Name Stew Johnson Role Basketball Player | Height 2.03 m | |
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Stewart "Stew" Johnson (born August 19, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'8" forward/center from Murray State University born in New York City, New York, Johnson was selected by the New York Knicks in the third round of the 1966 NBA draft. However, Johnson never played in the NBA, joining the rival American Basketball Association instead.
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College career
In his 3 years at Murray State, he played in 76 games and had a .417 FG%, a .731 FT%, pulled down 981 rebounds and averaged 16.78 points per game. He scored a total of 1,275 points in his career.
NABL
Johnson spent the 1966-67 season in the North American Basketball League with Benton Harbor/Twin City Sailors and the Holland Carvers.
ABA
Johnson played nine seasons (1967–1976) in the ABA with seven different franchises: the Kentucky Colonels (1967), New Jersey Americans / New York Nets (1967–69), Houston Mavericks (1968–69), Pittsburgh Pipers / Pittsburgh Condors (1969–1971), Carolina Cougars (1971–72), San Diego Conquistadors (1972–1974), Memphis Sounds (1974–75), Baltimore Claws (1975–76, who played only 3 preseason games), San Diego Sails (1975) and San Antonio Spurs (1975–76)
In his ABA career Johnson scored 10,538 career points. He was known for his sweet shooting stroke. He had the ability to drain long jumpers and had range out to the three point arc. He filled in admirably at center for the '71-'72 Cougar team after Jim McDaniels ignored his contract with the Cougars and jumped to the Seattle SuperSonics. He also made three ABA All-Star Game appearances (1973, 1974 and 1975), twice as a member of the San Diego Conquistadors and once as a member of the Memphis Sounds. He set the ABA single-game scoring record when he erupted for 62 points against The Floridians on March 6, 1971; his record lasted almost a year until Zelmo Beaty scored 63 points against the Pittsburgh Condors on February 21, 1972.
Johnson made the playoffs in three straight years from 1973 to 1975, scoring 238 points in 15 games.
His 10,538 points are 9th all time in ABA history, behind only Louie Dampier, Dan Issel, Ron Boone, Mel Daniels, Julius Erving, Freddie Lewis, Donnie Freeman, and Mack Calvin, with four of them being in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Johnson finished 2nd all time in field goal attempts (10,854), 5th in field goals made (4,586), 7th in games played (647), 1st in turnover percentage (8.68%) 12th in minutes played (19,201), but also 2nd in field goals missed (6,268).
AABA
In January of 1978, Johnson joined the Indiana Wizards of the All-American Basketball Alliance league. The league folded in February, less than a month after it started. In 8 games, Johnson scored 117 points for an average of 14,6 points per game.
Iceland
In 1978 Johnson joined Icelandic Division I club Ármann as player-coach. In december of that year, Johnson was assaulted in a nightclub where a glass was thrown at his face, severly injuring his right eye. He recovered enough to return to the floor before the season ended but the club was unable to achieve promotion to the Úrvalsdeild.
After spending the next two seasons with River Plate in Argentine, Johnson returned to Iceland in 1981 and joined KR as player-coach. He led the Úrvalsdeild in scoring in 1983 while finishing second in 1982. His Icelandic career came to an end in 1983 when foreign players where barred from playing in the Icelandic leagues.
Johnson also coached KR's women's team for two seasons and led them to both the national championship and Icelandic Basketball Cup in 1982 and 1983.