The Los Angeles Clippers will have a different looking team in the 2024-25 season. Most notably, they will be without Paul George, who earned three All-Star nods in his five seasons with the team. Players brought in such as Derrick Jones Jr. and Nicolas Batum will have the unenviable task of trying to keep the team in playoff contention without their former two-way star.
Head coach Tyronn Lue will likely have difficulties in replicating what George brought to the team. More will be expected of Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, two talented but aging stars. Leonard has had his difficulties of staying on the court due to injuries, and Harden isn’t the elite scorer he was in his prior days with the Houston Rockets.
On Thursday night, it was reported that Lue would be bringing in a longtime former NBA player as part of his coaching staff for the 2024-25 season.
14-Year NBA Veteran Lands Coaching Gig With Clippers
Johnson Previously Was An Assistant Coach With The G League Ignite
As reported by Law Murray of The Athletic, 14-year NBA veteran Amir Johnson will be joining the Clippers coaching staff. His role will be in player development.
LA Clippers coaching news
Amir Johnson will join LAC player development staff. Solid vet for the big men.
Darnell Jackson, veteran of 138 NBA games and a 2008 NCAA champion at Kansas, will be on San Diego Clippers staff https://t.co/NyAzD5rT5m
— Law Murray 🛝 (@LawMurrayTheNU) August 29, 2024
The 37-year-old Johnson last played in the NBA in the 2018-19 season. He spent two seasons after that playing for the G League Ignite. Last season, he got his first taste in the coaching world by being named an assistant coach with the Ignite. That was the Ignite’s final season, as it was announced that the team will be folding. This opportunity with the Clippers will be his first foray into coaching at the NBA level.
Long Playing Career Despite Being Drafted Late
Johnson was able to carve out a 14-year playing career as a hard-nosed and rugged power forward/center. It was even more impressive due to the fact that he wasn’t a top prospect heading into the 2005 NBA Draft. He was selected with one of the last picks (56th overall) by the Detroit Pistons out of high school. It was the last draft before the NBA instituted the rule that a player must be one year removed from high school graduation before they are eligible to be drafted.
Standing at six-foot-nine, Johnson played for four different NBA teams in his career. After playing his first four seasons for the Pistons, he would then play six for the Toronto Raptors, two for the Boston Celtics, and his last two for the 76ers. In eight of his 14 seasons, Johnson got to participate in postseason basketball.
Johnson’s two most productive scoring seasons came with Toronto in back-to-back years. He reached double figure averages of 10.0 in 2012-13 and 10.4 in 2013-14. Those two seasons, he finished eighth and fifth respectively amongst the field goal percentage leaders. Johnson’s career-high of 32 points came with the Raptors on December 8, 2013 in an outing against the Los Angeles Lakers. Altogether, Johnson appeared in 870 regular season games over his 14 seasons. His career averages consisted of 7.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.0 blocks. Johnson shot 57.0% from the field and 67.3% from the foul line.
