He averaged 23 points, 11 assists one year. Thats better numbers than Nash put up in each of his MVP years. He shoots over 49% for his career and his career averages are 18 points and 9 assists per game. He made the playoffs every year of his career yet he sadly only made the all star team 3 times!
He didn't make the playoffs the first year of his career,also when you play in the same era as Jordan, Isiah, Dumars, Drexler, Magic, Larry, Hakeem and so on you shouldn't expect to make many all-star apperances. Lots of great players get over-shadowed by the superstars that played in that era, nothing new.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Heatfan32 @ Jun 11 2006, 02:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>He didn't make the playoffs the first year of his career,also when you play in the same era as Jordan, Isiah, Dumars, Drexler, Magic, Larry, Hakeem and so on you shouldn't expect to make many all-star apperances. Lots of great players get over-shadowed by the superstars that played in that era, nothing new.</div>Not technically. But before he got traded from Cleveland to Phoenix they were in the playoffs. I dont think he played enough games in Phoenix to make an immediate impact
Heatfan is right, there are alot of good guards during that time that didn't get all of the love because of the great players. At the beginning of his career he had players like Isaih and Drexler, all throughout his career Jordan was playing. Through the middle of his career was when other guards like Penny Hardaway and others started to blow up, and towards the end of his career he wasn't the same player. Another thing that hurt Johnson is he had quite a few injuries also, making it hard for everyone to see him play.Kevin Johnson has always been one of my favorite players though. He was so quick with the ball, could find the open shooter and really knew his game. Johnson could get to the rim back then, as well as any point guard in the league can get to the rim today, and that was when handchecks were legal in the NBA, and it was harder for guards to take over. I do think he is forgotten about alot, and it's really a shame, because he was one of the most fun players to watch in this league.
He was a solid player. Perhaps he was a little lacking with his jumpshot, but besides that he could do it all. Slash. Defend. Pass. Score. However, as already said, he played in one of the toughest eras of basketball. Don't worry about Michael, he was playing against the likes of Hakeem, David Robinson when the Spurs were good, Clyde Drexler and the Trail Blazers. We're not even considering the East here...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BALLAHOLLIC @ Jun 11 2006, 06:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>He averaged 23 points, 11 assists one year. Thats better numbers than Nash put up in each of his MVP years. He shoots over 49% for his career and his career averages are 18 points and 9 assists per game. He made the playoffs every year of his career yet he sadly only made the all star team 3 times!</div> He played in a time with better PG's and a time where a good PG with 9 assists isn't given MVP's. A very good player though, I remember his huge year with 20/12...very underrated.
Yeah, there are always going to be players that are underrated or forgotten because they play in the shadows of many superstars. It even happened with Walt Bellamy in the '60s, he averaged 20 pgg and 14 rpg for his career but he was dominated by Russell and Chamberlain in that same era. There's bound to be underrated players in different eras, since the main superstars are getting more and more recognized.
