Even though the Nets have won their last two games and are coming off a convincing win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday afternoon, star shooting guard Joe Johnson isn’t happy. Not one bit.
According to multiple locker room sources, following Brooklyn’s victory a few days ago, Johnson was fuming due to his perception that his teammates were being “selfish,” which is why the win mirrored the Nets’ earlier loss to the Timberwolves. In that game, the Nets looked pretty good for three quarters but fell apart in the final one.
The game against the Magic followed a similar script, except that Brooklyn was able to hold on to its lead as the clock wound down. However, it wasn’t that easy for the Nets as it appeared that they took their foot off the gas pedal and let Orlando right back into the game.
Normally an under-the-radar player, Johnson decided to speak up and called his teammates out, imploring them to step it up. Coming from Joe, who is about as quiet a NBA player as there is in the game today, those words meant something and were covered widely in the media the last two days.
Some reporters thought it was a little out of turn while other commended him for finally taking charge of the team as one of its best players.
My viewpoint? I think it was great for him to place some responsibility on the rest of the team. Brooklyn’s record is 4-2 right now, which is obviously good, but it has come against subpar opponents and could easily be 6-0. If the Nets are going to be a top Eastern Conference team this year, they can’t afford to continually drop games to the Celtics and Timberwolves.
Joe took to Twitter to express his displeasure with some NSFW language, expressing–cryptically–a mix of anger at his team for underperforming and maybe some personal disappointment.
The knock on him has always been his tendency to avoid the spotlight in the media and in the locker room. Joe usually goes about his business by putting up points and doing his job on the court without adding much off of it. Clearly, he has decided to flip the script and is being more vocal.
Because the Nets have a bunch of really good players–mainly Brook Lopez, Deron Williams and Johnson–it’s kind of hard to determine a singular “leader” per se. Kevin Garnett’s personality always tend to classify him as a leader and you could make the case for Paul Pierce to have been last season.
But for successful, playoff teams, the defined leader really has to be one of, if not the, best players. Brook’s rough start to the season and cautious injury history, as well as his relative youth, probably takes him out of the running. Deron is a really good candidate, but doesn’t say the “taking charge” stuff to the media that Joe was willing to do.
That leaves Johnson, who is 33 years old but plays like a 28-year old, as the prime choice and it appears as if he’s willing and ready to step up and assume the role. The Nets need someone like him to keep them on edge and make sure they don’t coast through this season, which could be disastrous. Joe has no fear of calling them out which is exactly what Lionel Hollins is looking for.
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