D'Amato: It's time for the Bucks to retire Marques Johnson's jersey number
After Marques Johnson’s NBA playing career ended in 1990, he had few reasons to return to Milwaukee until a quarter-century later, when he auditioned for an analyst job on Bucks telecasts with Fox Sports Wisconsin. He was nearing his 60th birthday. Who would remember the old small forward?
Johnson left his downtown hotel room to grab a burger at an old familiar greasy spoon, and the cook came running out from behind the grill.
“He was like, ‘Marques Johnson! My parents loved you. Can I call them and get them over here for an autograph?’ ” Johnson said.
He walked over to the BMO Harris Bradley Center for his audition and maintenance workers hailed him as if he’d just dropped 40 points on the Detroit Pistons the night before.
Johnson shouldn’t have been surprised by his reception. If you saw him play, you’d remember him, too.
The Bucks’ first-round draft pick out of UCLA in 1977, Johnson made an immediate impact as a rookie, averaged 25.6 points in his second year and was the catalyst on teams that won five consecutive division titles under Don Nelson.
More than 30 years after the Bucks traded him, he remains the top offensive rebounder in franchise history and is among the top 10 in almost every other category.
Johnson recently was elected into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame – a long overdue honor – and will be inducted Jan. 24, 2019, along with Ron Wolf and Herbert V. Kohler Jr.
The only Bucks previously enshrined are Junior Bridgeman, Jon McGlocklin, Sidney Moncrief and Oscar Robertson. Former team owner Herb Kohl also is a member of the hall, as is Marquette University great George Thompson, who played one year for the Bucks.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar should be a no-brainer but it’s complicated; in the past, he has asked to be paid a substantial amount of money to attend the induction ceremony.
“I’m surprised Bob Lanier is not in there, and Glenn Robinson and Ray Allen,” Johnson said. “I was shocked Don Nelson is not in. That to me is the biggest miscarriage of justice. He had a major impact on Bucks basketball. It is a little bit surprising that more Bucks are not in, but I’m sure that’s something that will be rectified in the coming years.”
Here’s something else that needs to be rectified, and the sooner the better: The Bucks should retire Johnson’s jersey number. The team has retired eight numbers, but not No. 8.
It’s a bit of a mystery, given that Johnson is the sixth-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder in team history and was a four-time all-star with the Bucks (five times overall). His shooting percentage of .530 ranks fourth in team annals, behind only centers Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Lanier and John Henson.
“I get a sense that it’s coming,” Johnson said of a jersey retirement. “Just trust me on that.”
A tenacious rebounder and big-time scorer, Johnson also was one of the NBA’s first point forwards (and even claims to have coined the phrase) when Nelson had him initiate the offense during a 1984 playoff series against the New Jersey Nets.
The only thing Johnson didn’t have was great range. The NBA didn’t install the three-point line until 1979, his third year in the league, and he went 14 for 92 for his career. In fairness, the game was played from inside-out back then, with teams emphasizing low-post scoring. Long-distance shooting wasn’t yet a part of a young player’s skill development.
“If the three had been emphasized when I played, I would have found a way to work on that shot and be a respectable shooter,” Johnson said. “Maybe not 40 percent, but I know I could shoot as well as guys today who are shooting 36, 37 percent. I was a great mid-range shooter and my range was 20 feet, so it wouldn’t have been that hard to add three or four feet.”
It’s a shame that Johnson might be better known today for his role as Raymond in the movie “White Men Can’t Jump” than he is for his playing career. But people of a certain age in Milwaukee remember. And his job with Fox Sports Wisconsin and upcoming induction into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame have brought him full circle.
“The fact that I’m back in Milwaukee and the people and fans have been so warm and welcoming has been mind-blowing for me,” Johnson said. “An old guy like me at 62, to have all these blessings, working for the Bucks – a great young team, great ownership, fans, all that – this is kind of the best gift a guy like me can have at this time in his life.”