False reports hurt ex-Sun Johnson

One day, ex-Suns star and current television color analyst Eddie Johnson was relaxing on vacation in Hawaii.

The next, he was back at home answering phone calls about a sexual assault case that he knew nothing about — and seething over inaccurate media reports that involved newspapers, television stations, nationally syndicated radio and the Internet.

The problems started Tuesday when Edward Lee “Fast Eddie” Johnson — a former two-time NBA All-Star with the Atlanta Hawks who has had a history of legal problems since his retirement — was arrested and charged with the sexual assault of an 8-year-old girl.

But over the next 24 hours, Edward Arnet Johnson, the former Sixth Man of the Year with the Suns and popular broadcaster, was misidentified as the man arrested by at least three media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune and host Skip Bayless — substituting for the vacationing Jim Rome on Rome’s nationally syndicated radio show.

“This is why athletes have so many problems with the media,” said Johnson, 47, who is four years younger than the Eddie Johnson who was arrested Tuesday. “They don’t do their homework. They don’t bother to check facts before they write things or get on the radio and talk.

“I’m sitting here dumbfounded because 47 years of building a reputation is being destroyed in one morning by something I had nothing do with. I’ve been getting nasty e-mails all morning. It’s a nightmare.”

Johnson was born in Chicago and attended the University of Illinois. The Chicago Tribune ran the headline “Former NBA, Illini star accused of sexual assault” above a wire story of the incident. “Fast Eddie” Johnson was born in Ocala, Fla., and attended Auburn University.

By Wednesday afternoon the headline was changed to “Ex-NBA star Johnson accused in sex rap” on the paper’s ChicagoSports.com Web site.

“That’s my hometown paper, one of the biggest newspapers in the world. And they got it wrong,” Johnson said.

Bayless, known for his rants on the ESPN2 morning show “Cold Pizza,” reported the story inaccurately and added his own commentary before being informed he was talking about the wrong Eddie Johnson and apologizing several minutes later.

“Like that helps,” Johnson said. “By that time, it’s a little late.”

Johnson also said an Atlanta television station attached his picture to the sexual assault story on their Web site — even though “Fast Eddie” Johnson played several seasons with the hometown Hawks.

This is not the first time Edward Lee Johnson has been in trouble with the law. The Ocala Star-Banner reported that Marion County court records show numerous convictions for burglary, battery, robbery, marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest — all since 1989.

The Suns’ Eddie Johnson said after each offense, his name was linked with the crimes.

“This guy has been haunting me my whole life,” Johnson said.

“Every time he gets in trouble, some of it comes back to me. This is the worst crime, so it’s the worst backlash. It’s been snowballing for the last 24 hours.”

Johnson said he had already been in contact with his attorney Wednesday and was “thinking about” possible legal action.

“What would you do?” Johnson said. “It’s horrible, deflating and unfair.”