Tag: Joe Johnson

How Joe Johnson — yes, that Joe Johnson — could win his first NBA ring with the Celtics

Iso Joe, NBA champion?!

Joe Johnson — known to so many NBA fans as Iso Joe — could win his first NBA ring at the age of 40 this year.

That’s despite the fact that the veteran who has played with eight teams in his career isn’t even on the Boston Celtics’ playoff roster.

But if the Celts take down the Golden State Warriors this year — Boston isn’t favored, and the fact that Kendrick Lamar’s new album dropped this year is also bad news for the Celtics — it’s possible the franchise will give Johnson a ring after he played for them this year.

What’s the deal here? Let’s explain below:

Four former Hogs have eyes on NBA title as playoffs set to start

Arkansas had seven guys in the NBA this season. Four are in the playoffs, hoping for a NBA ring as the playoffs begin this weekend.

[autotag]Arkansas basketball[/autotag] had arguably its best season from former Razorbacks in the NBA in 2021-22. Now four of those ex-Hogs are seeking an NBA title.

The Razorbacks had seven players in the NBA at one point this season. It’s the most Arkansas has had in top pro league in the world at a time since 1999 when a different seven were on NBA rosters.

[autotag]Bobby Portis[/autotag], who won the NBA championship with Milwaukee last year, had even better individual season this year. [autotag]Moses Moody[/autotag] tied a record with Golden State in his rookie season to put his name alongside none other than Stephen Curry. [autotag]Patrick Beverley[/autotag] helped Minnesota to a play-in round win earlier in the week and remains one of the league’s best defenders. [autotag]Isaiah Joe[/autotag] took a step forward with Philadelphia. [autotag]Daniel Gafford[/autotag] started most of the season for Washington. [autotag]Mason Jones[/autotag] had a cup of coffee with the Lakers. Even [autotag]Joe Johnson[/autotag], the most successful former Arkansas player in the NBA the last couple decades, had a return to the top level.

Portis’, Moody’s, Beverley’s and Joe’s teams all made the playoffs. Play-in games continue Friday before the traditional No. 1 seed through No. 8 seed tournament begins Saturday.

This is a closer look at the Hogs vying for a championship.

ESPN picks, then ranks, Arkansas’ “all-time starting five”

Where does ESPN’s pick of an “all-time” Arkansas squad compare to other “all-time” teams in the Sweet 16?

Arkansas Basketball has seen its share of success this season thanks to sharp-shooting by JD Notae, smooth all-around efforts by Jaylin Williams, and incredible coaching by Eric Musselman.

As the Razorbacks prepare for their second straight appearance in the Sweet 16, ESPN’s Myron Medcalf has selected an all-time starting five for Arkansas, as well as every remaining team in the NCAA Tournament, and has ranked them according to collegiate production.

Based on the all-time team that the staff at ESPN put together, the Razorbacks would be the 10th best team in this year’s field. 

College Basketball’s “blue bloods” such as UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas, and Duke are ranked No. 1 through No. 4 respectively, while the Razorbacks beat out the all-time teams of Providence, Iowa State, Miami, Texas Tech, St. Peters, and Thursday’s Sweet 16 opponent, Gonzaga.

Here’s a look at what ESPN calls a “tough opponent.”

  • G Sidney Moncrief: AP All-America first team (1979); averaged 16.9 PPG and 8.3 RPG in four seasons at Arkansas; Southwest Conference player of the year (1979); led team to Final Four (1978)
  • G Todd Day: AP All-America second team (1991); averaged 19.5 PPG for Final Four team in 1990; Southwest Conference player of the year (1991)
  • F Joe Johnson: SEC freshman of the year (2000); averaged 15.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 41% from 3 in two seasons at Arkansas
  • F Corliss Williamson: AP All-America second team (1994, 1995); led the team to the 1994 national title; 1995 SEC player of the year; averaged 19.0 PPG and 7.1 RPG in three years at Arkansas
  • C Joe Kleine: Averaged 18.1 PPG and 8.3 RPG in three years at Arkansas (1982-85)
  • Coach: Nolan Richardson (coached team to 1994 national title)

New Boston Celtic Joe Johnson took break from hot yoga business to sign 10-day

Boston Celtics forward Joe Johnson paused his pursuit of a hot yoga business in order to sign with the team, according to Marc Spears.

New Boston Celtics forward Joe Johnson reportedly took a break from pursuing his own hot yoga business in Atlanta to sign a 10-day contract with the team, according to The Undefeated’s Marc Spears. Within three hours of a call from his agent, Johnson was on a plane to Boston to sign a short-term deal, as many other veterans have in recent weeks as COVID-19 cases rise in the league.

Johnson took up hot yoga in 2009 to help with knee tendinitis and Achilles issues while he was playing for the Atlanta Hawks to help with injury prevention. Johnson told Spears the challenge of hot yoga gives him the same mental feelings that basketball does.

