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The " Little General"

Jehan Bunch · Tuesday, June 6th 2006 at 9:36AM · 1094 views
He has a squeaky voice. He is only 5'11. But he commands respect.

Avery Johnson, a graduate of Southern University is a man of many firsts. He is the first NBA coach to win the “NBA Coach of the Month” award in his first two months as a head coach. He is the fastest coach to reach 50 wins in his career. And last but not least, he is the first coach to lead the Dallas Mavericks to their first NBA Finals.

Johnson is a former NBA player who fought his way to the top. After attending New Mexico Junior College and Southern University, Johnson spent 16 years playing for several teams in the NBA, though he is mainly known for his time with the San Antonio Spurs. Johnson was part of the 1999 Spurs team that won the NBA championship against the New York Knicks in which he hit the series clinching shot in Game 5.

Johnson retired as a player and became a Mavericks assistant coach before the 2004-05 seasons. After replacing Don Nelson as head coach on March 19, 2005, he recorded the best start by a first time coach in league history in winning 66 of his first 82 games- equivalent of a full season!

Avery Johnson, “Little General” has accomplished a great deal and is another HBCU graduate that is shining amongst the stars!

About the Author

Jehan Bunch Columbus, OH

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Comments (5)

CHARLES MILLS Tuesday, June 6th 2006 at 4:12PM

I AM HAPPY FOR HIM.

A
Aurora Lancaster Tuesday, June 6th 2006 at 9:10PM

Congratulations Avery. I am looking forward to seeing you and the Mavs beat the Heat in six games.

Shana Watson Tuesday, June 6th 2006 at 9:23PM

I'm proud of this fellow Jaguar! GOOOO Mavs!

WILLIAM W. HEMMANS III Wednesday, June 7th 2006 at 7:06AM

I find him to be a awesome brutha that is very humble. I saw him at Mega-Fest in 2004.
Quite impressive and I have dwelled time to time how this brutha has been Blessed and his spiritually Blessed climb up the NBA ranks.
This man has been with quite a few teams and could have totally gave up.
He was determined and ended up a champion.
Quite a life example and I feel a book should be done on this brutha's life and movie.
Great blog as usual.

Darryl D. Smith Saturday, June 10th 2006 at 12:34AM

Avery Johnsons is the best coach in the NBA...period. To take control of a team in the middle of a season, still have a respectable year, and go to the playoffs the next is good. You can argue that he had Dirk, but the team was soft. They were not going to win a championship, but Johnson has turned that around.

Even though I'm going for the Heat (Dwayne Wade being the reason), I'll be happy for Johnson if he wins...

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