The 25 Greatest Sixth Men Of All Time
24. Eddie Johnson, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics
15.6 PPG, .412/.275/.764 in 8 seasons as 6th Man
Accolades: 1X Sixth Man of the Year (1988-89)
Eddie Johnson will more than likely go down as one of the greatest scorers in NBA history not to make it into the Hall of Fame.
Johnson ranks in the top 50 in terms of career points with 19,202 over the span of a 19-year career. In his prime, he could go toe-to-toe with the best of them, as evidenced by this matchup with Clyde Drexler in the 1991 playoffs:
Starting out as a prolific scorer for the Kansas City Kings in his first four years in the league, Johnson took on the sixth man role in the 1985-86 season, the team’s first after moving to Sacramento.
His time in the role would prove fruitful, as he became a well-traveled hitman for hire for the Kings, Phoenix Suns (with whom he won the Sixth Man award in 1988-89) and Seattle SuperSonics. In his award winning season with the Suns, Johnson averaged 21.5 points a game on career high percentages of 49.7 from the field and 41.3 from the three point line.
As a Supersonic, Johnson was pivotal in the playoffs, scoring 24 points a game on 51.7 percent shooting in the aforementioned series against the Portland Trailblazers in 1991.
Unfortunately, Johnson’s incredible scoring prowess was never enough to make him a star or propel his teams to greatness, as the furthest he ever got in the playoffs was the 1989 Western Conference Finals where he and the Suns were swept by the Showtime Lakers.
Johnson would continue to be a solid bench scorer for various teams and would even do a stint in Greece in the 1994-95 season, ultimately retiring with the fourth highest career point total of any player not inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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