Phil Johnson
Position: Head Coach
Years Coaching Kings: 1985-87 (2 years)
Record Coaching Kings: 51-77 .398
Playoff Appearances: 1 (0-3, .000)
The head coach of the Kings when the franchise first arrived in Sacramento (Johnson had already been coaching the team for a year, after an earlier 5 year stint in the 1970s), Johnson guided an offensive minded jumpshooting and guard heavy bunch to a #8 seed in their first year in Sacramento (albeit with a losing 37-45 record). In the playoffs they would go on to be quickly dismissed by the original Houston Hakeem Olajuwon/Ralph Sampson Twin Tower team.
The following season, with their defensive roleplayers aging and a failed trade for Derek Smith and his ruined knee which robbed the team of backcourt depth, the team's already shaky defense collapsed entirely. On February 4 of the season the Kings suffered a humiliating record setting defeat when the Los Angeles Lakers jumped out to a 29-0 lead against them, and outscored them 40-4 in the first quarter. Johnson was dismissed less than a week later, and Jerry Reynolds elevated to take his head coaching position.
Career Before Kings
The more appropriate title with Johnson would be "Career before Sacramento" because he had spent the bulk of his early career with the Kings/Royals franchise.
After playing his college ball at Weber State under another future Kings coach, Dick Motta, Johnson went on to become an assistant coach under Motta at his alma mater, and then followed Motta to the NBA with the Chicago Bulls from 1971-73 (where Jerry Sloan was a fellow assistant).
In 1973-74, at the young age of 27 Johnson was tapped to take over the struggling (6-19) Kansas City/Omaha Kings midseason, and led the team to a 27-30 record the rest of the way. In his second season he led them to 44 wins and a playoff berth, good enough to win NBA Coach of the Year honors. He would continue to coach the Kings into the 1977-78 season before being fired, and after spending the intervening years assisting now head coach Jerry Sloan in Chicago, he was rehired by the Kings franchise beginning in 1984-85, and followed them to Sacramento. In all he coached parts of 8 different seasons for the Kings franchise, putting up a 236-306 record (Sacramento numbers included) and making the playoffs twice.
Career After Kings
Johnson actually returned to the Kings near the end of the 1987-88 season when Jerry Reynolds was again tapped to be the interim coach after Bill Russel's failure. Reynolds immediately contacted his old mentor and asked him to turn the tables and play assistant. Early the next season (1988-89) Johnson was still on Reynolds' staff, but received an offer from Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz to become their lead assistant instead and was allowed to leave for the better opportunity. He would stay with the Jazz as the lead assistant to Sloan for the remainder of his career until his resignation (simultaneous with Sloan's) 23 years later in 2011. He was named the league's top assistant coach 4 times during his career, in 2002, 2004, 2007, and 2010.
Season by Season Record with Kings*
1985-86: 37-45 .451 Playoffs: 0-3 .000
1986-87: 14-32 .304
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TOTALS: 51-77 .398 Playoffs: 0-3 .000
*as explained above in Phil's case Sacramento era only
http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/johnsph99c.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Johnson_(basketball,_born_1941)
http://www.nba.com/coachfile/phil_johnson/
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/10/sports/sports-people-kings-dismiss-coach.html
