DerMarr Johnson

Who is DerMarr Johnson?

DerMarr Miles Johnson is an American professional basketball player.

Johnson was a consensus McDonald's, Parade Magazine and USA Today high school All-American as well as Parade's National High School Player of the Year as a senior in 1999. After attending the University of Cincinnati with future NBA players Kenyon Martin, Kenny Satterfield and draftee Steve Logan, he was selected sixth overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2000 NBA Draft. In two seasons with the team he averaged 6.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. On September 13, 2002, Johnson's blue Mercedes-Benz S600 crashed into a tree and caught fire; one of three occupants, none of whom were determined to be driving, he cracked four vertebrae in his neck, nearly causing paralysis. Fitted to a halo brace during his recovery, Johnson was subsequently sidelined for the entire 2002-03 NBA season, and questions surfaced regarding him ever playing again. Johnson's miraculous return to the league began in October 2003 when he signed with the Phoenix Suns only to be waived two weeks later without ever having played a game for them.