Joe Johnson’s All-Time Top 20 NBA Razorback Rankings

By
Evin Demirel
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Joe Johnson

Among NBA Razorbacks, Johnson now ranks No. 1 in points, rebounds and assists

 

This post means I am officially an old, old man.

In the late 1990s, Joe Johnson and I attended LR Central High School together. As a ridiculously fluid, skilled 6’6″ “point center,” he had “future pro” written all over him from the start of his sophomore year. It surprised absolutely nobody when he ended up being taken in the Top 10 of the 2001 NBA Draft.

But who thought he would end up playing more minutes than any other NBA player besides LeBron James in these last 15 years? Or become such a coveted prospect that even at age 34 James would openly petition him to join Cleveland to push the Cavaliers toward its first world championship?

Johnson is blessed to have enjoyed such longevity over the course of his career. While not quite as powerfully built as James, Johnson is close at 6’7″ and 240 pounds. No doubt, that sturdy frame has helped. So has the hatha yoga he started regularly doing in 2008.

I also think he can credit his inability/unwillingness to jump very high around the rim. In the painted area, I’m certain Johnson has prevented a few injuries to his lower extremities by simply pulling up and jumping 16 inches in the air for a quick floater where other players might have attempted to explode to the bucket (and open themselves up for a higher risk of injury upon landing).

It’s hard to blame Johnson for his reticence to attempt dunks after this play from the 2005 NBA Playoffs:

 

YouTube video

While Johnson can’t/won’t jump very high these days, he has certainly leapt to the top of the class among his NBA Razorback peers.

Seasons ago, he surpassed fellow Little Rock native Sidney Moncrief as the top-scoring NBA Hog of all time. This past season, he’s actually lapped Sid in field goal attempts and he is on track to lap him in points in the next couple years.

Points 

Totals Shooting Per Game
Rk Player From To G FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA PTS ▾ FG% 3P% FT% MP PTS
1 Joe Johnson 2002 2016 1143 7403 16733 1832 4928 2680 3346 19318 .442 .372 .801 36.0 16.9
2 Sidney Moncrief 1980 1991 767 4117 8198 110 387 3587 4319 11931 .502 .284 .831 30.2 15.6
3 Alvin Robertson 1985 1996 779 4412 9245 236 800 1822 2451 10882 .477 .295 .743 31.7 14.0
4 Corliss Williamson 1996 2007 822 3603 7355 6 44 1935 2710 9147 .490 .136 .714 22.8 11.1
5 Darrell Walker 1984 1993 720 2469 5682 6 102 1445 2027 6389 .435 .059 .713 25.8 8.9
6 Ron Brewer 1979 1986 501 2497 5437 30 121 947 1149 5971 .459 .248 .824 25.7 11.9
7 Todd Day 1993 2001 483 2036 5017 568 1646 1277 1727 5917 .406 .345 .739 25.3 12.3
8 Joe Kleine 1986 2000 965 1902 4201 13 48 849 1069 4666 .453 .271 .794 15.2 4.8
9 Andrew Lang 1989 2000 737 1780 3785 5 20 866 1164 4431 .470 .250 .744 20.8 6.0
10 Ronnie Brewer 2007 2014 502 1554 3169 90 355 742 1099 3940 .490 .254 .675 23.0 7.8
11 Oliver Miller 1993 2004 493 1536 2874 5 43 548 858 3625 .534 .116 .639 23.0 7.4
12 Jannero Pargo 2003 2015 499 1228 3140 400 1124 319 369 3175 .391 .356 .864 14.9 6.4
13 Lee Mayberry 1993 1999 496 950 2287 379 1006 267 405 2546 .415 .377 .659 20.8 5.1
14 Tony Brown 1985 1992 360 860 1969 36 139 407 566 2163 .437 .259 .719 16.7 6.0
15 Patrick Beverley 2013 2016 224 740 1796 367 984 222 291 2069 .412 .373 .763 27.8 9.2
16 Scott Hastings 1983 1993 578 584 1323 28 96 451 556 1647 .441 .292 .811 10.4 2.8
17 Sonny Weems 2009 2016 183 514 1106 34 120 127 181 1189 .465 .283 .702 18.2 6.5
18 Bobby Portis 2016 2016 62 186 436 16 52 48 66 436 .427 .308 .727 17.8 7.0
19 Dean Tolson 1975 1978 80 153 280 96 176 402 .546 .545 8.5 5.0
20 Corey Beck 1996 1999 88 93 206 3 5 52 76 241 .451 .600 .684 10.8 2.7
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/27/2016.
Rebounds 
In recent years, Johnson has also surpassed Alvin Robertson as the top rebounding pro Hog. This one is definitely a function of his longevity, as Johnson has only been a mediocre rebounder for his size. He’s essentially got this one locked down for the next seven years, and the only way he loses it after that is if Bobby Portis starts snagging eight or nine boards a game on the regular.
Totals Totals
Rk Player ORB TRB ▾ BLK Minutes per game RPG
1 Joe Johnson 1020 4644 235 36.0 4.1
2 Alvin Robertson 1621 4066 323 31.7 5.2
3 Joe Kleine 1268 3991 285 15.2 4.1
4 Sidney Moncrief 1424 3575 228 30.2 4.7
5 Andrew Lang 1188 3511 1099 20.8 4.8
6 Corliss Williamson 1214 3183 261 22.8 3.9
7 Darrell Walker 1057 3134 225 25.8 4.4
8 Oliver Miller 940 2893 758 23.0 5.9
9 Todd Day 578 1649 291 25.3 3.4
10 Ronnie Brewer 451 1427 120 23.0 2.8
11 Scott Hastings 424 1287 153 10.4 2.2
12 Ron Brewer 335 971 249 25.7 1.9
13 Patrick Beverley 257 792 93 27.8 3.5
14 Tony Brown 352 766 40 16.7 2.1
15 Jannero Pargo 112 701 28 14.9 1.4
16 Lee Mayberry 142 642 43 20.8 1.3
17 Sonny Weems 88 402 28 18.2 2.2
18 Bobby Portis 123 337 22 17.8 5.4
19 Dean Tolson 85 179 27 8.5 2.2
20 Corey Beck 36 125 9 10.8 1.4

