Joe Johnson: He wasn’t a superstar, but he made a difference
Aug. 19, 2005: The Hawks celebrate their rousing victory over Steve Belkin. (AJC file photo)
For the first five years, the Hawks got what they paid for. Over those five seasons, Joe Johnson was their leading scorer and their best player. If not for him, this team’s 0-for-the-21st-century playoff drought might have continued to this day. That said …
If not for Joe Johnson, the Hawks’ owners wouldn’t have been suing one another. In the summer of 2005 Steve Belkin balked at the price of a sign-and-trade — general manager Billy Knight wanted to ship Boris Diaw and two No. 1 draft picks to Phoenix; Belkin believed one pick should suffice — and the whole thing wound up in a Boston courtroom, where Knight famously declined to shake Belkin’s hand, and the veil of contentment among ownership was put asunder.
No, that wasn’t Johnson’s fault. He had no control over these owners, and he delivered on the promise Knight had seen in him. From being the Suns’ fourth-best player, Johnson developed into “the best Hawk since Dominique Wilkins.” That was the description offered by Michael Gearon Jr., another of the owners, and it was and remains the gospel truth.
There were nights, many of them, over those first few seasons when Johnson was the only reason to watch the Hawks, and as the team began to improve he remained the best reason. He scored 35 points, 20 in a frenzied fourth quarter, against the Celtics in Game 4 of the 2008 playoff series, and that performance is among the finest by any Atlanta Hawk ever. Afterward Boston’s Sam Cassell said of Johnson: “He’s their franchise ballplayer.”
But Johnson was a strange sort of franchise player, not least because the Hawks — stop the presses — are a strange franchise. His arrival was overshadowed by the management kerfuffle. His best years here were the ones when nobody was watching because the team was losing. Even that Game 4 against Boston is more widely recalled as the night Zaza Pachulia went forehead-to-forehead with Kevin Garnett.
About that Game 4 windfall: It would take Johnson 31 games over more than three calendar years to break 30 in the postseason again. That became the biggest knock: Come the playoffs, the franchise ballplayer wasn’t often a franchise ballplayer. Johnson averaged 20.8 points over his seven regular seasons as a Hawk; over 47 playoff games, he averaged 18 points.
It was after one of his worst showings — eight points on 15 shots in a 30-point Game 3 blowout by Orlando here in 2010 — that Johnson said he didn’t care if fans showed up. That summer he became a free agent, and the Hawks, who’d just promoted Larry Drew to head coach in large measure because Drew promised to back away from Mike Woodson’s Iso-Joes, spent $120 million over six seasons to keep Johnson from leaving.
In sum, they lavished superstar’s wages — Johnson was making more than LeBron James, who also was a free agent that summer — on a player who had demonstrated he wasn’t quite a superstar, and now that player was closing in on 30 and his team didn’t want him to play in the same way that had made him an All-Star, and he’d just angered the paying customers to boot. With the new contract, the Hawks were no longer getting what they paid for. Within two years, Johnson wasn’t even their second-best player.
For all the good work he did here, Johnson was never the people’s choice. He’s not a smiler, and the bulk of his public comments tended to the negative. (Even after victories, Johnson could be heard to say his team needed to do something better.) He was never an unwilling passer — he and Mike Bibby worked beautifully together — but the Iso-Joes could leave that impression.
When the Hawks reached an agreement to trade Johnson to the Nets, local reaction was euphoric. No more albatross contract! No more sour Joe faces! Lost in the latest bit of giddiness was the memory of a similar giddy day in the summer of 2005, when the other Hawks owners had deposed Belkin as their NBA governor, and the sign-and-trade for Johnson had finally gone through and a celebration was staged on the floor of Philips Arena.
A free agent of substance had committed himself to a team coming off a 13-69 season, and for a downtrodden franchise that marked a new beginning. Seven years later, nobody was sorry to see him leave, but if not for Joe Johnson, this city might never have realized the Hawks were still in business.
By Mark Bradley
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182 comments Add your comment
rae
July 8th, 2012
12:21 am
I agree we are now a lottery team and I hate it…we had a shot ….now we should just …be thankful….http://chuuba.com/?p=40 reminds of this article… allen is gone we woulda had a shot at the second round
hawksfan
July 8th, 2012
3:15 am
well said Bradley. Although I am sad to see Joe go, I am really looking forward to what we can put together. Hopefully, we can start assembling a squad like the Falcons…
SR
July 8th, 2012
3:26 am
Not only wasn’t he a “Superstar”, he wasn’t even a “Star”. The guy wasn’t a true basketball player. Real basketball players play D, dive for balls, box out, rebound, switch, make great passes and play selflessly- this dude was a ball hog who didn’t dish when 4 guys floated over to cover him. Get it?
