PLAYER PROFILE

ARNIE JOHNSON

STATISTICS & HISTORY

Arnie Johnson was an NAIA  All-American at Bemidji State, a small college in Minnesota. AFter service in World War II, Johnson played one year of AAU ball, and then in the fall of 1946, signed a contract with the Rochester Royals, where he would spend his entire seven-year pro basketball career. Nicknamed “the Bulldozer” by his teammates, Johnson was a tenacious  defender and outstanding rebounder. His defense was relentless, and he was adept at setting  bone-crunching screens for the benefit of his future Hall of Fame teammates, Bob Davies and Red Holzman. The Royals lived up to their nickname. A star-studded roster, season after season produced a team that always competed for the championship,  but season after season was frustrated in their quest for a title by one of the greatest team in history of professional basketball, the Minneapolis Lakers. In three separate seasons, the Royals lost to the Lakers in the finals. Finally, in 1951, Rochester overcame its nemesis, Minneapolis,  in the Division finals and went on to capture the NBA title by defeating the New York Knicks in the Championship series.
ARNIE JOHNSON Height: 6:06 Weight: 240 College: Bemidji State’42
Arnold Lyle Johnson Born: May 17, 1920      Died: Jun 6, 2000 Hometown: Gonvick, Mn.
REGULAR SEASON RECORD
Year Team League     GA FGM  FTM   FTA  PCT.  AST  PTS   AVG
1939-40 Bemidji State College
1940-41 Bemidji State College
1941-42 Bemidji State College
1942-45 U.S. Army Air Corp. Military Service
1945-46 Denver Ambrose Jelly Makers AAU
1946-47 Rochester NBL 32 68 68 98 .694 234 3.4
1947-48 Rochester NBL 57 101 97 146 .664 299 5.2
1948-49 Rochester BAA 60 156 199 284 .701 80 511 8.5
1949-50 Rochester BAA 68 149 200 294 .680 141 498 7.3
1950-51 Rochester BAA 68 185 269 371 .725 175 639 9.4
1951-52 Rochester BAA 66 178 301 387 .778 182 657 10.0
1952-53 Rochester BAA 70 140 303 405 .748 153 583 8.3
Major League Totals 421 977 1437 1985 .724 3391 8.1
PLAYOFF RECORD
Year Team League     GA FGM  FTM   FTA  PCT.  AST  PTS   AVG
1947-48 Rochester NBL 11 23 20 24 .833 66 6.0
1948-49 rRochester NBL 4 11 16 22 .727 7 38 9.5
1949-50 Rochester NBA 2 6 8 12 .667 5 20 10.0
1950-51 Rochester NBA 14 48 61 78 .782 40 157 11.2
1951-52 Rochester NBA 6 8 23 32 .719 24 39 6.5
1952-53 Rochester NBA 3 4 16 21 .762 6 24 8.0
Major League Totals 40 100 144 189 .762 344 8.6
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