Johnson was originally taken by the Celtics with the No. 10 pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. He played 48 games in green before getting traded to the Phoenix Suns before the season’s end.

WATCH: What can the Boston Celtics do to get better in the short term?

And will having more veteran voices around help ease the process?

How can the Boston Celtics improve their team? DO they need to make a big splash as soon as possible? Or would it make more sense to hit a bunch of singles to borrow a metaphor from another sport? And just how much can bringing in more veteran voices as the team did by signing Joe Johnson help the Celtics’ fortunes moving forward?

Without the treasure chest of draft picks that Boston held under the previous regime of former President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge (and with some of his mistakes still yet to be undone), the Celtics have work to do to improve the roster under new team president Brad Stevens.

What tools are available and what direction should the franchise take? The hosts of the eponymous CLNS Media “Cedric Maxwell” podcast, Maxwell and co-host Josue Pavon talk about how Boston can improve itself, the addition of Joe Johnson, how former Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas is fairing in his return to the league, and more.

Check out the clip embedded above to get their takes on all things Celtics in the news cycle of the moment.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Twitter reacts to the return of Joe Johnson to the Boston Celtics after nearly 20 years

It made for quite the reunion in Boston’s win over the Cavs.

The Boston Celtics were reunited with their No. 10 pick of the 2001 NBA draft — Joe Johnson — after nearly 20 years apart on Wednesday, with Johnson logging his first minutes for any team in the league since the 2017-18 season with a 2-point outing in a 111 – 101 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers that same evening.

It might not seem like much, but fans were excited for the perceived righting of the wrong committed by unpopular former team president and head coach Rick Pitino all those years ago when Pitino dealt away the future star for a comparative pittance in return.

They were even more ecstatic when ISO Joe sunk his sole basket attempt late in the win, and many fans and analysts took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the signing and Little Rock native’s return to action.

Joe Johnson regresa a la NBA y anotó con uno de los tiros más geniales del año

Ayer en la tarde, Joe Johnson hizo historia en la NBA al firmar un contrato por diez días con los Boston Celtics y ayer en la noche, regresó por primera vez a una cancha de la NBA desde los playoffs de 2018 y anotó con un tiro en suspensión como si …

Ayer en la tarde, Joe Johnson hizo historia en la NBA al firmar un contrato por diez días con los Boston Celtics y ayer en la noche, regresó por primera vez a una cancha de la NBA desde los playoffs de 2018 y anotó con un tiro en suspensión como si fuera lo más fácil del mundo.

Nada mal para un jugador de 40 años quien en los últimos años ha pasado su tiempo haciendo ejercicio con su hijo de 14 años y que juega en el equipo de basquetbol de su escuela.

Ayer, el retorno de Johnson a la NBA fue una noticia impactante. La razón es que el brote de COVID-19 en la liga tiene a los equipos consiguiendo jugadores para llenar las posiciones vacantes debido al virus.

La parte histórica de su contratación es simplemente increíble. Johnson, quien ha participado siete veces en el All-Star de la NBA, fue seleccionado por los Celtics en 2001 y después, durante su temporada como novato, lo transfirieron a Phoenix (por Rodney Rodgers y Tony Delk). Su retorno de ayer en la noche ganó el récord de más días transcurridos entre una aparición y otra en el mismo equipo: 19 años y 308 días.

Son casi 20 años desde la última vez que jugó para los Celtics. ¡Es muchísimo tiempo!

Traducción: Parece que Joe Johnson estaba muy emotivo antes del partido, según la historia de IG de los Celtics.
Fue realmente genial que entrara y marcara su primera anotación de vuelta en la NBA. 

 

Johnson, quien hoy es el único jugador de la NBA en haber jugado contra Michael Jordan (lo que en sí ya es una locura), se ha mantenido en forma a través de los años jugando en el Big 3 y ejercitándose con su hijo.

Ayer en la noche, en el partido Cavs-Celtics en Boston, el público coreaba “¡Queremos a Joe!”. Cuando quedaba 1:57 en el reloj, “Iso Joe” se dirigió hacia la mesa del anotador y entró al juego.

Traducción: Una ovación de pie para Joe Johnson cuando entra al partido para los #Celtics

 

Poco después de eso anotó su primera canasta con un tiro suspendido tal y como lo había hecho tantas veces en su carrera y el estadio enloqueció.

Traducción: ¡¡LA ANOTACIÓN DE JOE JOHNSON EN LA NBA EN 2021!!

 

Estos son tiempos muy complicados para todos y todavía seguimos lidiando con la pandemia.

Pero por un breve momento, anoche pudimos ver algo hermoso en los deportes, algo que nadie pudo haber predicho.

Tras el juego, Johnson dijo:

“El que hayan coreado mi nombre de esa forma es un poco surrealista, desde salir y haber ganado, en primer lugar, hasta llegar al partido y ser relativamente eficiente, es una alegría. A mi edad, simplemente trato de apreciar el momento, disfrutar el proceso y la vida.