 Assists 
Darrell Walker probably represented the closest the Razorback basketball program has come to producing an All-Star level, pass-first type player. Indeed, in the late 1980s Walker once averaged eight assists a game for the Bullets, along with over eight rebounds and nine points a game.
But soon thereafter Walker’s production plummeted as he neared 30 years old, just as it had with Moncrief’s in Milwaukee a few seasons before. Lee Mayberry, the best pure point guard the program has produced in the last 25 years, never really found his groove in the pros.
Meanwhile, Johnson just keeps averaging between 3.5 and 4.5 assists each and every single year.  It is truly an homage to his versatility that a player who has become known as “Iso Joe” can also become the leader here by a wide margin.
I expect Johnson’s record here to last for at least a decade. The only potential NBA point guards which the program will produce in the next two years are incoming Razorback juniors Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon, two highly ranked JUCO transfers who will first have to prove their merit on the SEC level.
Totals Per Game
Rk Player AST ▾ STL TOV AST
1 Joe Johnson 4774 1017 2333 4.2
2 Alvin Robertson 3929 2112 2116 5.0
3 Darrell Walker 3276 1090 1461 4.6
4 Sidney Moncrief 2793 924 1551 3.6
5 Lee Mayberry 1767 352 591 3.6
6 Oliver Miller 1061 455 921 2.2
7 Jannero Pargo 986 250 560 2.0
8 Corliss Williamson 972 462 1316 1.2
9 Ron Brewer 920 480 706 1.8
10 Ronnie Brewer 828 622 390 1.6
11 Todd Day 713 532 717 1.5
12 Patrick Beverley 699 267 284 3.1
13 Joe Kleine 622 261 777 0.6
14 Tony Brown 563 234 392 1.6
15 Andrew Lang 424 332 697 0.6
16 Scott Hastings 284 159 325 0.5
17 Sonny Weems 257 84 198 1.4
18 Corey Beck 123 43 87 1.4
19 Bobby Portis 52 25 54 0.8
20 Mel McGaha 51 1.0
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