(Budd Bailey and Greg D. Tranter have written a book called "Buffalo Braves From A to Z," published by St. Johann Press. Early in the writing process, they wrote good-sized biographies of all 71 men who played a regular-season game for the Braves during their time in Buffalo from 1970 to 1978. Publishers weren't so enthusiastic about all of that material, so most (59) of the biographies were shortened to about 500 words. However, the authors hated to waste all of that material ... so they are presenting it here. It will appear three times a week. A bibliography is available upon request.)
If there’s an underlying message to the basketball career of George Johnson, it is this: Second chances in basketball often go to the tall. Johnson hung around the NBA from 1972 to 1986, despite never averaging 30 minutes, 10 points or 10 rebounds per game in a season. George played for six different teams – including one twice. But he was 6-foot-11, and he could block shots. That kept him working until the age of 37.
George Thomas Johnson was born in Tylertown, Mississippi, on December 18, 1948. Tylertown is located in the southern part of the state, near the Louisiana border. It’s almost due north of New Orleans. The town never has had more than 1,500 residents. Johnson attended Gulledge High School, and that has a story attached. All of Tylertown’s African-American students were consolidated into Gulledge in 1959. Gulledge was transformed in 1969 by integration, and the building became the school for all of the students in the area. It is still in use today.
Johnson always liked to play basketball. “Growing up as a 10 year old I played against guys three, four years older,” he said. “We would play 2-on-2 basketball. I wasn’t as talented so I had to compensate and realized what I did was similar to Bill Russell. Timing was a talent. You did what you had to stop your opponent.”
George stuck to those principals, and played well for Gulledge leading up to graduation in 1966. His father, a high school principal, knew that someone with Johnson’s resume would attract attention from colleges. He thought that while Grambling, Alcorn State, and Southern University had expressed interest, Dillard was the best college for George. “I wanted to play in the NBA, but my dad said that I would need an education regardless,” Johnson recalled.
George was a good student, making the Dean’s list six times as he majored in Business Administration and Economics. Classmates called him a true student-athlete. Still, Johnson was a standout in basketball. The Bleu Devils had some very good teams during Johnson’s stay. They won four Gold Coast Independent conference championships during his four years there. “We had a good recruiting class – a couple of 6’4″, a pair of 6’6″ and two 6’8” guys. We called ourselves the Magnificent Seven,” Johnson remembered. However, Dillard never could reach the top rung of the NAIA ladder during that era. Teams such as Grambling and Southern always were in the way before the Bleu Devils reached the championship rounds in Kansas City.
Johnson had an impact on his college off the basketball court as well. “(He’s a) humanitarian – just a sweetheart,” said Hermine Jones, a college friend in a tribute video compiled for him in 2016. “And a clown, which was interesting because he was just so tall. He was always playful.” Johnson earned the nickname “Treetop” in college. “Not only was he very tall, he had an Afro. That was part of the tree.” Jones added.
The war for players among pro basketball leagues was starting to heat up in the summer of 1970. Johnson had his choice of teams. The New Orleans Buccaneers took him in a special draft in January of that year, and hoped to keep him close to home. Later that year, the Chicago Bulls took the 6-foot-11 center in the fifth round. (Footnote: A center named George E. Johnson from Stephen F. Austin was picked in the first round by the Baltimore Bullets that year. George T. Johnson had a much better career.) “I really wanted to play in the NBA against the Bill Russell’s and Wilt Chamberlain’s,” he explained. “The Bulls brought me in for the rookie camp.” But he was a little skinny (205 pounds) for coach Dick Motta’s taste, and Johnson was told to get stronger.
The story could have ended here. Johnson had a tryout with the Harlem Globetrotters but was cut after a week – perhaps because of his lack of enthusiasm for the type of basketball they played. He got married and took a job at a bank. Then fate played a role. George played some semipro ball in the San Francisco area, and Warriors coach Al Attles happened to see him play. He invited Johnson to come to training camp in the fall of 1972. George made sure the bank would keep his job open for him, and he was off to the NBA. And, beating the odds, he made the team. George played 56 games, only averaging 6.2 minutes per game. While the NBA hadn’t started keeping track of blocked shots then, Attles and Golden State no doubt noticed that Johnson had a talent for it. George’s playing time more than tripled in 1973-74, and he blocked a shot every 10 minutes or so. Johnson also could rebound, averaging 7.9 per game. He had become an intriguing defensive prospect.
The jackpot for the Warriors arrived in 1974-75. Clifford Ray did most of the work at center, but Johnson came off the bench to provide some valuable minutes. It would be an overstatement to say Rick Barry did the rest for Golden State that season, but certainly he was brilliant. Barry played like a superstar in leading the Warriors to the NBA championship, and he even had time to teach George how to shoot free throws underhanded. The team’s sweep of the Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals remains one of the most stunning outcomes in the league’s playoff history. Johnson played a key role in Game Three, coming off the bench to score 10 points and grab nine rebounds in only 16 minutes. George gives his coach plenty of credit for what happened to him that season. “Al Attles was a father figure to me. We had a special bond,” Johnson said later.
The Warriors brought most of the same cast back for 1975-76, although rookie guard Gus Williams did move into the lineup. The team went 59-23 in the regular season, and Johnson filled a similar role as he did the year before. The surprise came in the Western Conference finals, when Golden State lost Game Seven to Phoenix in a back-and-forth series. Then the Warriors added center Robert Parish in the 1976 NBA Draft. Golden State hoped he’d be the center of the future, and Johnson’s playing time shrank. He was down to 15 minutes per game, the least since his rookie season.
