Johnson was selected in the first round of the
1981 NBA draft with the 11th pick by the
Washington Bullets. He played point guard in the NBA for the Bullets (1981–1988), the
Houston Rockets (1988–89) (he signed as a free agent with the
New Jersey Nets, but they traded him to the Rockets before he played in any games for them). He also played for the
Phoenix Suns (1992–94) where his main role was to relieve star
Kevin Johnson (no relation). He was selected from the Rockets by the
Orlando Magic in the 1989
expansion draft, but was waived before the 1989–90 season started. He played 650 games in the NBA (regular season and playoffs), with regular season career averages of 8.3 PPG and 4.2 APG in 21.6 minutes.
Internationall career He played professionally in Italy for
Ranger Varese (1989–91, played in the finals of the Italian Championship in 1990) and
Marr Rimini (Serie A2, 1991). ==Coaching career==