Vickie Johnson

Vickie Johnson (born April 15, 1972) is an American former basketball player and assistant coach of the Atlanta Dream. She was previously the head coach of the Dallas Wings in the WNBA. Johnson is the former head coach of the San Antonio Stars. Upon the sale and relocation of the Stars, Johnson was hired by head coach Bill Laimbeer as an assistant coach of the Las Vegas Aces, the Stars' decedent team.
Early years
Johnson grew up in Coushatta, Louisiana. Johnson was a letter-man in basketball and track and field. In track and field, she was the Louisiana State Champion on the long jump as a senior.
College years
Vickie Johnson was a two-time All-American and Sun Belt Conference MVP at Louisiana Tech University. She led the Lady Techsters to the 1994 NCAA Championship Game, was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 1995 and earned Louisiana Player of the Year honors in 1996. She finished her career at Louisiana Tech with 1,891 career points and 831 rebounds and was inducted into the Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. She graduated from Louisiana Tech in 1996.
WNBA career
Johnson was selected 12th overall in the second round of the inaugural WNBA Elite draft in 1997, which was composed of professional women's basketball players who had competed in other leagues, usually international leagues.
She was a two-time WNBA all-star and was the first New York Liberty player to record 2000 points.
In June 2005 in honor of Johnson's 3,000 points scored, Sandy Levine, owner of the world-famous Carnegie Deli in Manhattan, created the VJ Classic sandwich, a belly-busting sandwich.
Johnson ended an eight-year career with the Liberty by signing with the San Antonio Silver Stars on February 9, 2006.
Johnson retired from play at the end of 2009 season. She ended her career with the most games played out of all of the draftees from the 1997 Elite Draft (410 games played) with Wendy Palmer (9th pick of the Elite Draft) having the 2nd most games played at 311.
Johnson's final WNBA game ever was played in Game 3 of the 2009 Western Conference First Round on September 21, 2009 against the Phoenix Mercury. Despite Johnson's incredible performance of 24 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals, the Silver Stars would lose the game 92 - 100 and be eliminated from the playoffs.
Coaching record
|-
| align="left" | SAS
| align="left" | 2017
| 34 || 8 || 26 || || align="center" | 6th in West || - || - || - || -
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" | DAL
| align="left" | 2021
| 32 || 14 || 18 || || align="center" | 5th in West || 1 || 0 || 1 ||
| align="center" | Lost in 1st Round
|-
| align="left" | DAL
| align="left" | 2022
| 36 || 18 || 18 || || align="center" | 3rd in West || 3 || 1 || 2 ||
| align="center" | Lost in 1st Round
|- class="sortbottom"
| align="left" | Career
| || 102 || 40 || 62 || || || 4 || 1 || 3 ||
European career
1996-1997: Tarbes Gespe Bigorre
1997-1998: W Bordeaux Basket
1998-2000: Lachen Ramat Hasharon
2000-2001: Elitzur Cellcom Holon
2004-2005: Trentino Rovereto Basket
2005-2007: MiZo Pécs
2007-2008: Galatasaray
References
External links
WNBA player profile
WNBA chat transcript
1972 births
Living people
All-American college women's basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in France
American expatriate basketball people in Hungary
American expatriate basketball people in Israel
American expatriate basketball people in Italy
American expatriate basketball people in Turkey
American women's basketball coaches
American women's basketball players
Basketball coaches from Louisiana
Basketball players from Louisiana
Dallas Wings coaches
Galatasaray S.K. (women's basketball) players
Las Vegas Aces coaches
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball players
New York Liberty draft picks
New York Liberty players
Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball)
People from Coushatta, Louisiana
San Antonio Stars coaches
San Antonio Stars players
Shooting guards
Tarbes Gespe Bigorre players
Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars