He played seven seasons with Milwaukee before finishing his NBA career with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors.

[1][2][3] Johnson attended elementary school with future National Football League Hall of Fame receiver James Lofton.

[2] He played high school basketball at Crenshaw High School in Crenshaw, Los Angeles, under head coach Willie West (who won double digit city and state championships), winning the Los Angeles City Section 4-A Division Player of the Year in 1973.

[2][3] In his sophomore season in 1974–75, playing forward, Johnson helped to lead the Bruins to Coach John Wooden's 10th and final NCAA Division I men's basketball championship.

He also took a newly offered sportscasting class while a student at UCLA, and hosted a non-sports campus television show.

[36] That season, in what was perhaps one of the best games of his career, on December 12, 1978, Johnson scored 40 points (on a remarkable 74% shooting percentage) and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 120–114 win against the Phoenix Suns.

[39][40] The following season, on February 27, 1980, Johnson recorded a triple double with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 119–110 victory against the Phoenix Suns.

The feat was especially impressive as key teammates Junior Bridgeman and Sidney Moncrief were limited with injuries, and only played 19 and 20 minutes respectively.

[45] On May 2, 1983, in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Johnson scored 33 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the Bucks to a 4–0 sweep of Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics.

[46] Despite this, the Bucks would fall to the eventual champion Philadelphia 76ers, led by NBA MVP Moses Malone, during the next round in 5 games, in what were contested matchups.

But what happened was, I come to Milwaukee, and we’ve got this nucleus of just great young talent from all sorts of solid programs: myself and Dave Meyers from UCLA; and Junior Bridgeman from Louisville; Quinn Buckner, who we lost to twice in ’76 on that great Indiana team with Kent Benson; Brian Winters from South Carolina.

So this great youth movement in Milwaukee with an opportunity to build and grow together.”[2] In the 1984 off-season, Nelson – who was also Bucks general manager – traded Johnson, forward-guard Junior Bridgeman, forward Harvey Catchings and cash to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for forward Terry Cummings, and guards Craig Hodges and Ricky Pierce.

[53] This was a homecoming for Johnson, as he grew up and attended high school just a few miles from the Clippers' home at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

[40] They moved him to guard in 1985–86, and he bounced back with an all-star season and was named the NBA Comeback Player of the Year, ironically winning the award over Walter Davis who earlier had bested him for rookie-of-the-year.

[58][59] On November 20, 1986, Johnson suffered a ruptured disk in his neck after colliding with teammate Benoit Benjamin during a game in Dallas.

[72][73] Josiah also played basketball at UCLA,[74] and later helped create the Comedy Central show, The Legends of Chamberlain Heights.

[69] Moriah played basketball at Tuskegee University,[79] where he also got a Master's degree in occupational therapy, and was an actor on the BET's Baldwin Hills.

[1] Shiloh excels at golf and swimming, and at 15 years old, and 6 ft tall, has become a high school basketball player (as of 2024).

It’s bad, but it’s not really this bad.’ And you couldn't have told me different.”[86] Following up on his UCLA experiences in the media, during his time as a player in Milwaukee he did some work for the local NBC television affiliate, including a piece on playing the Celtics and 76ers where he interviewed Red Auerbach and Julius Erving.

[6] As his playing career ended, Johnson got into the entertainment business, as he acted in small roles in many films, including White Men Can't Jump, Love and Action in Chicago, Blue Chips, and Forget Paris.

His role in the aforementioned White Men Can't Jump as Raymond was praised, and Johnson claims fans still regularly quote the movie to him if they recognize him in public.

[6][87][88] Johnson was the early morning show co-host on the Clippers' flagship radio station, KFWB-AM in Los Angeles.

[93] Since 2015, Johnson has worked as both a full-time and part-time analyst for Milwaukee Bucks telecasts on Fox Sports Wisconsin.