P&T Interview: DerMarr Johnson, Part 2

After the 2001-02 season, DerMarr Johnson spent the summer of 2002 training and preparing for his third year with the Atlanta Hawks. Following a strong finish to his sophomore season, during which he broke into the Hawks’ starting lineup midway through the year and maintained double-digit scoring averages, Johnson was primed to make the 2002-03 season his breakout campaign. It wasn’t just DerMarr who was eager to step up as one of the Hawks’ star players. After relegating him to the bench during his rookie year and the first half of his sophomore season, the Hawks’ coaching staff had finally come to believe in DerMarr’s potential as their next rising star.

“That summer, I was in Atlanta, with Coach Kruger. He and I had developed a really good relationship, and I was with him most of the summer working out personally (with Coach Kruger). That third year was supposed to be the breakout year.”

The organization had all the pieces in place for a contending team. The rejuvenated Hawks boasted two All-Stars in their frontcourt—Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Theo Ratliff. Their floor general, Jason Terry, was coming off of a breakout season of his own, and they bolstered the roster by adding two-time All-Star forward Glenn Robinson. With DerMarr at the two-spot the Hawks felt highly confident that they were going to be able to contend for one of the top eight spots in the Eastern Conference. Confidence in the Hawks’ potential was so high that the organization went as far as to guarantee season ticket holders half of their money back if the team failed to make the playoffs.

Just two weeks before the start of the season, the excitement and anticipation that DerMarr had for the upcoming year came to an abrupt and nearly fatal end in the early hours of September 13th, 2002, when he was involved in a tragic car accident just minutes from his home. The crash not only nearly claimed his life but also left him mere inches from paralysis and with four broken vertebrae in his neck.

The day of the accident, DerMarr had the chance to spend the afternoon with his childhood idol and the newest member of the Atlanta Hawks, Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, who had just arrived in town. It was a surreal experience for Slim as the two engaged in pickup basketball throughout the afternoon. DerMarr’s exhilaration throughout the day only intensified when he hit the game-winning shot over Robinson.

Later that night, after spending the evening with Robinson and a group of friends, Johnson was driving home with two of his friends, both of whom had fallen asleep in the car. Recalling the events, Johnson said, “One of my friends hadn’t been feeling well that day and was asleep. My other friend was asleep so when I got off my exit, I turned down the music, and when I got to the light at the exit I just dozed off. When I woke up my car had hit into a tree.”

Upon impact, the friend in the passenger seat was the first to wake up. “He came around my side, opened the door, woke me up, and luckily I was on a hill... I got out of the car and just rolled down the hill.” After helping DerMarr escape, his friend returned to the car to rescue the other passenger, who was still asleep in the backseat. Moments after the three men made it to the bottom of the hill, DerMarr’s Mercedes erupted into smoke and flames before ultimately exploding right before their eyes.

As they sat there, stranded and unaware of the full extent of their injuries, a group of passersby who had seen the smoke and flames from a distance came to their rescue, transporting the three men to a nearby hospital.

Upon arrival at the hospital, still unaware of the severity of his injuries, DerMarr managed to walk into the emergency room, lay down in a hospital bed, and fall back asleep. After being examined by the doctors, it was revealed that he had fractured four vertebrae in his neck. The doctors recommended immediate surgery.

Fortunately for DerMarr, his agent intervened, objecting to the proposed surgery. DerMarr was then transported via helicopter to a specialized spinal center in downtown Atlanta. Upon arrival, the specialists at the spinal center concurred with the agent’s judgment, ultimately deciding that surgery was unnecessary due to DerMarr’s relatively young age. While there was little optimism regarding his potential return to the NBA, it was nothing short of a miracle that he survived the harrowing accident and narrowly escaped paralysis by mere inches.

Released from the hospital, with a halo attached to his head for the next seven weeks, DerMarr faced an arduous journey ahead if he ever hoped to return to the NBA. But this challenge was only one of many that would define the following months. Just a week after the accident, DerMarr suffered the loss of his father. “I kind of felt like my dad passed for me to live.” Johnson recounted, as he tried to make sense of everything. As if the weight of that tragedy wasn’t enough, shortly after, DerMarr’s son was born just several weeks after his father passed, and a full month since surviving the accident adding a bittersweet layer to an already tumultuous period in his life.

