Neil Johnston was a 6-foot-8 right-handed pitcher in the Philadelphia Phillies’ organization who didn’t make the grade in three seasons and decided to fall back on professional basketball, since he had played a couple of years at Ohio State.
The Philadelphia Warriors signed Johnston in June 1951, three years after his final collegiate season.
After a year as a reserve, Johnston became the starting center for the Warriors and went on to become a six-time All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection, leading the NBA in scoring three straight seasons (1952-53 through 1954-55) and in rebounding in 1954-55.
He was the league’s top field-goal percentage man in 1952-53, 1955-56 and 1956-57, as well, and topped the NBA in minutes per game in 1952-53 and 1953-54.
In the 1956 NBA Finals, Johnston averaged 13.6 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, shooting 33.8 percent from the floor and 61.1 percent at the line as the Warriors beat the Fort Wayne Pistons in five games.
A severe knee injury forced him to retire at the end of the 1958-59 season.
In eight seasons in Philadelphia, Johnston averaged 19.4 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 35.5 minutes per game, shooting 44.4 percent from the floor and 76.8 percent at the line.
Johnston later coached the Warriors to a 95-59 record in the regular season, going 4-8 in the playoffs, from 1959-61, and was an assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers from 1972-74.
He died Sept. 28, 1978, in Irving, Texas, reportedly from a heart attack while playing in a pickup game. He was just 49 years old.
Inducted posthumously into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990, Johnston is 22nd in NBA history with an average of 11.3 rebounds per game.
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