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Assistant coach Mike D'Antoni replaces him

The Phoenix Suns today dismissed Frank Johnson from his position of head coach and elevated assistant coach Mike D’Antoni to head coach effective immediately.

Johnson took over as the team’s 11th head coach on Feb. 17, 2002 as a replacement for Scott Skiles and guided the team to a 63-71 (.470) record during his tenure. Through 21 games this season the Suns are 8-13 (.380) and one of only two teams in the Western Conference with a losing record.

The Suns finished the 2001-02 campaign with a 11-20 (.355) record under Johnson’s direction. Last season he guided a young Suns team to a 44-38 record (.537) and a trip to the 2003 NBA Playoffs after a one-year postseason absence, and posted the league’s fourth-best improvement (first among playoff teams).

Johnson originally joined the coaching staff on Feb. 20, 1997 as the third assistant coach under Danny Ainge. Known as “Fourth-Quarter Frank” during his 10-year NBA playing career, Johnson battled his way onto the Suns roster in the summer of 1992. He was a key reserve on the 1992-93 Suns team that reached the NBA Finals.

D’Antoni, a 30-year professional basketball veteran as a player, coach, front office executive and scout in the NBA, ABA and the Italian League, joined the Suns staff on June 25, 2002 as the top assistant coach.

This is the second NBA head coaching stint for D’Antoni, who served as head coach for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA shortened-lockout season in 1998-99 (14-36) and was the club’s director of player personnel in 1997-98. He was also on the bench as an assistant for Portland in the 2000-01 season and was a scout for San Antonio during the 1999-00 campaign.

Prior to joining the Suns, he coached Bennetton Treviso of the Italian League and led club to the Italian League championship after a 28-8 season.

An Italian League legend, D’Antoni also coached Benetton from 1994-97 when his team captured the Cup of Europe and Cup of Italy in 1995 and won the league title in 1996-97 after a 22-4 regular season. Prior to that he guided Philips Milan for four seasons from 1990-94 and led the club to the 1993 Korac Cup. During his Italian League tenure, D’Antoni led his teams to the playoffs each season and was twice voted the league’s Coach of the Year.

D’Antoni – a dual citizen of the United States and Italy – was an All-NBA Rookie Second Team choice in 1974 after the Kansas City-Omaha Kings selected him with the 20th pick in the 1973 NBA Draft.

D’Antoni then moved to Italy where he played 13 seasons for Milan and became the club’s all-time leading scorer. He was voted the league’s top point guard of all time in 1990 and he paced his team to five Italian League titles, two Cups of Europe, two Cups of Italy, one Korac Cup and one Intercontinental Cup.

A native of Mullens, West Virginia, D’Antoni played collegiately at Marshall University and graduated as the school’s career assist leader in 1973. His father, Lewis, was a legendary high school basketball coach in West Virginia and Ohio.