Coming off a second straight MVP season in the BIG3, Joe Johnson hasn’t given up on the idea of returning to the NBA. Johnson, who turned 40 in June, tells TMZ he still believes he can play at the highest level.
“No, I’m not done,” he said. “We’ll see what happens here … We’ll see, man. We’ll see. I don’t have nothing definite to tell you, to be honest with you. But, I’mma be out here to try to get things done.”
Johnson hasn’t been in the NBA since the 2017/18 season when he played a combined 55 games for the Jazz and Rockets. He was in training camp with the Pistons in 2019, but lost a battle for the team’s final roster spot and was waived before the season began.
Johnson had a workout with the Bucks in April, but Milwaukee opted not to sign him. He played for Team USA in February at the AmeriCup qualifiers in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
A seven-time All-Star, Johnson played 17 NBA seasons, averaging 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 1,276 career games.
Although it may be difficult for Johnson to get a training camp invitation with so many teams having full rosters, he told TMZ he continues to be motivated by the thrill of playing basketball long after most of his contemporaries have retired.
“I just love hooping,” he said.
Looks like a Lakers fit!
Lol. Leave my lakers out of this.
I am also keeping the door open for an NBA return,
Really respect Joe and he’s a true old school hooper but time enjoy life. Big 3, street ball leagues heck even the Y 30 and older leagues.
Isn’t that sort of like a golfer doing well on the senior tour thinking he can still be a force against all the world’s top golfers?
Is the door open though? He might be open to keeping it open. But it sounds like the NBA has it closed and locked lol
So many are just in it for the check, but Joe seems truly like a guy who would play in the nba for per díem. Can’t be mad at him for wanting to compete at the highest level, just for the sake of playing.
Unfortunately, while he may still be able to get a couple buckets in the halfcourt, the nba game is fullcourt. There’s no team he’d get a ton of minutes for, and his vet minimum contract numbers just wouldn’t make sense to take on.
It is what it is.
Joe Johnson has already pocketed nearly a 1/4 of a BILLION dollars playing basketball. ($220M to be exact)
He hasn’t pocketed that much. Over half of that money goes to taxes, agent fees, business managers, etc. Then there is the 15-18 years of living the “NBA lifestyle” which ain’t cheap. These guys make a lot of money, but they also SPEND a lot of money. That is why so many former players go broke within a couple of years of retiring.
I don’t think he is on welfare or anything, but I don’t believe he is uber-wealthy either.
If Iso Joe made $220 mil and you “automatically” cut that in half to $110 mil, then cut that in half via the “nba lifestyle expense” to $55 mil… he’s still pretty wealthy. Even if you cut that in half to $27 mil. Playing in the Big 3 is gas money for him.
Have you seen the price of gas recently? I don’t think the Big 3 pays that much.
You obviously don’t know what you’re talking about. Unless you know Joe Johnson well enough to know what he did with his money. But the avg stock broker or financial advisor will get you 6-7% of your investments back every year. Good ones 10+%
So if he invested even 50 mil of that at a 7.5 percent return rate, that’s 3.5 mil a year just from having your money invested in stocks and financial assets. You actually have to really go out of your way to not take that money and instantly create incredible generational wealth. I know there’s cases of guys that do obviously make those huge mistakes. But not everyone lives that kind of “NBA lifestyle” whatever the hell that means.
There are hundreds of stories of the way NBA players spend their money like there is no tomorrow. Fancy dinners with the team with thousands of dollars in tips, strip clubs and those same tips, women on the side and the inevitable children that follow. It’s not every player that does this, but it is enough that I feel satisfied with the term “NBA lifestyle.” I mean Lou Williams actually eats at a strip club enough that they named chicken wings after him. I don’t think there is any mutual fund named after an NBA player.
lmao at taking a 7.5% return as a given.
If you think that funny, you need a new financial advisor
And around $100 million of that was made as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, so you can chop that number in half, if not more, right off the top. NYS and NYC taxes on top of federal income and half the money is gone before you get it.
Should join the gleague ignite and serve as a mentor, and could potentially latch on to a playoff contender later in the year
Good idea
He broke already ????
Only NBA return he’ll ever see is as a coach.
The Bucks need him or bring back Gasol.
What the bucks need is the nets to not be healthy for the playoffs. That’s all they need
The Bucks could use better health also, and could have, as could all the teams in the 2021 playoffs.
Not a clever take to bemoan the Nets’ luck, with all their older stars.