1. Marques Kevin Johnson was born on February 8,1956 and is an American former professional basketball player and character actor who is a basketball analyst for the Milwaukee Bucks on Bally Sports Wisconsin.
41 Facts About Marques Johnson
1. 2.
Marques Johnson played as a small forward in the National Basketball Association from 1977 to 1989, where he was a five-time All-Star.
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Marques Johnson played the majority of his career with the Bucks.
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Marques Johnson was the third overall pick in the 1977 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.
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Marques Johnson played seven seasons with Milwaukee before finishing his NBA career with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors.
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Marques Johnson was born on February 8,1956, in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
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The family moved to California when he was five to avoid racism and segregation, which Marques Johnson himself had experienced.
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Marques Johnson's mother earned a Master's degree in library science from the University of Southern California.
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Marques Johnson's father was an assistant basketball coach at Crenshaw High School.
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Marques Johnson attended elementary school with future National Football League Hall of Fame receiver James Lofton.
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Marques Johnson played high school basketball at Crenshaw High School in Crenshaw, Los Angeles, under head coach Willie West, winning the Los Angeles City Section 4-A Division Player of the Year in 1973.
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In 1973, Marques Johnson was offered a scholarship to play basketball at UCLA.
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Marques Johnson 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.
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Marques Johnson attended UCLA, playing under Wooden for two seasons and College Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Gene Bartow for two seasons.
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Marques Johnson was selected Division I second-team All American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches in his junior year, and became a consensus first team All-American player his senior year.
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Marques Johnson's father let him know Wilkes was the best forward in the country, and Johnson would be fine.
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Marques Johnson was third on the team in both scoring and rebounding.
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Marques Johnson continued to excel, earning the first of his two first-team All-Pac-8 selections as a junior in 1976.
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Marques Johnson made the NCAA all tournament team in 1976, although UCLA lost in the final four to the eventual champion Indiana Hoosiers.
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Marques Johnson averaged 21.1 points and 11.1 rebounds per game in his senior season, leading the team in both categories.
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Marques Johnson 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.
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Marques Johnson majored in Theater Arts at UCLA, having enjoyed starring in musical theater in high school, and acting at UCLA.
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Marques Johnson took a newly offered sportscasting class while a student at UCLA, and hosted a non-sports campus television show.
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Marques Johnson was selected third overall in the 1977 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, coached by Don Nelson.
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Marques Johnson averaged 19.5 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game in his first professional season.
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Marques Johnson was named to the 1978 NBA All-Rookie Team, and placed second in NBA Rookie of the Year voting behind Walter Davis.
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Marques Johnson was named a starter, and played in the 1979 NBA All-Star Game and was named to the All-NBA First Team.
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Nelson instructed Marques Johnson to set up the offense from his forward position.
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Marques Johnson responded, "OK, so instead of a point guard, I'm a point forward".
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Marques Johnson helped lead Milwaukee to several division titles.
31.
Marques Johnson held out twice during his Bucks' career for a better contract than what the team offered.
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On November 20,1986, Marques Johnson suffered a ruptured disk in his neck after colliding with teammate Benoit Benjamin during a game in Dallas.
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Marques Johnson has five sons, Kris, Josiah, Joshua, Moriah and Cyrus, and two daughters, Jasmine and Shiloh.
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Marques Johnson became notable for viral Twitter comments on NBA plays.
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Marques Johnson is still actively enhancing his creative roots, writing screenplays and short stories.
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Marques Johnson was the early morning show co-host on the Clippers' flagship radio station, KFWB-AM in Los Angeles.
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Marques Johnson served as a color analyst for the Seattle SuperSonics in the late 1990s.
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Marques Johnson was nationally on Fox Sports and Fox Sports 1 and NBA League Pass as a basketball analyst.
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Since 2015, Marques Johnson has worked as both a full-time and part-time analyst for Milwaukee Bucks telecasts on Fox Sports Wisconsin.
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Marques Johnson worked with both Jim Paschke and Gus Johnson.
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In 2018, Marques Johnson won an Emmy as top analyst in the Midwest-Region for his work broadcaster Bucks' games.