Marques Kevin Johnson (born February 8, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player and character actor who is a basketball analyst for the Milwaukee Bucks on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin. He played as a small forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1977 to 1989, where he was a five-time All-Star. He played the majority of his career with the Bucks.
Johnson was a Los Angeles City Section player of the year in high school before playing college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, winning a national championship in 1975. In his senior year, he won multiple national player of the year awards. Johnson was the third overall pick in the 1977 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. He played seven seasons with Milwaukee before finishing his NBA career with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors.
Johnson was born on February 8, 1956, in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The family moved to California when he was five to avoid racism and segregation, which Johnson himself had experienced. He was raised in South Los Angeles. Inspired by Jackie Robinson, Johnson's parents believed that being able to attend the University of California, Los Angeles, would allow their children to achieve. They were both schoolteachers. His mother earned a Master's degree in library science from the University of Southern California. His father was also an assistant basketball coach at Crenshaw High School.
Johnson attended elementary school with future National Football League Hall of Fame receiver James Lofton. At 11 years old, the family moved to Windsor Hills, where some of the kids he played sports with were the children of celebrities. He played high school basketball at Crenshaw High School in Crenshaw, Los Angeles, under head coach Willie West (who won double digit city and state championships), winning the Los Angeles City Section 4-A Division Player of the Year in 1973. In 2015, he was selected to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) 100th Anniversary Winter All-Century Team.
In 1973, Johnson was offered a scholarship to play basketball at UCLA. He was recruited directly by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Coach John Wooden, who called Johnson on the telephone 10 minutes after the 1973 NCAA championship game had ended in a dominant win for UCLA, and asked if Johnson wanted to be part of the team next year; to which Johnson said yes.
Johnson attended UCLA, playing under Wooden for two seasons (1973-1975) and College Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Gene Bartow for two seasons (1975-1977). He was selected Division I second-team All American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches in his junior year (1975–76), and became a consensus first-team All-American player his senior year (1976–77).
In his freshman year though, he was joining a team that had been 60–0 the previous two years, and had future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame players Bill Walton and Jamaal "Silk" Wilkes. During his first week of practice, Wilkes blocked all of his shots, which brought him to tears when he told his parents about his difficulties. His father let him know Wilkes was the best forward in the country, and Johnson would be fine.
In his sophomore season in 1974–75, playing forward, Johnson helped to lead the Bruins to Coach John Wooden's 10th and final NCAA Division I men's basketball championship. He was third on the team in both scoring and rebounding. Wooden retired from coaching after the season, and Gene Bartow became the head coach. Johnson continued to excel, earning the first of his two first-team All-Pac-8 selections as a junior in 1976. As a junior, he was second on the team in scoring average (17.3 points per game) and first in rebounding (9.4 per game). He made the NCAA All-Tournament Team in 1976, although UCLA lost in the final four to the eventual champion Indiana Hoosiers.
Johnson averaged 21.1 points and 11.1 rebounds per game in his senior season (1976-1977), leading the team in both categories. He won the inaugural John R. Wooden Award in addition to the Naismith College Player of the Year and USBWA College Player of the Year as the nation's top collegiate basketball player.
Johnson also majored in Theater Arts at UCLA, having enjoyed starring in musical theater in high school, and acting at UCLA (later working as an actor professionally). He also took a newly offered sportscasting class while a student at UCLA, and hosted a non-sports campus television show.
In 1988, he was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame. The Bruins retired his No. 54 jersey in 1996. In 2008, he was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor. In 2013, he was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Johnson was selected third overall in the 1977 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, coached by Don Nelson. Johnson averaged 19.5 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game in his first professional season. He was named to the 1978 NBA All-Rookie Team, and placed second in NBA Rookie of the Year voting behind Walter Davis.
In his second season in 1978–79, Johnson was the NBA's third leading scorer (25.6 PPG), behind George Gervin (29.6) and Lloyd Free (28.8). He was named a starter, and played in the 1979 NBA All-Star Game and was named to the All-NBA First Team. That season, in what was perhaps one of the best games of his career, on December 12, 1978, Johnson scored 40 points (on a remarkable 74% shooting percentage) and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 120–114 win against the Phoenix Suns. However, despite having the 6th highest offensive efficiency rating and 13th highest defensive rating of any team, the Bucks would miss the playoffs with a 38–44 record. It would be the last time the Bucks missed the playoffs during Johnson's tenure.
The following season, on February 27, 1980, Johnson recorded a triple double with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 119–110 victory against the Phoenix Suns. During that year's playoffs, Johnson averaged 19.9 points and 6.9 rebounds in 43.3 minutes a game, in a tightly contested 7-game series loss to the Seattle SuperSonics (it was the last season Milwaukee was in the Western Conference, moving to the Eastern Conference Central Division in 1980-81).
On November 2, 1980, Johnson scored 40 points, along with 7 rebounds and 7 assists, to lead the Bucks to a 135–121 victory against the Indiana Pacers. The feat was especially impressive as key teammates Junior Bridgeman and Sidney Moncrief were limited with injuries, and only played 19 and 20 minutes respectively.
On May 2, 1983, in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Johnson scored 33 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the Bucks to a 4–0 sweep of Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. Despite this, the Bucks would fall to the eventual champion Philadelphia 76ers, led by NBA MVP Moses Malone, during the next round in 5 games, in what were contested matchups. It was the only series Philadelphia did not win in 4 games that postseason.
Johnson claims to have coined the term point forward, a position he played out of necessity in 1984. During the 1984 playoffs, Milwaukee became short on point guards due to injuries. Nelson instructed Johnson to set up the offense from his forward position. Johnson responded, "OK, so instead of a point guard, I'm a point forward".
Johnson helped lead Milwaukee to several division titles (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984). Johnson and the Bucks reached as far as the Eastern Conference Finals twice, in 1983 and again in 1984. The team had trouble with the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs once they moved to the Eastern Conference. While with the Bucks, he was first-team All NBA in 1978-79, and second-team All NBA in 1979-80 and 1980–81; and was an All-Star four times, starting in 1979 and 1980. During his seven year tenure with the Bucks, Johnson had 10,980 points, 3,923 rebounds, 1,934 assists, 697 steals, and 439 blocks. As of March 2019, these were all in the top 10 for the franchise’s career leaders. He held out twice during his Bucks' career for a better contract than what the team offered.