What Happened to … part 3

Ollie Johnson

The idea is that something happens, I read something or see something and the brain synapse happens and I somehow remember a past Blazer player for no particular reason. The fact that my 6-month old granddaughter took a plane trip to Philadelphia might have some connection, as Johnson played a couple seasons in Portland out of Temple Univ. in Philadelphia. See how the brain works? Most likely the catalyst might have been that I saw this picture a few days prior to me remembering she was on a trip.

Johnson arrived as a 2nd round draft pick after the Blazers finished a disastrous second season. Here is how times have changed since 1972 when the Blazers drafted OJ. He was the 30th overall pick, which today would be a first round pick, yet in 1972, he was the last pick in the 2nd round. No, there wasn’t 15 teams in the league (there was 17) but 4 teams didn’t have a first round pick due to a supplemental draft. Long story for another time, but to top that, Ollie was the Blazers 4th draft pick due to trades. I tell you, times were different.

Anyhow, OJ played the small forward position for 2 seasons with Portland before he went to the New Orleans Jazz as an expansion draft pick. He averaged 8 pts and about 5 rebounds per game. I couldn’t tell you any great game he had as a Blazer but I remember reading in the team media guide after his rookie season how he was almost the 5th rookie to shoot 50% from the field, if he hadn’t shot 2 for 8 in his last game to end the season at .497.

Entering his 2nd season, the Blazers made a major trade which pretty much assured OJ as a backup player behind the new arrival John Johnson, known as JJ. JJ and OJ on the same team. Or as the back of the uniform would prominently display in Blazers colors; J. Johnson and O. Johnson. That season started out great with talk of a possible playoff spot when the team was 19-23 at the All-Star break only to fall apart and finish at 27-55 and the coin flip winner for the first pick.

OJ went on to a good 10-year career in the NBA, playing with the Jazz briefly, before being traded with his ex-Blazer teammate, but his then Jazz teammate Rick Adelman to the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. Again, back to that picture above. OJ and Adelman helped the Kings to their first playoffs in KC and first in 9 seasons. They fell 2-4 against the Chicago Bulls but I remember watching the games on TV and pulling for the ex-Blazers.

After two years with the Kings, OJ would move to Atlanta Hawks for a season and the Bulls for two years before finishing up with another two years in his hometown with the Sixers. I was sure I had seen him play in Portland as a visitor but after looking at his game logs for his final season in Philly, he didn’t play in Portland that year so it had to have been earlier with another team.

According to what I could find on the internet, OJ later played in Australia for a couple years before moving back to his hometown of Philadelphia, where he was born and attended HS and college. Before retiring in 2011, he was the Director of Athletics at the Community College of Philadelphia. The more I do these What Happened To … the more I’m reminded that many players tend to continue to work within the sports community as much as they can. OJ was just one of many to do so.