Happy hawk
July 8th, 2012
6:56 am
I agree with the article totally and JJ did bring something to the Atlanta Hawks. However, at the end of the day the type of millions JJ was making he was expected to put up big numbers. He has to understand that people want to see him be aggressive and want the rock. People wanted to see him take on leadership by talking to his teammates about bad plays on the court. He accepted the contract so he has to agree that kind of money will bring pressure on any player to produce. He is a good player and I wish him the best with the Nets.
GFJacket
July 8th, 2012
8:42 am
Until the Hawks get another coach like Hubie Brown who will sit players that don’t perform and put those that want to win on the court – - not just showboat their talent – - they will continue to be outside the elite of the NBA. It’s time to change the attitude and approach…
Hawkfan
July 8th, 2012
9:03 am
I will miss Joe. Really great fundamental player and not his fault Hawks could not attract a player to go with him that could some of he things he cannot do. Also not his fault Hawks overpaid. What he did control was coming to Arena and busting his butt to win and early in the 7 yrs that was only possible because he was here. He could D up against Lebron, Rondo, etc. whoever the best player they had he could slow them down. He was explosive scorer when his jumper was on too. Good luck Joe.
Still a good trade but we will still have to make this franchise attractive to top free agents to become a contender. Ferry gets even more accolades for getting rid of Marvin who I will not miss. Goodbye and good riddance to the Duck of Hoop
Ryan Aaron
July 8th, 2012
9:20 am
I’m sorry, but losing one player, even an all star and marvin williams does not doom a team to nine years in the lottery. That is a ridiculous position at face value.
Ryan Aaron
July 8th, 2012
9:25 am
Seriously; if they had just let him go as a free agent, you would have had people being fine. But because he wasn’t traded for a hall of fame player, you have drama queens saying that not having joe Johnson and Marvin Williams next year dooms us to being the Charlotte bobcats.n Get. A. Life.
superiorblogman
July 8th, 2012
9:47 am
Disgusted:
I agree that the team was not going to go far as constructed but I think we could have got a legit C and moved Al to PF and Josh to SF and really had a shot. Who knows maybe we could have actually used the mid-level exception one of those years to do that. I understand Joe’s contract was a problem but trading him for that trash we got does not fix anything on the court. Josh Smith is still a horrible teammate and silly player. Al Horford is still your best player and being forced to play out of position and we still don’t have a legit C. What problem did these trades fix on the court? As fans people should be more concerned about the product on the floor that they will pay there hard earned money to see. I get it though, no-one here is planning to go to any games or really support the team anyway just fantasize over the internet so your are fine with this bunch of misfits that Ferry has thrown together and will call a team. Look at it on the bright side, atleast we want have to be the laughing stocks with half filled arenas on national television anymore. Doubt if we have anymore than 2 games on national television this year if that.
skyhawk1
July 8th, 2012
11:02 am
JJ is a great player. It’s obvious that playing 40-45mpg will affect you come playoff time. We never had a true PG until we got Bibby who was already washed up by then. He would’ve been great with an elite PG, just like he will be with D. Williams. So, when you add it all together, I think both the Hawks and Joe benefited from this marriage. We couldn’t stay together and be happy anymore though. We (Hawks) got flexibility and a sense we need to make changes to be an elite team and Joe gets to play for an exciting Brooklyn franchise with to me the best PG in the NBA. Ten years from now we’ll look back and realize that at the end, this was a great love that had to come to an end. No hard feelings.
STRETCH
July 8th, 2012
12:23 pm
Well, Hinrich is going back to Chicago. Thats another guy from last season they dont have to worry about.
CONFEDERATE DAWG
July 8th, 2012
1:01 pm
JOE WAS THE MAN AND THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO THE HAWKS SINCE NIQUE….
PERIOD
GOOD LUCK JOE….
Vick Supporter
July 8th, 2012
2:57 pm
Thanks Joe, but it was time for a change. I think he did the best he could with our disfunctional franchise, and he did have some exciting moments.
He will be better off playing with an elite PG in Brooklyn. Now all we need to do is somehow get a Superstar..
DawgNole
July 8th, 2012
4:22 pm
hawksfan
July 8th, 2012
3:15 am
Although I am sad to see Joe go, I am really looking forward to what we can put together. Hopefully, we can start assembling a squad like the Falcons…
_____________________
Like the Falcons??!! Hello? They’ve been here 46 years (even longer than the Hawks) w/o a championship. Why would you want to assemble “a squad like the Falcons”?
HawksFan
July 8th, 2012
7:47 pm
Joe Johnson is not a franchise player, he will NEVER take a team to the championship. I am glad the hawks got rid of him, but i hope the hawks management isn’t reluctant to spending that type of money again for a real star.
elroy
July 8th, 2012
7:47 pm
Bradley was never a star & he should be gone from atl like johnson
Mike Geigerman
July 8th, 2012
8:12 pm
Good look Joe.. Atlant’ans will miss you way more than the realize. Much luck in the remainder of your career and we will cheer you on your return. A toast to you and your professionalism.
