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“I was an underdog, and San Antonio was an underdog city,” Johnson said. “I wanted that first championship as much for the city as I did myself.”
GBAJ.
Father's guidance triggered Johnson's improbable rise to Spurs s om
By Tom Orsborn - Express-News
As a child growing up in one of New Orleans' oldest housing projects, Avery Johnson never strayed too far from his father's guiding hand.
“He was Avery's best friend,” Johnson's younger sister, Andrea, said of Jim Johnson, a hard-nosed carpenter who never advanced past the sixth grade. “Avery cherished everything my dad had to say.”
Given their bond, a smack and a sharp rebuke were the last things Avery expected when he told his father he wanted to grow up to be just like him.
Avery was 10 at the time. Thirty-three years later, he still has fond memories of his dad's now-I-want-you-to-listen-to-me-son cuff and the admonition that followed.
“He told me he wanted something better for me,” Johnson said. “He was a big influence.”
Jim Johnson, now deceased, would be proud of his son, the second youngest in a blended family that included 10 children.
Driven by the determination planted in him by his parents — his mother, Inez, also deceased, was a homemaker who shared her husband's tough-love approach — the 5-foot-11, slightly built Johnson overcame an always-on-the-bubble start in the NBA to become the Spurs' all-time assists leader and one of the franchise's most compe ive, driven players.
Suffice it to say, nobody in team history has had a bigger heart than the “Little General.”
“He had no talent whatsoever,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It was all between his ears and in his chest. That's where his ability was.”
On Feb. 20, Johnson will be honored for his rags-to-riches tale with induction into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame.
“This is special because it's a continuation of a celebration of a career that didn't include All-Star games or All-NBA selection,” Johnson said. “And I see it as a celebration of what we did off the court as well.”
When schools or charities called the Spurs for help, Johnson was the team's go-to guy.
“He was such a wonderful player and a wonderful leader for the Spurs, but he did just as much off the court for the city as he did on the court,” Popovich said.
Johnson's tireless community work is the reason his popularity on the city's historically African-American East Side goes far beyond the fact he sank the shot that clinched the first of the Spurs' four NBA les.
In 2003, two years after he played his last season with the Spurs, Johnson gave $200,000 to the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church to help build its Family Life and Community Center Campus. But the Rev. E. Thurman Walker, Antioch's pastor, said he'll never forget Johnson spending a day talking to children at the church's spaghetti dinner.
“That's the kind of faith he has,” Walker said. “It's a faith with legs and wings.”
Sam Ward, a 62-year-old barber on the East Side, is one of Johnson's closest friends. Ward said Johnson's allegiance to the economically challenged neighborhood stems from his childhood in New Orleans' Lafitte Projects.
“He came out of the same kind of environment, the projects, and wants to give back,” Ward said. “Now, mind you, he has also done that in other cities, but he had a real rapport with this community.
“When he gave all that money to Antioch, he was saying, ‘Thank you, San Antonio.' He could have said, ‘I don't owe you nothin.' Other ballplayers have come through here and haven't given back. But that's not Avery. On the East Side, he's right up there with David Robinson.”
Johnson credits his parents for his philanthropic side.
“They weren't educated people,” Johnson said, “but they had master's degrees in love.”
Jim Johnson also made sure his son got an education that included an emphasis on values. Instead of attending public school, Avery went to St. Augustine High School, a private Catholic school.
“Oh, my God, what a major strain that was on my dad financially,” Johnson said. “We went down to the wire to make that tuition payment many times. But my father believed in the discipline and values taught at St. Augustine and that going there would catapult me to another life.”
Said Andrea: “It was a big sacrifice, but my parents felt St. Augustine was the best fit for Avery.”
Johnson felt the same way about San Antonio.
The feisty point guard bounced from five different franchises — he was traded three times and cut twice — before finding a home with the Spurs in the mid 1990s. His seven-year stint with the team was highlighted by the 18-foot baseline jumper he sank against the New York Knicks in the fifth-and-deciding game of the 1999 NBA Finals.
“I was an underdog, and San Antonio was an underdog city,” Johnson said. “I wanted that first championship as much for the city as I did myself.”
During the 1999 playoffs, Johnson averaged 12.6 points and 7.4 assists in 38.4 minutes. Not bad for a player whose awkward left-handed knuckleball jumper led Portland's Damon Stoudamire to predict two years earlier that the Spurs would never win a le with Johnson in their starting lineup.
“He had a great mind for the game and great heart,” Popovich said of Johnson. “The limited abilities he had shined because of it.”
Unfortunately for Johnson, his father didn't witness his son's improbable rise to NBA glory. Jim Johnson died in 1993 of heart disease at age 62.
“I still miss my dad,” Johnson said. “But I have a spiritual connection to him. He's a major part of my whole existence.”
Staff writer Jeff McDonald contributed to this story.
SAN ANTONIO SPORTS HALL OF FAME
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Online: sanantoniosports.org
Avery Johnson
Born: March 25, 1965, New Orleans
Residence: The Woodlands
Occupation: ESPN analyst, motivational speaker
Family: Wife, Cassandra; daughter Christianne, 16; son Avery Jr., 13.
Education: Graduated from New Orleans St. Augustine High School in 1983; graduated from Southern University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1988.
Playing career: Led NCAA in assists as junior and senior at Southern University ... Spurs starting point guard for seven straight seasons (1994-2001) ... In 644 regular-season games for the Spurs, averaged 10.1 points, 6.9 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.11 steals in 31.1 minutes ... Spurs’ all-time leader in assists (4,474) and ranks among franchise leaders in games, points and steals ... During 1999 playoffs, averaged 12.6 points and 7.4 assists in 38.4 minutes ... Increased scoring average in each of first seven NBA seasons ... Won 1998 NBA Sportsmanship Award ... In 16 NBA seasons, appeared in 1,054 regular-season games, averaging 8.4 points, 5.5 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 25.3 minutes ... Johnson and Calvin Murphy are only players under 6-foot to appear in more than 1,000 NBA games. ... Spurs retired his No. 6 in December 2007.
Coaching career: In first season as Mavericks coach (2004-2005), won 66 of his first 82 games to become fastest coach to reach 50-win mark (in 62 games) ... Led Dallas to 2006 NBA Finals.
“I was an underdog, and San Antonio was an underdog city,” Johnson said. “I wanted that first championship as much for the city as I did myself.”
GBAJ.
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