Avery Johnson - Former NBA Player/Coach

Episode 510

Avery Johnson is an NBA champion who played 16 years in the NBA from 1988-2004. In college, he was a two-time SWAC player of the Year at Southern but would go undrafted in 1988. He would make his NBA debut in 1988 with Seattle but truly made his mark as a player when he came to San Antonio in 1995 where he would average a career-high 13.4 points per game and help the Spurs to playoff berths in 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. 

 

In 1999, he helped the Spurs to an NBA championship and in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Johnson hit the game-winning shot in giving San Antonio a 78-77 win and the franchise's first world title.

 

After retiring following the 2003-04 season, Avery would become an assistant coach with Dallas and a year later, he was named the head coach of the Mavericks. In his first year as an NBA coach, he led his club to the Western Conference championship and a trip to the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. That yea he was named 2006 NBA Coach of the Year. One season later, he led the Mavericks to a club record 67 regular season victories. 

 

Avery would have two other coaching stops with the Nets in the NBA from 2011-2013 and in college at the University of Alabama from 2015-2019. His number 6 is retired by the Spurs and in February of 2009, he was inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame. 

 

On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Avery about his journey of faith in Christ, how he lived out that faith as an NBA player, his favorite Michael Jordan story, the teachable moments from ESPN's Chicago Bulls documentary "The Last Dance," and how he's been coping with life during the pandemic. 

 

Follow Avery on Twitter @CoachAvery6

 

For more stories, check out http://SportsSpectrum.com