Darius Johnson-Odom

Darjo Johnson-Odom
Darjo Johnson-Odom
Born	September 28, 1989 (age 37); Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player
Known for	Playing for multiple international basketball teams and in the NBA

Darius "Darjo" Earvin Johnson-Odom (born September 28, 1989) is an American professional basketball athlete currently playing for Al-Difaa Al-Jawi in the Iraqi Basketball Premier League. He transferred to Marquette University in 2009 after starting his collegiate career at Hutchinson Community College. During his senior year, Johnson-Odom was recognized with first-team All-Big East accolades.

Player profile

Standing at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and weighing 100 kg (220 lb), Johnson-Odom operates primarily as a point guard and shooting guard. At the 2012 NBA draft combine, he measured 6 feet 3 inches while wearing shoes.

Professional career

After completing three seasons at Marquette University, Johnson-Odom was selected with the 55th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks, who immediately traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. Throughout the 2012–13 season, he spent considerable time with the Lakers' D-League affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

On January 7, 2013, Johnson-Odom was released by the Lakers on the deadline for non-guaranteed contracts. In his brief stint with Los Angeles, he appeared in four games totaling six minutes but excelled in the D-Fenders by leading the team with an average of 21 points per outing.

Later that month, on January 24, 2013, he signed with Russian outfit BC Spartak Saint Petersburg to finish the season. During summer 2013, he participated in the Orlando Summer League representing the Boston Celtics, then rejoined the Lakers in September before being waived in October. Soon after, he signed with China's Sichuan Blue Whales but departed after only four games.

In January 2014, Johnson-Odom joined the NBA D-League's Springfield Armor. By March, he secured a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, but was not retained once it ended. Since then, he has not appeared in any NBA contests.

Throughout his NBA career, Johnson-Odom set a record for most field goal attempts without a successful basket—going 0-for-11 over seven games—and also holds the mark for most minutes played (21) without registering any points.

In August 2014, he inked a deal with Italian club Pallacanestro Cantù for the 2014–15 campaign. The following season saw him join Turkish team Trabzonspor Basketball before transferring midyear to Greek powerhouse Olympiacos B.C..

June 2016 brought a contract with Italy’s Dinamo Basket Sassari for the 2016–17 season; however, he departed in February 2017 to sign with Vanoli Cremona, where he renewed his contract in September.

On September 24, 2018, Johnson-Odom agreed to terms with the Minnesota Timberwolves, shortly after receiving an eight-month suspension from an Italian anti-doping tribunal due to a positive THC test from May. Minnesota waived him in October, after which he joined their G-League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, leading that squad by averaging 22.5 points across 49 games.

In March 2019, he signed with Italian side Reggio Emilia and extended his stay for two additional years in July. He transitioned to French Pro A competition in July 2020 by joining Orléans Loiret Basket, then moved to another Pro A team, Le Mans Sarthe Basket, in October 2021.

By July 2022, Johnson-Odom had signed with Romanian Liga Națională club Rapid București.

On February 19, 2024, he returned to French basketball with Orléans Loiret Basket, competing in LNB Pro B and averaging 13.9 points alongside 6.4 assists over sixteen games.

Most recently, on September 21, 2024, Johnson-Odom committed to Iraqi Premier League competitor Al-Difaa Al-Jawi.

The Basketball Tournament

Johnson-Odom has taken part in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all competition offering a $1 million prize, representing the Golden Eagles, a squad mainly composed of former Marquette athletes. His appearances include TBT 2016, TBT 2017, and a comeback in TBT 2020, during which the Golden Eagles secured the $1 million championship. Johnson-Odom earned the tournament's Most Valuable Player honors, posting averages of 16.8 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.0 steals per contest, highlighted by a 15-point effort in the final match. He also competed with the Golden Eagles in TBT 2022.

College

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Marquette | 34 || 22 || 29.7 || .455 || .474 || .677 || 2.7 || 2.4 || .9 || .2 || 13.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Marquette | 37 || 35 || 30.0 || .433 || .364 || .708 || 3.0 || 2.4 || .8 || .2 || 15.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011–12 | style="text-align:left;"| Marquette | 34 || 33 || 32.9 || .447 || .385 || .764 || 3.5 || 2.7 || .9 || .1 || 18.3 |- | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 105 || 90 || 30.8 || .443 || .402 || .722 || 3.1 || 2.5 || .9 || .2 || 15.7

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 4 || 0 || 1.5 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 1.0 || .3 || .0 || .0 || .0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 3 || 0 || 5.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || .7 || .3 || .3 || .0 || .0 |- | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 7 || 0 || 3.0 || .000 || .000 || .000|| .9|| .3|| .1|| .0|| .0

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2012–13 | style="text-align:left;"| Los Angeles | 13||13|| 39.8|| .440|| .393|| .817|| 5.2||5.2||1.3|| .2||21.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2013–14 | style="text-align:left;"| Springfield | 27||26||35.9|| .453|| .356|| .815||4.4|| 6.1|| 1.4|| .2|| 22.0 |- | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |40||39||37.2|| .448|| .369|| .816||4.7||5.8||1.4|| .2||21.7

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2012–13 | style="text-align:left;"| St. Petersburg | 13 || 4 || 10.3 || .418 || .200 || .692 || .9 || .9 || .3 || .0 || 5.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2013–14 | style="text-align:left;"| Sichuan | 5 || 0 || 30.8 || .596 || .556 || .806 || 3.4|| 2.2|| .6|| .2|| 20.4 |- | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 18||4||16.0||.509||.294||.758||1.6||1.2||.4||.1||9.5

External links