Darryl Johnson never abandoned his NBA dream, even when his birth certificate suggested it was time to move on.
His perseverance paid off when, at the age of 30, he played 11 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 1995-96 season, 13 years after he helped Flint Central win its third straight state Class A basketball championship as a senior.
Finally making it to the league was the culmination of a journey that began when his grandfather built him a backyard hoop and ultimately took him around the globe to play professionally in seven countries over 16 seasons.
“I would see guys and talk to different guys whose journey was somewhat like mine or tougher, like undrafted free agents,” Johnson said. “That’s a hard road to take. During my journey, I never gave up. I knew I could play in the NBA. I wasn’t worried about not making it or taking so long. I knew my hard work would pay off, even if it took nine years from college to get to the NBA.”
Johnson signed two 10-day contracts with the Cavaliers before being retained for the rest of the season. He averaged 2.5 minutes of action in his 11 NBA games. He scored 12 points, was 5-for-12 from the field, grabbed two rebounds and had one assist.
“I really appreciated it, too, once I got there,” Johnson said. “I always felt I belonged. I knew I could play. I had to take a different route, a harder road. That’s a relief once you get there. I wanted to try to continue, but it didn’t happen like I wanted it to, but I’m thankful for the opportunity.”
He had an opportunity to try out the following season, but took the security of a guaranteed paycheck with a team in Naples, Italy.
“I’m 30, my son was just born in ’96,” he said. “When I went into the NBA for the half season with Cleveland, I had to make a decision and go over. I had to. I wasn’t a youngster out of college anymore.”
When Johnson was fresh out of Michigan State University, where he excelled under coach Jud Heathcote, he was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in the third round of the 1987 NBA draft, going 58th overall.
“I really thought I was going to make the team,” said Johnson, who averaged 22.1 points as a senior at MSU. “I felt I had a real good training camp. It’s hard making the NBA, the pros in general. They had a bunch of veteran guys in front of me. That’s the first time I knew about the politics of the game. That was very disappointing. It’s the first time I ever got cut from a basketball team. That was pretty dramatic. It taught me how to be strong, persevere. Anything you want, you’ve got to work hard for.”
When Johnson left the Warriors’ camp, he embarked on a pro career in which he played for 18 different teams. His first stop was Chicago in the Continental Basketball Association in 1987-88 and his last was Union Deportiva Espanola Temuco in South America in 2002-03.
“Just because you’re not playing in the NBA, you can still make good money playing overseas,” Johnson said.
“I had a ball over there. I played all over Europe, Australia, the Philippine Islands, Venezuela, Italy, France, Spain. I put a lot of miles on that passport. I enjoyed every bit of it. It was a great experience. Basketball took me places I probably never would’ve gone.”
Johnson’s first experience playing basketball at a high level was at Flint Central, where the Indians built a dynasty under coach Stan Gooch. He was a part of a special era in Flint athletics, playing on all three state championship teams from 1981-83.
“What helped him out a lot was the fact he was playing against somebody like Mark Harris and Eric Turner in practice,” said former teammate Marty Embry, who is being inducted into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame in the same year as Johnson.
“That helped set his mind as to how he wanted to be. To me, every game he played in I never felt like if the ball was in his hands he would screw up. He grew into a very good competitor. I played against him in Europe, too; it was in Belgium. For me, that was really cool to play against your teammate.”
Johnson also benefited from being surrounded by great teammates during the college recruiting process.
“I had no idea I was going to State,” he said. “It was so funny how they saw me. They were recruiting Marty Embry his senior year, my junior year. They were recruiting him very tough. He ended up going to DePaul. They were recruiting him and saw me. I started getting recruited in 11th grade. I knew I was going to play in the Big Ten; I didn’t know where at that point. That’s all I used to watch was Big Ten ball. To me, that was the premier league at that time in the country.”
Johnson scored 1,383 points in four seasons with the Spartans. He made All-Big Ten in 1986-87, back when MSU still played at venerable old Jenison Field House.
“We loved that place,” Johnson said. “It was 10,000, maybe not a big arena like you see now, but those fans were loyal and supportive.”
These days, Johnson works as a driver for Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home in Flint. He came upon the job by accident, having visited the funeral home asking to install a vending machine when he was in that line of work.
“Once I got there, in a short time he said they were looking for some drivers,” Johnson said. “He was asking if I would be interested. I asked, ‘I don’t have to work with bodies or anything of that nature?’ He said, ‘No, we just want you to drive.’ That’s how I started driving.
