Talk:Gus Johnson (basketball)

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Recommend renaming this Gus Honeycomb Johnson to avoid conflict with current CBS announcer Gus Johnson.

[edit] Gus Johnson's tough road

Johnson was a tremendous basketball talent and physical specimen as early as high school, but could not get recognized for it. His senior year was 1956, the year Jerry Lucas arrived to become a phenomenon in Ohio high school basketball. Lucas was white and had the world at his feet. Johnson, black and nearly equal in talent to Lucas, could not get a serious scholarship offer east of the Rocky Mountains. Lucas rose to even greater fame at Ohio State and the Olympics, while Johnson starred in obscurity in distant Idaho. Johnson truly felt the sting of racism that was hardly uncommon in the late 50s and early 60s. Then it was his knees. Johnson played an intense physical game which took it's toll during these tough early NBA days of rough travel, limited medical help, flat shoes, and dingy facilities. He absorbed a great deal as an All-Pro caliber forward at $30,000 a year. Knee injuries robbed him of championship opportunties and player recognition. The near-misses and pain were rewarded only with Indiana's title in the ABA. Then Johnson faced numerous health issues after his career concluded. He died broke at age 49.

In another era, Johnson would have been seen much sooner as a talent, perhaps in high school. He would have played briefly in college closer to his Akron, Ohio home. Drafted sooner, he would have had a longer career, gotten better medical attention, received his proper accolades, and been paid for his NBA star talent. He likely would have lived better and longer.

I doubt that those with similar issues today in the NBA are conscious of players like Johnson who came before them, or what they went thru in the NBA of early days. I think it's probably worth their consideration. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jerjets11 (talk • contribs) 08:21, 3 December 2006 (UTC).