Johnny Neumann

After his sophomore season at Ole Miss, Neumann became the first player in basketball history to sign a hardship clause[4] as he signed a five-year, $2 million contract with the Memphis Pros of the American Basketball Association.[5] Neumann was later drafted by the Chicago Bulls, in the 6th round of the 1973 NBA draft.[6]

Neumann's professional career started strong, with averages of 18.3 points per game and 19.6 points per game in his first two full seasons with Memphis. He was named to the ABA All-Rookie Team in 1972.[7] However, Neumann gradually fell out of favor with the team's head coach and management, who thought he was not passing the ball enough, and he was traded by the Memphis Tams to the Utah Stars, in exchange for Glen Combs, Ronnie Robinson, Mike Jackson and cash, in January 1974.

In Neumann's first year with the Utah Stars, his team won the ABA Western Division and defeated the San Diego Conquistadors, in the Western Division Semifinals and the Indiana Pacers in the Western Division Finals, to make it to the ABA Championship series, where they lost the 1974 ABA Finals to the New York Nets. Despite the team's success, Neumann struggled to regain his scoring average after being traded to Utah. He averaged just 10.1 points per game, in 44 games played with the Stars.

In August 1974 the Stars traded Neumann and a draft choice, to the Virginia Squires, in exchange for Jim Eakins and Larry Miller. After just four games with the Squires, the Indiana Pacers bought Neumann's rights from the Squires, in November 1974. He averaged 8.3 points per game with Indiana.[6] Neumann finished out the 1974–75 season as a Pacer, and in March 1975, the Virginia Squires bought Neumann's rights back from the Pacers.[8]

Neumann averaged 16.6 points per game for Virginia during the 1975–76 season, but in January 1976, he was traded by the Squires.[6]

In January 1976, Neumann was traded along with Jan van Breda Kolff, to the Kentucky Colonels, in exchange for Marv Roberts. He averaged 10.1 points per game as the Colonels defeated the Indiana Pacers in the ABA Quarterfinals and lost a 4–3 seven-game series to the Denver Nuggets, in the 1976 ABA Semifinals.

After the ABA–NBA merger took place in June 1976, Neumann ended up with the Buffalo Braves. From 1976 to 1978, Neumann played 83 games in the NBA, as a member of the Braves, Los Angeles Lakers, and once again with the Pacers. His 1977–78 campaign with the Pacers, during which he averaged just 4.2 points per game, would be his last in the United States.

After leaving the NBA, Neumann took his game to Europe, where he competed in the Italian A League with Gabetti Cantù, in the 1978–79 season,[9] and in the German Federal League, with Saturn Köln, from 1980 to 1982.[10][11]