Neil Johnston


Donald Neil Johnston was an American basketball player at the center position who played eight years in the National Basketball Association, from 1951 to 1959. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1990.

Early life

Johnston was a 1946 graduate of Chillicothe High School in Chillicothe, Ohio, where he was an all-state selection in basketball.
Johnston attended Ohio State University, where he starred in baseball and basketball.
Johnston signed a professional baseball contract with the Philadelphia Phillies out of college and pitched two-and-a-half years for the Terre Haute Phillies of the Three-I League. With a 3–9 record halfway through his third losing season in 1951, Johnston decided to give pro basketball a try. With the assistance of his manager, Jim Ward, he tried out for the Philadelphia Warriors at the team camp in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Professional career

Johnston led the NBA in scoring for three consecutive seasons: 1952–53, 1953–54, and 1954–55. During the 1954–55 season, he also won the league's rebounding title. He led the league in minutes played in the 1952–53 season, 1953–54 season and in field goal percentage in the 1952–53 and 1955–56 season and 1956–57 season. He led the NBA in Win Shares for five consecutive seasons.
Johnston played his entire career with the Philadelphia Warriors, playing on their championship team in 1956. He played in six NBA All-Star Games, was an All-NBA First Team selection four times, and was an All-NBA Second Team selection once.
During his career, the 6-foot, 8-inch Johnston was well known for his sweeping right-handed hook shot.
Johnston was forced to retire after a serious knee injury in the 1958–59 season. During his eight-year career, he averaged 19.4 points per game, 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists, with a field goal percentage of.444 and a free throw percentage of.768.

Later life

Johnston was head coach of the Philadelphia Warriors during the 1959–60 and 1960–61 seasons before resigning. He then coached the Pittsburgh Rens of the American Basketball League during the 1961 and 1962.
In 1978, while serving as the athletic director at North Lake College in Irving, Texas, Johnston collapsed and died while playing basketball with his son.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

After basketball

After his playing career, Johnston coached the Warriors to a 95–59 record for the first two seasons of Wilt Chamberlain's NBA career. He also worked as an assistant coach at Wake Forest University under Jack McCloskey.
In addition, Johnston coached the Pittsburgh Rens and Connie Hawkins of the American Basketball League. He also coached the Wilmington Blue Bombers of the Eastern Basketball League. In 1972, he was an assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers. His last job was as athletic director at North Lake College in Irving, Texas.
On September 28, 1978, Johnston died of a heart attack at age 49 while playing basketball in Bedford, Texas.
In 1980, Johnston was inducted posthumously into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1990, he was enshrined posthumously into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 2005, he was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2016, a Chillicothe resident, Bruce Caplinger, began raising money to erect a statue of Johnston outside of Chillicothe High School.