John Johnson        

HIGH SCHOOL: John Johnson attended Messmer High School and lived in or near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He helped lead his team to the Wisconsin state title in 1966. Out of high school, he played at Northwest College, and then transferred to Iowa.

COLLEGE: He played two seasons for Iowa, leading the team in scoring and rebounding both seasons. He set an Iowa record for points in a season during his senior year in the 1969-70 season, averaging 27.9 points per game. He also holds Iowa's top two scoring performances with 49 and 46 points. He helped guide Iowa to a 14–0 Big Ten record and NCAA tournament berth in 1970. He was named 3rd team All-American by UPI and first team all-Big Ten.

PROFESSIONAL: He was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 7th pick of the 1970 NBA draft. He was also selected in the 1970 ABA Draft by the Dallas Chaparrals before the team briefly became the Texas Chaparrals for the following season. He was the first Cavaliers player to play in an NBA All-Star Game. He played for the Cavaliers from 1970-1973, then the Trailblazers from 1973-75, the Rockets from 1975-1977 and ended his career with the Supersonics from 1977-1982. He earned an NBA title with Seattle in 1979 with former teammate at Iowa, "Downtown" Freddie Brown. He played 12 seasons in the NBA, ending with 11,200 career points and two NBA All-Star seasons (1971-1972).

OTHER: His son Mitch Johnson took over as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs for the 2026 season, taking them to the NBA Finals.

Born 10/18/1947 and died on 1/7/2016 at the age of 68.