Gus Johnson (basketball)

Gus "Honeycomb" Johnson Jr. (December 13, 1938 – April 29, 1987) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA). A 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), 235-pound (107 kg) forward who occasionally played center, Johnson spent nine seasons with the Baltimore Bullets before he split his final campaign between the Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers, where he won the ABA championship in his final game. Johnson did not come into the NBA until he was almost 25-years old. He was a five-time NBA All-Star by age 33, before chronic knee issues took their toll late in his career.

Johnson shattered three backboards on dunk attempts in his career, tearing down his first basket in 1964 against the Hawks at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. He last shattered a backboard against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 10, 1971, leaving the game with an injured wrist.

He was known as "the Honeycomb Kid", or "Honeycomb" for short, a nickname that his University of Idaho coach bestowed on him. Early in his career, he had a gold star set into one of his front teeth.

As a member of the Bullets, Johnson was voted to the All-Rookie Team for 1963–64, averaging 17.3 points and 13.6 rebounds per game. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team four times and to the All-NBA Defense First Team on two separate occasions. His number 25 jersey was retired by the Bullets franchise in 1986, months before his death.

Johnson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.