BIO: Bijan Johnson was born in Houston, Texas (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Bijan Johnson made his NBL debut with the Adelaide 36ers at 21 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

After narrowly missing out on the NBL championship the previous season, Adelaide entered a rebuilding phase with the departure of several key players, most notably second-leading scorer Mitch Creek, who left to pursue an NBA opportunity. Creek’s move to the Brooklyn Nets’ G-League team led Adelaide to seek new talent, resulting in the signing of import Jacob Wiley and point guard Adris De León. Rising stars Harry Froling, Jack McVeigh, and Bijan Johnson also joined the team, adding youthful energy to a squad that retained key players like Nathan Sobey, Daniel Johnson, and Majok Deng.

Despite the roster shakeup, Adelaide’s season was a mixed bag. The team began the season with a loss to Perth but bounced back to defeat Sydney in their second game. Nathan Sobey continued to elevate his game, recording a standout triple-double (22 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists) in a Round 3 win over Cairns. However, after a promising start, Adelaide fell into a four-game losing streak, which led to the release of De León and the addition of Demitrius Conger to the roster.

Adelaide’s inconsistency persisted throughout the season, with a combination of injuries and roster adjustments disrupting the team’s rhythm. Despite back-to-back victories in Round 7, including a high-scoring win over Cairns, Adelaide struggled to maintain form. Key players like Daniel Johnson (17.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists) and Nathan Sobey (16.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists) led the team in scoring, with Sobey earning All-NBL Second Team honours. Meanwhile, Majok Deng, in a supporting role, contributed solid numbers (7.6 points, 2.9 rebounds) across the season.

The 36ers finished the regular season with a 14-14 record, tied with Brisbane for the final playoff spot. However, due to Brisbane’s higher points percentage, Adelaide missed out on the playoffs, ending the season in fifth place.

After joining Adelaide, Bijan Johnson saw limited court time, appearing in only five games for the 36ers. Johnson scored a season-high of 2 points in two separate outings against Cairns (23 Nov) and New Zealand (30 Dec). Despite playing minimal minutes, his presence provided additional depth to the Adelaide roster, and he continued to work on developing his game while playing behind established guards.

2019/20
After rejoining Adelaide as part of their roster, the 36ers entered the 2019/20 season with high expectations, driven by the return of Jerome Randle. The team made several key additions, but inconsistency once again became a theme. Despite starting with a 3-1 record, the 36ers struggled through a rough patch, suffering four consecutive losses to teams like South East Melbourne, Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth.

One of the season’s highlights was a morale-boosting win against South East Melbourne in Round 7, demonstrating their ability to compete with top-tier teams. However, they couldn’t build enough momentum, finishing the regular season in seventh place with a 12-16 record and missing the playoffs once again.

Bijan Johnson contributed off the bench, appearing in five games during the season. His standout performances came in two key outings: in a game against Illawarra on December 20, 2019, he shot 1-for-1 from the field, scoring 2 points and adding a rebound in a solid performance that helped Adelaide secure a victory. He followed this with another appearance on February 8, 2020, against Cairns, where he contributed 2 points and grabbed 2 rebounds.

Despite limited minutes, Johnson provided depth and energy when called upon, continuing his development behind the more established players on the roster. The 36ers, however, struggled to find consistency and finished their season on a disappointing note, missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Strong efforts from Jerome Randle (19.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 4.5 assists) and Daniel Johnson (18 points and 8.3 rebounds) couldn’t prevent Adelaide from finishing outside the playoff race with a 12-16 record.

Bijan Johnson played two seasons the Adelaide 36ers..

Dan Boyce (832 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.