50 Greatest NBA/ABA Players Not In the Hall Of Fame
By Phil Watson
Copyright 1995 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
Although a chronic back problem limited Larry Johnson to just 10 NBA seasons, his impact was felt across the league, particularly as a member of the Charlotte Hornets in the early and mid-1990s.
The Hornets took Johnson No. 1 overall out of UNLV in 1991 and he responded with a double-double season en route to becoming NBA Rookie of the Year.
He followed that up with an All-NBA campaign in his second season before the back became an issue and limited him throughout the rest of his career.
But Johnson still averaged 16.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 36.3 minutes per game over 707 NBA games, shooting 48.4 percent overall.
In five seasons with Charlotte, those averages were 19.6 points, 9.2 boards and 4.1 dimes in 38.8 minutes a game on 49.6 percent shooting. Johnson led the NBA in minutes per game in 1992-93 at 40.5 a night.
While his career numbers were stunted by early retirement, he is 37th on the all-time minutes per game list.