Es justo lo que estoy haciendo ahorita, viviendo el momento, y es muy divertido.”

El día de ayer fue un día que Joe Johnson nunca olvidará, fue algo realmente bello.

 

Artículo traducido por Ana Lucía Toledo

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Joe Johnson returned to the NBA and scored one of the coolest buckets of the year

This was all so awesome.

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

Joe Johnson made NBA history yesterday afternoon just by signing a 10-day contract with the Boston Celtics and then last night he stepped back out on a NBA court for the first time since the 2018 playoffs and hit a jumper like it was nothing.

Not bad for a 40-year-old guy who has spent most of his time lately working out with his 14-year-old son who plays high school basketball.

Johnson’s return to the NBA was stunning news yesterday. It happened because of the COVID-19 outbreak in the league that has teams picking up lots of players to fill in for the many absences due to the virus.

This history part of his signing is pretty darn incredible. Johnson, a seven-time All-Star, was drafted by the Celtics in 2001 and then was traded to Phoenix (for Rodney Rodgers and Tony Delk) during his rookie season. His return last night crushed the record for most days between appearances for the same team -19 years and 308 days.

That’s almost 20 years since the last time he played for the Celtics. That’s a long time!

Johnson, who is currently the only NBA player to have played against Michael Jordan (which is just insane), has stayed in shape over the years by playing in the Big 3 and working out with his son.

Late in last night’s Cavs-Celtics game in Boston the crowd chanted “We want Joe!” Then with 1:57 left “Iso Joe” made his way to the scorer’s table and entered the game.

Shortly thereafter he drained a jumper like he’s done so many times in his career and the place went nuts.

These are some very tough times for everyone as we continue to deal with the pandemic.

But for a few moments last night we got to see something beautiful happen in sports, something that nobody could have predicted.

After the game Johnson said:

“It is kind of surreal, to have them chanting my name like that, and obviously come out and us get the win first and foremost, but to come in the game and be somewhat effective, that’s fun. At my age, man, you just try to relish every moment, enjoy the process and live in the moment.

“That’s kind of what I’m doing right now, just living in the moment. And it’s fun.”

Yesterday was a day Joe Johnson will never forget. And it was pretty darn sweet.

Quick hits: NFL Pro Bowl snubs… NFL playoff picture heading into Week 16… Wheel of Fortune fans rightfully upset… And more. 

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

– The NFL Pro Bowl teams were announced yesterday and Charles Curtis looks at 9 guys, including Austin Ekeler, who got snubbed.

– Here’s a look at the NFL playoff picture as Week 16 starts tonight with the Titans hosting the 49ers.

– Wheel of Fortune fans were rightfully livid over a contestant losing out on a car over a dumb technicality.

– Bryan Kalbrosky has a great Q&A with Oregon’s Sedona Prince that touches on gaining TikTok fame, NIL deals, and her fight against the NCAA.

– Here are our NFL Week 16 picks against the spread.

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Woj: Boston Celtics to sign former No. 10 pick Joe Johnson to 10-day hardship exception

ISO Joe was their first-round pick in the 2001 NBA draft.

The Boston Celtics are going full “Back to the Future” mode with their latest 10-day hardship exception signing, and inking their 2001 first-round draft pick Joe Johnson, according to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

Wojnarowski adds that Johnson is expected to play against the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night at TD Garden on the same day of his signing. At age 40 and having not played in the league since he was with the Houston Rockets in 2017-19, Celtics fans ought to temper their expectations — particularly given that the Little Rock native logged a modest 6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game while shooting just 27.9% from beyond the arc.

He likely won’t be a difference-maker on the court should he play, and could even threaten to take minutes likely better spent on developing young players away if used incorrectly.

But as a veteran presence and warm body should the worst happen and the team lose even more players into the league’s health and safety protocols or end up on the team’s injury report for other reasons, it is indeed a most interesting signing.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: Jaylen Brown playing 3-on-3 ball with Joe Johnson, John Wall, Ben Simmons

The Georgia native’s wrist is looking ready to go for the season.

Boston Celtics All-Star forward Jaylen Brown has been putting in some on-court work with a cadre of NBA household names this offseason, getting in some 3-on-3 basketball with Houston Rockets point guard John Wall, former Celtics draftee Joe Johnson and disgruntled Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons.

Brown seems set for another leap forward in the coming season, showing off his handles and ability to get to the rack or launch a midrange dagger with apparent ease. While it might be a friendly gathering, it isn’t like it was among a bunch of scrubs from the men’s league he was playing against, either.

Such outings of course must be taken with a grain of salt given the context, but Brown looks healed from the late-season wrist surgery that ended his 2020-21 campaign early.

Watch the video embedded above courtesy of Swish Culture and get a look at his game for yourself.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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