Mike Geigerman
July 8th, 2012
8:14 pm
Dwight Howard and Chris Paul come on down (sorry Al you need to be DH trade bait)
gcs
July 8th, 2012
9:41 pm
In Brooklyn, Joe Johnson can take his rightful place as #3. He was never nor will ever be a #1.
What will it take to give Larry Drew his walking papers? As long as he is coach, I am not supporting team. (It’s nothing personal. He is just not a good head coach)
kuhndog
July 8th, 2012
10:11 pm
I liked Joe in the past30 years he was one of the best Hawks.If not for his big contract which was a damned if you do damned if you don’t if we would have let him walk the management would have been barbecued..This was the Hawks plan this last negotiation if we won a title he would stay, if we did not win in the first 2 or 3 years we would unload his contract which was back heavy,now we move on.This is a business and JJ and the fans of the ATL know it.That does not mean I am not going to miss watching #2 he is damn good ball player.The Nets are going to have to gel and quick time is running out on JJ career I think the Hawks made the right move.
Kyle
July 9th, 2012
12:29 am
Joe was a solid #2 option….but the Hawks were never going all the way with him….Joe has been in Atlanta 7 years and Atlanta never made it past the 3rd round meanwhile OKC Thunder are only 4 years old as a organization and made it to the finals.
Steve
July 9th, 2012
12:33 am
Nothing against Joe as a player, or for signing the big contract. However, I have everything against him for blaming the fans for his playoff fialures. You do not do that to the fans who are indirectly paying a significant amount of your salary for ‘playing a game’. It’s painfully obvious he has no concept of how hard people work to scrape together enough extra cash to attend games. For him to go off on the fans was inexcusable.
His ignorance of real world families and people, as well as his franchise-killing contract make me happy to see him go. I have no doubt he will throw barbs at the ATL as soon as this thing is official. Just wait for it.
Joe Adcock
July 9th, 2012
2:32 am
Netys won 19 games last season? Sounds like where Joe “No Show” Johnson needs to be. Even a dang two year old knows how to smile. Ask Magic Johnson…
Yosemite Sam
July 9th, 2012
8:16 am
It was a divorce not a marriage with JJ leaving Hawks dumarse.
JJ got paid to score 25-30 points per game. He wasn’t good enough to do that. Every team has a top scorer,JJ couldn’t handle it.
HawksFanSince'89
July 9th, 2012
9:17 am
If Joe was a great player, he would have restructured his contract to bring in more talent
to get to a NBA finals.
Peter
July 9th, 2012
10:17 am
Ok. but isn’t he one of the highest paid players in the NBA ? i guess it wasn’t his fault about the money………..who would turn it down…..
But in the big games was he big ? The reality is he is a nice part, and if he doesn’t have to do too much, then he is a great role player, problem is there were so many other mistakes..all the draft choices………… Marvin Williams, Sheldon Williams, never getting a point, and or a center….
Thank You for Danny Ferry. Hopefully we can now win as a team..and forget the iso days of JJ and Crawford.
Atlanta has room to make some nice moves, and I think this is a wonderful new beginning !
DHD
July 9th, 2012
12:14 pm
Now that Johnson is a former ATL player, the AJC will become obsessed with writing about him. That’s how they roll. (See Mike Vick)
Honky Talkin
July 9th, 2012
12:28 pm
I cringed every time they gave our $20 million player the ball with 5 seconds left. Not a good sign.
PhillyRon
July 9th, 2012
3:50 pm
I’m a 76er fan living in Atlanta…I feel your pain in loosing Joe.
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July 10th, 2012
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[...] Joe Johnson’s massive contract when the Hawks traded him to Brooklyn. Although he argues that Johnson was sometimes the only good thing about the Hawks, the Journal-Constitution’s Mark Bradley notes the reaction in his city, writing: When the [...]
Jason
July 10th, 2012
2:09 pm
I’m looking at the big picture. Joe Johnson was never going to lead us past the second round of the playoffs, and his contract was going to restrict the Hawks from signing the talent needed for a deep playoff run. His post season numbers were unacceptable for the amount of money he was being paid. Johnson is a good player but the mark of a GREAT player is making those around you better. Joe Johnson did not do that. This is an opportunity for both parties to start over. The Hawks will be bad next year, but a couple years ago Miami had one of the worst seasons in franchise history. They cleared the books and put themselves in position to acquire the talent necessary to win the NBA Finals. Patience, trust, and faith.
BBIB
July 12th, 2012
4:28 pm
Let’s be honest, Joe Johnson is one of the most underappreciated players in history
People totally overlook how he made the Hawks relevant again for the first time since the 1990s all because of his contract.
A contract that was paid by the owners not the complaining fans
And Joe Johnson’s contract didn’t stop us from signing any free agent because none wanted to play for us anyway.
Basically Joe Johnson was the victim of wealth envy during a recession. People had envy for Joe Johnson’s contract and that’s the bottomline
Because again his contract didn othing to hinder a superstar from coming to ATL.