Over the course of an NBA coaching career that spanned four decades plus, Phil Johnson was one of the best in the Association at what he did. As Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan’s second-in-command, league GMs voted him as the NBA’s top assistant coach on four separate occasions. Just this year, he received a lifetime achievement award for his work as an assistant.
He was even named NBA Coach of the Year once in 1975 after he led a Kansas City Kings team that won just 33 games the season before to a playoff berth.
This weekend, Johnson was honored once again.