Dakari Naeem Johnson (born September 22, 1995) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, who most recently played for the

Qingdao Eagles The Qingdao Guoxin Haitian Eagle Club, also known as Qingdao Daily Fresh or Qingdao Eagles are a Chinese professional basketball team which is based in Qingdao, Shandong. The club plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball Association ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

(CBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

High school career

20130403 MCDAAG Dakari Johnson putback dunk (3)

Johnson first attended St. Patrick High School in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

. After the 2010–11 school year, when coach Kevin Boyle left for

Montverde Academy Montverde Academy is a private PK–12 school in Montverde, Florida, United States. History The school was founded in 1912 as Montgomery Industrial School. The school president was Henry P. Carpenter. It underwent a major expansion in 1921, whe ...

, Johnson followed his coach, where he had to sit out the 2011–12 season due to the transfer. Because of his excellent grades, Johnson decided to reclassify, thus making the 2012–13 season his final and senior season at the high school level. He ended up averaging 17.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game as a senior. His senior year he garnered

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

All-American Second-Team for his success. He subsequently earned selection to the

2013 McDonald's All-American Boys Game The 2013 McDonald's All-American Boys Game is an All-star basketball game that was played on April 3, 2013 at the United Center in Chicago, home of the Chicago Bulls. It is the 36th annual McDonald's All-American Game for high school boys. The ...

and

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

. Considered a five-star recruit by

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...

, Johnson was ranked as the No. 2 center in the nation in 2013.

College career

As a freshman at

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in 2013–14, Johnson spent the season backing up teammate

Julius Randle Julius Deion Randle (born November 29, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In his second season with the Knicks in 2020–21, he was a first-time NBA All-Star ...

and averaged 5.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 39 games. As a sophomore the following season, he again played back-up, this time to freshman big man

Karl-Anthony Towns Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. (born November 15, 1995), sometimes known as KAT (his initials), is a Dominican-American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketb ...

and junior

Willie Cauley-Stein Willie Trill Cauley-Stein (born Willie Durmond Cauley Jr.; August 18, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball with the Kentucky Wildcats. He previously ...

. He again appeared in 39 games in 2014–15 and averaged slightly higher numbers with 6.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. On April 9, 2015, Johnson declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final two years of college eligibility. He was joined alongside fellow Kentucky teammates in

Aaron Harrison Aaron Malik Harrison (born October 28, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Kaohsiung Steelers of the P. League+. He was considered one of the top high school recruits in 2013 and played college basketball for the University o ...

, Andrew Harrison, Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein,

Trey Lyles Trey Anthony Lyles (born November 5, 1995) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Utah Jazz following his freshman season at the University of Kent ...

and

Devin Booker Devin Armani Booker (born October 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the son of former basketball player Melvin Booker. After playing college basketba ...

Professional career

Oklahoma City Blue (2015–2017)

On June 25, 2015, Johnson was selected by the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

with the 48th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. He later joined the Thunder for the

2015 NBA Summer League The 2015 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA: the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week-long Orlando Pro Summer League a ...

where he averaged 7.6 points and 8.6 rebounds in five games. On November 3, 2015, he was acquired by the

Oklahoma City Blue The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center. The franchise began as t ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

, the affiliate team of the Thunder. On November 14, he made his professional debut in a 110–104 loss to the

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the postseason in ...

, recording 16 points, nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 33 minutes. Johnson appeared in all 50 games for the Blue in 2015–16, averaging 12.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. He subsequently earned NBA D-League All-Rookie Team honors. Johnson returned to the Blue for the 2016–17 season, and on February 6, 2017, he was named in the Western Conference All-Star team for the 2017 NBA D-League All-Star Game.

Oklahoma City Thunder (2017–2018)

On July 22, 2017, Johnson signed with the

. He scored four points in his NBA debut on October 19, 2017 in the Thunder's 105–84 win over the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. During his only season with the

, he started six games for the team where he replaced

Steven Adams Steven Funaki Adams (born 20 July 1993) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing one season with his hometown team, the Wellington Saints, in 2011, Ada ...

. As the starting center for the team they went 5-1 in those games. Johnson was a plus-26 in point differential in those six games, including a plus-26 in rout to a victory against the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

when Johnson held his own against

DeAndre Jordan Hyland DeAndre Jordan Jr. (born July 21, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas A&M Aggies. Jordan was sel ...

. Johnson's averages for those six games: 15 minutes, 5.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 0.3 turnovers, 64.7 percent shooting and 60 percent foul shooting. On July 20, 2018, Johnson was traded to the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

in exchange for

Rodney Purvis Rodney O'Keith Purvis (born February 14, 1994) is an American professional basketball player who plays for KB PEJA of the Kosovo Basketball Superleague. A shooting guard from Plymouth, North Carolina, he played college basketball for the NC Sta ...

. Cash considerations were also sent to the Magic. On July 23, 2018, Johnson and the draft rights to Tyler Harvey were traded to the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

in exchange for

Jarell Martin Jarell Martin (born May 24, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League and the EuroLeague. Martin, a power forward from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, played college basketball at LSU. High sc ...

and cash considerations. On August 31, 2018, Johnson was waived by the

Qingdao Eagles (2018–2019)

On September 11, 2018, Johnson was reported to have signed with Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles of the

(CBA).

Anuyi Wenyi (2019)

On August 23, 2019, Johnson was reported to have played for Anhui Wenyi of the National Basketball League (NBL) and returned with a championship and

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

honors.

Return to the Eagles (2019–present)

In the 2019-20 season, Johnson averaged 23.7 points, 14.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. On September 9, 2020, Johnson re-signed with Qingdao.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

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Playoffs

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Personal life

Dakari comes from a basketball family in Brooklyn, New York, where he is a third-generation basketball player. His family's basketball legacy started with his grandfather Leslie R. Campbell, best known as Jitu Weusi, who played college basketball at

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

. His mother Makini Campbell also played at

, and his uncle Kojo Campbell played basketball at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

. His brother Kamani Johnson played basketball at Arkansas-Little Rock before transferring to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. His cousin Michael Murray played college basketball at

Coppin State University Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State stu ...

, where he was selected all-

MEAC The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

his senior year. Most recently, Michael played professionally in Spain.

References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Dakari 1995 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Centers (basketball) Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Montverde Academy alumni Oklahoma City Blue players Oklahoma City Thunder draft picks Oklahoma City Thunder players Qingdao Eagles players Sportspeople from Brooklyn The Patrick School alumni United States men's national basketball team players 21st-century African-American sportspeople