Under the circumstances, a trade seemed likely. It came true on January 15, 1977, when Johnson was dealt to the Buffalo Braves for a first-round draft pick. His timing, which was so good on the court, could have been better off of it. On January 28, the Blizzard of ’77 struck Buffalo. It was the first time that a snowstorm had created a disaster area by the federal government. “When I just arrived, there was a heavy snowfall,” Johnson remembered. “We couldn’t play home games for a while. For one month, we would have to play 3-4 consecutive games to compensate.”
The Braves already had problems before the storm, what with the Bob McAdoo trade to the New York Knicks earlier in the season. George ended up sharing the center position with John Gianelli, and did reasonably well. Johnson made a very good impression in a February 9 game against Philadelphia. George had 13 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocked shots. “I think for anybody to really do well in the NBA, you have to play for some time,” Johnson said after the game. “I was happy to be traded. After I was told about the trade, I kind of thought about it. I thought that it’s kind of cold in Buffalo. But I looked at it as an opportunity to play more.”
For the Buffalo portion of the season, Johnson played 27.1 minutes per game, and averaged 7.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. It was a year to forget for the Braves, who missed the playoffs. Still, Johnson had taken advantage of an opportunity to show what he could do.
Buffalo opted to go on a massive rebuilding program in the offseason of 1977, and Johnson became part of it. He was dealt to the New Jersey Nets with a pair of first-round draft choices for guard Nate Archibald on September 1, 1977. The idea was for Archibald to trigger an exciting fast-break offense, and the Braves acquired center Swen Nater from the Bucks to claim the starting center’s job.
In the meantime, Johnson played for a Nets team that needed a center badly. He wasn’t asked to shoot much – New Jersey had Bernard King and John Williamson for that – but his talent at rebounding and blocking shots would be helpful. George kept his part of the bargain, averaging almost 30 minutes per game and leading the team in rebounds and blocks. Indeed, George led the entire league in blocked shots per game at 3.4. The highlight came on March 21 against New Orleans, when he had a triple-double – 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 blocks. “When I was down there, I wanted to show (New Orleans) that this kid from Dillard can play,” he said later.
Five days later, George had the first “five by five” statistical line in NBA history: 15 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, five steals and seven blocks. There was one other statistic that wasn’t a positive that season – he fouled out of 20 games. The Nets had one of those teams with plenty of talent but not enough basketballs. They finished 24-58, well out of the playoffs.
It was the same story in 1978-79, as Johnson played in 78 games at center on a 37-45 team. He was second on the team in rebounds to King and first in blocked shots. George had the best offensive night of his career on December 1 in a 120-110 win with 25 points in 42 minutes. The performance didn’t help New Jersey move above the .500 mark that season. And in 1979-80, the Nets stayed in that rut, with a 34-48 record. George averaged more rebounds per game (7.4) than points (7.2) that season.
Johnson’s contract expired in the summer of 1980, and he had the chance to move on. San Antonio signed him, and gave up a first-round draft choice as compensation. At least George got to play with a winning team. This was a Spurs team led by George Gervin, who averaged 27 points per game. Dave Corzine split the center spot with Johnson, who played 82 games that season and again led the NBA in blocks per game and was a second-teamer on the NBA’s All-Defensive squad. San Antonio went 52-30, but made a quick exit in the playoffs to a surprising Houston Rockets squad. Johnson again led the league in blocked shots in 1981-82, but his offensive numbers were down to 3.2 per game over 75 games. George’s Spurs won 48 games and a playoff series before they were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers, and coach Stan Albeck thought San Antonio needed to be better at center.
Enter veteran center Artis Gilmore, and exit Johnson, who was off to Atlanta. The Spurs traded Johnson to the Hawks on September 27, 1982, for center Jim Johnstone (who grew up in Western New York) and a pair of second-round draft choices. He only played in 37 games that season, thanks to a bone chip in his knee. He was the third-string center behind Tree Rollins. George did not report to training camp the following season, and could not work out a deal with any other team in the NBA. By the time Johnson knew he’d have to miss the entire 1983-84 NBA season, it was too late to go to Europe to play basketball. 'There I was with nowhere to go,” he said a little later. “So I stopped working out, and started thinking about what I could do.'' George did a little broadcasting work, and owned a fashion accessories business. Still, he thought he could still play.
That time in limbo finally ended on September 27, 1984, when he signed as a free agent with the Nets. New Jersey used plenty of centers that year – Darryl Dawkins and Mike Gminski were the important ones – so Johnson saw spot duty for a team that went 42-40 and made a cameo appearance in the postseason. There was time for one more stop on the NBA road in 1985-86 in Seattle, where he played 41 games (six minutes per game) for the Sonics after he was claimed on waivers. George’s career was finally over after 904 games, 4,369 points, 5,887 rebounds, and 2,082 blocks. As of 2021, he was still 17th in NBA history in blocked shots.
After retirement, Johnson worked in the banking and real estate businesses for a while. In 1993, he landed a job as the Regional Representative of the NBA Players Association, where he stayed for more than 21 years. Johnson’s uniform number of 22 eventually was retired by Dillard. He won the Dillard University Legacy Award in 2016, and was inducted into Dillard’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Speaking of legacies, Johnson hopes he’s left a good one.
“I was a small kid from Mississippi with big dreams,” he said. “What I did was historic. When you look back, I measured up. I remember referees would tell me, ‘Great game.’ I learned that I could control the game. I was blessed to have played. I regret never having made an all-star game, but I was competing against the biggest and the best.”
(Follow Budd on X.com via @WDX2BB).
Comments