Eddie Johnson
Phoenix Suns
Phoenix, AZ USA
"What is your name going to leave behind for other people to continue to hold on to and help the world?"
Career Roadmap
Eddie's work combines: Sports, Television, and Communicating / Sharing Stories
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
If you want to become a professional athlete, you really need to put in the work. It's going to be long hours and hard work. It needs to be your main focus and passion. It's a tough road but hard work, passion, and determination can help get you there.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
History, General
University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
I grew up in Chicago and was raised with six siblings by my single mother in one of the worst housing projects at the time.
2.
I loved sports, and played baseball and basketball in school—I played well and studied hard, so I ended up becoming the best basketball player in Illinois and received scholarships to many colleges.
3.
I decided to go to the University of Illinois, where I played basketball for four years while earning a bachelor’s degree in history.
4.
In 1981, I was drafted into the NBA by the Kansas City Kings—I played professionally for 18 years with seven different teams!
5.
While in the NBA, I got married and raised a family.
6.
After a successful career as a professional athlete, I could have gone into coaching, but I didn’t want to leave my kids or uproot my family, so I transitioned into broadcasting.
7.
A year after I retired from the NBA, I was hired by the Phoenix Suns as a broadcast analyst and have been calling the team’s games ever since.
8.
In addition to providing commentary for the Phoenix Suns, I’m a co-host of “NBA Today” on Sirius XM NBA Radio.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
You can't make mistakes.
How I responded:
Many people out there will criticize you for making mistakes. Especially as a sports announcer, I see a lot of criticism on social media. I pay no mind to those people because I know that it's okay to make mistakes. If you think nothing is wrong with you, then something's wrong with you because there is no such thing as a perfect person. I only pay attention to the opinions of people that I know love me and will miss me when I'm gone.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
My dad left when I was a child. My family was very supportive but I still craved that male support and guidance, especially as I matured. I relied on my coaches and teachers as father figures.
I loved basketball but being a professional athlete is a very stressful job. You put in long hours, sacrifice a lot of your personal life, and put your body through a lot of physical trauma.