DerMarr Johnson

The contrast between the devastating loss and the arrival of new life would become a defining moment for DerMarr, as he navigated his recovery and the emotional toll of those events.

After living in the halo for a period of seven weeks, the halo was removed for DerMarr to begin his rehab process at the spinal center. “The first few days were brutal. I wanted that thing back on so bad.” Johnson remembers, “The muscles in my neck were so used to being held up by the halo, so when it came off, it was very very painful. I had to hold my neck up myself now.”

Through relentless rehab, unwavering resilience, and a steadfast determination to return to the court, DerMarr gradually regained enough strength to be cleared to play basketball again by March 2003, just six months after the accident. “The whole time I was doing things that I wasn’t supposed to be doing just to test myself, and I healed up pretty fast.”

Once cleared, DerMarr had made strides to return to his usual self on the court. He was eager to show the Hawks he was ready to make his return, but the team felt otherwise. “I was doing workouts just trying to show the team that I was good. Before games I’m working out hard… I’m dunking between my legs… I’m doing all this stuff, but they weren’t about to take a chance and let me play. They let me practice one day after I was cleared, but they weren’t going to play me.”

Without an opportunity to play for the Hawks, Johnson was offered the option to retire and accept a multimillion-dollar insurance payout. At just 22 years old, however, he resolutely rejected the offer, determined to return to the NBA and continue his career.

Now a free agent, DerMarr embarked on a personal mission to prove to himself and NBA teams that he could still perform at the same level he had prior to the accident. However, he was repeatedly met with skepticism regarding the risk of re-injuring his neck. With each tryout, he was subjected to another round of X-rays from each team’s medical staff, who viewed him as damaged goods. The process was grueling, marked by numerous highs and lows, including a summer league tryout with the Memphis Grizzlies, a preseason tryout with the Phoenix Suns, and the unique opportunity to play in the ABA for the Long Beach Jam.

Under former NBA head coach Paul Westhead, Johnson teamed up with Matt Barnes and Jannero Pargo, experiencing professional basketball in a way he never had before. “Our first game we scored like 170. As soon as you pass up the floor, you shoot it… I’m killing it, and it was fun.” The excitement reached new heights when the Long Beach Jam brought in Dennis Rodman. “When he came in, the games became packed.” Johnson recalls, “He was great. He’d come in during the week with regular black hair… (he’d) walk in with his dogs and practice with us, then as soon as Friday came his hair was five different colors… the games were packed, and we were good.”

With basketball finally fun again for DerMarr, his unwavering resilience paid off when he was offered an opportunity to join the New York Knicks after just 19 games for the Jam, which included a 50-piece scoring outburst.

Life often unfolds in mysterious ways. When the Knicks called up DerMarr, he signed with the team right after they completed a blockbuster trade with the Phoenix Suns, the very same Suns team where he had just spent training camp building friendships. Once in New York, he was reunited with Stephon Marbury, Penny Hardaway, and Tim Thomas, along with his former Hawks teammate Dikembe Mutombo and close friend Moochie Norris.

Photo by Linda Cataffo/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

After everything Johnson had endured over the span of nearly 18 months—surviving the car accident, losing his father, rehabbing his neck, and playing in the ABA—Slim was back on the court for the Knicks, in the Mecca of basketball, no less. “I don’t know what it is about that building… there is such an aura in that building… and there is a really good fanbase in this historic gym every other night. There was a little pressure playing in there”, Johnson laughed, “but it was fun.”

After impressive play with the Knicks through two 10-day contracts, Isiah Thomas rewarded Johnson with a contract for the remainder of the 2004 season. The Knicks finished the season strong but saw their season come to an end in the first round of the playoffs at the hands of Johnson’s former college teammate, Kenyon Martin.

Although it was Martin’s Nets that put an end to the season for the Knicks and DerMarr, when one chapter closes, another opportunity comes knocking... and a reunion with his former college teammate was just on the horizon.

Photo by Mitchell Layton/NBAE via Getty Images

Stay tuned for the conclusion of my three-part series on DerMarr Johnson and his remarkable journey through life and basketball, as he talks about reuniting with K-Mart in Denver, becoming a captain of the Big 3’s, 3’s Company alongside Allen Iverson, and life after basketball.