backcourt defender of all-time". In addition Celtics colleague and triple NBA Most Valuable Player award winner Larry Bird called Johnson the best teammate he ever had. Post-player career After retiring as a player, Johnson worked as a scout for the Celtics. In 1993, he became an assistant coach for the Celtics, a position he held until 1997. After spending several years outside the limelight, he returned as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2000 and spent four seasons there. Johnson served as interim head coach after the departure of Alvin Gentry for 24 games near the end of the 2002–03 season . Johnson later worked as a scout for the Portland Trail Blazers, and in 2004 he was named head coach of the NBA Development League's Florida Flame. He became head coach of the NBA Development League's Austin Toros the following season holding the position until his death two years later. NBA career statistics Regular season |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 81 || – || 20.6 || .504 || – || .624 || 3.7 || 1.5 || 1.5 || 0.7 || 9.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 81 || – || 27.3 || .417 || – || .732 || 3.6 || 2.8 || 1.5 || 0.6 || 12.7 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| † | style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 80 || – || 34.0 || .434 || – || .781 || 4.7 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 1.2 || 15.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 81 || – || 36.3 || .422 || .207 || .780 || 5.1 || 4.1 || 1.8 || 1.0 || 19.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Phoenix | 79 || – || 33.1 || .436 || .216 || .820 || 4.6 || 3.7 || 1.7 || 0.8 || 18.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Phoenix | 80 || 77 || 36.7 || .470 || .190 || .806 || 5.1 || 4.6 || 1.3 || 0.7 || 19.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Phoenix | 77 || 74 || 33.1 || .462 || .161 || .791 || 4.4 || 5.0 || 1.3 || 0.5 || 14.2 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|† | style="text-align:left;"|Boston | 80 || 78 || 33.3 || .437 || .125 || .852 || 3.5 || 4.2 || 1.2 || 0.7 || 13.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Boston | 80 || 77 || 37.2 || .462 || .269 || .853 || 4.0 || 6.8 || 1.2 ||