A chiseled 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), 235-pound (107 kg) forward who occasionally played center,[1] Johnson spent nine seasons with the Baltimore Bullets before he split his final campaign between the Phoenix Suns and ABA champions Indiana Pacers.

He was a five-time NBA All-Star before chronic knee issues and dubious off-court habits took their tolls late in his career.

Johnson enrolled at hometown Akron, but he dropped out before basketball started and joined a nearby Amateur Athletic Union club.

While playing for the AAU Cleveland Pipers of the National Industrial Basketball League in 1960,[15] he was spotted by a former teammate of first-year Idaho head coach Joe Cipriano.

Idaho's primary nemesis was Seattle University, led by guard Eddie Miles, who won all three of its games with the Vandals.

Idaho lost its only game with Final Four-bound Oregon State at the Far West without Johnson, but won all three with Gonzaga, for a 9–3 record against its four former PCC foes and a collective 12–6 against the six Northwest rivals.

[18] During his time at Idaho, Johnson's standing high jump ability led the Corner Club, a local sports bar, to establish "The Nail" challenge.

Anyone who could match Johnson's leap from a standing start to touch a nail hammered 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) above the ground would win free drinks.

They had a dismal 3–14 record through January and lost every game against their Northwest rivals, a collective 0–10 vs UW, WSU, UO, OSU, Seattle U., and Gonzaga.

[21] Following his professional career, Johnson returned to Moscow to help commemorate the first basketball game in the newly enclosed Kibbie Dome, held on January 21, 1976.

He was selected tenth overall (second round) of the 1963 NBA draft by the Chicago Zephyrs, who were in the process of moving to Baltimore, where they became known as the Bullets in the 1963–64 season.

Johnson finished as the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year honors to Jerry Lucas, the much-heralded Cincinnati Royals star forward and one-time Ohio State national champion and the U.S. Olympic basketball team member.

Johnson was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Team along with Lucas and Nate Thurmond, his one-time high school teammate.

Playing with Baltimore under Leonard, the young starting five, consisting of center Walt Bellamy (the first overall draft pick in 1961 and the 1962 rookie-of-the-year for the Chicago Zephyrs[32]), forwards Terry Dischinger (a member of the 1962-1963 all rookie team as a Chicago Zephyr[33]) and Johnson, and guards Rod Thorn and Kevin Loughery were nicknamed the "kiddie corps.

Indeed, he was one of the select few players who was quick enough to be paired against backcourt great Oscar Robertson, yet strong enough to hold his own against the taller forwards of the NBA in the front line, or even be called upon to defend Wilt Chamberlain.

[26] Despite chronic knee problems that would limit his games played and shorten his career,[37][38][39][40] Johnson was a member of the NBA All-Star Team five times.

After fading to third place in the Eastern Division in 1969–70, Johnson played a key role in Baltimore's unexpected run to the Finals the following season by averaging 13 points and 10.4 rebounds per playoff game.

But injuries had decimated the team, and the Bullets were swept in four straight by the Milwaukee Bucks, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robertson, and Bobby Dandridge.

[1] Johnson was traded to the Phoenix Suns on April 12, 1972, completing a transaction from two days prior when the Bullets acquired a second-round pick (25th overall) in the 1972 NBA draft and selected Tom Patterson.

He averaged 7.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in 19.9 minutes under head coaches Butch van Breda Kolff (fired after seven games) and Jerry Colangelo, Johnson's former Baltimore teammate.

He played his first game with the Pacers on December 16, 1972, and became a steadying veteran influence on a young team which went on to win the 1973 ABA championship.

[47] "Gus came to us at the end of his career when he had lost a lot of his physical abilities, but he really wanted a shot at making a run at a championship," recalled Darnell Hillman of Johnson's influence on the Pacers.

"[48] In the ABA playoffs, Johnson and the Pacers defeated the Denver Rockets and Ralph Simpson 4–1 and the Utah Stars with Hall of Famer Zelmo Beaty and ironman Ron Boone 4–2 to advance to the ABA Finals against the Kentucky Colonels with Hall of Famers Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel and Louie Dampier.

When Indiana center Daniels was in foul trouble toward the end of Game 7, even with his bad knees, the 35-year old Johnson was called off the bench to defend Kentucky's Gilmore.

"[55] A month later he was also honored by the two college programs he played for, Boise State and Idaho, during a conference basketball game between the two teams on January 17, 1987.

A crowd of 12,225 at the BSU Pavilion in Boise set a Big Sky attendance record for a regular season game, and the visiting Vandals overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half to win by ten.

[8][9] “If he played today, ol’ Gussie would be a human highlight film,” said hall of famer Slick Leonard of Johnson.

He could play, man.”[61] Oscar Robertson, a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team that included the leagues 76 greatest players,[62] described Johnson as "'one of the truly great forwards of our time,' ... and one of the best rebounders I’ve ever seen in my life.