Johnson would at first attended Odessa college in Odessa, Texas but soon move to Las Vegas and play for UNLV. The Running Rebels of the early 1990s are widely considered by many to be amongst the greatest college teams ever assembled. They pounded Duke in the NCAA championship game in 1991 than the next season swept the regular season only to be stunned by Duke in the regionals.

After a solid career at UNLV Johnson went pro. He was selected with the first overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets. Johnson had a very good rookie season averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds en route to winning Rookie of the Year honors. The following season he averaged a career high 22 points a game and made his first all-star team.

Following the 92-93 season Johnson signed what to than was the largest contract in NBA history, a 12 year 84 million dollar deal. He suffered a back injury that season and missed 31 games, but was named a member of Dream Team II which won the gold medal at the World Championships and to date is the last American team to do so.

Johnson bounced back from the injury and had two solid years for the Hornets making the all-star game in 1995 and averaging 20 points a game in 1996.

Strife in the Hornets locker room caused a lot of changes. The Hornets traded Alonzo Mourning to Miami for Glenn Rice than a year later traded Johnson to the Knicks for Anthony Mason. With the Knicks Johnson never became the star he so promised to be but he would become a top role player for them.

Small injuries took their toll on Johnson as his performance went down, but he did help the 8th seeded Knicks stun the Miami Heat in 1998, than see that team reach the NBA finals only to lose to San Antonio. Unfortunately the back never heal for Johnson and he was forced to retire in 2001, with 5 years still left on his massive contract.

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