. He is currently an NBA and college basketball analyst for CBS Sports. Johnson spent 16 years in the National Basketball Association as a player, and subsequently served as the head coach of two NBA teams: the Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets. He led the Mavericks to their first NBA Finals appearance and to three consecutive 50+ win seasons. During his playing days, Johnson was known as the "Little General" for his small stature (by NBA standards), his leadership skills as a point guard, and his close friendship with former San Antonio Spurs teammate David Robinson.

As a high school senior in 1983, Johnson led New Orleans' St. Augustine High School to a 35–0 record and the Class 4A Louisiana State Championship. Johnson matriculated to New Mexico Junior College before moving on to Cameron University, and finally Southern University, at which in his senior season in 1988 he led NCAA Division I with 13.3 assists per game, an all time record as of 2007. In that season, he also averaged 11.4 points per game, making him the first men's Division I player ever to average double figures in points and assists in the same season—a feat that was not duplicated until Jason Brickman of LIU Brooklyn did so in 2013–14. Upon graduation in 1988, Johnson was not selected in the NBA draft.

Johnson spent the summer of 1988 with the Palm Beach Stingrays of the United States Basketball League. Johnson also played in six playoff games for the Stingrays.

After the Stingrays, Johnson signed with the Seattle SuperSonics for the 1988 89 season. In 43 games, Johnson averaged 1.6 points and 1.7 assists as a reserve. In the 1989–90 season, Johnson played 53 games with 10 starts for the Seattle SuperSonics. He made 18 assists on January 5, 1990, against the Miami Heat. The Spurs retired Johnson's number 6 on December 22, 2007. He was also inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame on February 20, 2009.

On July 19, 2001, Johnson signed as a free agent with the Denver Nuggets. Johnson played 51 games (13 starts) with the Nuggets and averaged 9.4 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. The Nuggets traded Johnson, Nick Van Exel, Raef LaFrentz, and Tariq Abdul Wahad to the Dallas Mavericks on February 21, 2002, for Donnell Harvey, Tim Hardaway, Juwan Howard, and draft considerations. Johnson played 17 games all as a reserve with the Mavericks for the rest of the season.

On October 17, 2008, Johnson joined ESPN as a studio analyst. He remained in that role for two seasons, until he received an offer to become head coach of the New Jersey Nets.

On June 10, 2010, Johnson was hired as head coach of the New Jersey Nets, which had just finished a dismal 2009–10 campaign with a 12–70 record. In his first year as coach of the Nets, the team improved slightly, doubling its win total from the previous season and finishing 24–58. However, the next year saw no such improvement, as his team went 22–44 in the lockout shortened season. Johnson remained with the Nets when the team moved to Brooklyn in 2012. He was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for October and November 2012 following an 11–4 start to the season. Despite that early success, the team went on to lose ten of its next 13 games, and subsequently Johnson was fired from his head coaching position on December 27, 2012.

In 2013, Johnson rejoined ESPN to appear as an analyst on SportsCenter, NBA Coast to Coast, and NBA Tonight.

On April 5, 2015, ESPN reported that Johnson had verbally agreed to become the new head basketball coach at the University of Alabama, replacing Anthony Grant. The following day, the university officially announced Johnson's hiring as the school's 21st men's basketball coach. After losing in the first round of the 2019 National Invitation Tournament, Alabama and Johnson agreed to mutually part ways.

Johnson and his wife Cassandra have two children, Avery Jr. and Christianne. Avery Jr. played for the Alabama basketball team, coached by his father. Johnson is a Christian. He had a very memorable cameo in the movie Eddie even being referred to by Whoopi Goldberg as "looking like a little roach".