Dirk Nowitzki, an NBA MVP candidate this season, and Adrian Griffin are the only current Mavericks who were teammates of Johnson in 2002-2003.
"Avery's done a great job with us, preparing us every single night, teaching all the little things over the whole season and really turned the franchise around into a defensive ballclub first," Nowitzki said on Tuesday. "He's done a great job, so he deserves a lot of credit."
Dallas plays Game 2 of its first-round Western Conference series against Memphis on Wednesday. The Mavericks won the first game.
Johnson retired as a player in 2004, became Nelson's top assistant, and replaced him as head coach in March 2005.
RSS