Photo Credit: David Butler II – USA TODAY Sports

Joe Johnson On Comeback: “I Didn’t Have High Hopes”

1304 days after his last NBA game, former All-Star Joe Johnson gave his comeback last night. Iso Joe received a warm welcome by the Celtics home crowd and also scored his first points in over three years. 

It was back were it all started for Johnson, as he was selected 10th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2001 NBA draft. Through the first half of the 2001–02 season, Johnson played 48 games for the Celtics and made 33 starts, averaging 6.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

The 19 year, 305 day gap between his stints with the Celtics is not only the longest in NBA history, it’s longer than the entire career of every NBA player but five [Vince Carter, Robert Parish, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Willis, Dirk Nowitzki].

When asked about his comeback, Joe admitted that while he managed to stay in good condition, also due to his son working out with him in the gym, he didn’t have high hopes of actually playing in the NBA ever again. Per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

“I wouldn’t say give up, but I didn’t have high hopes. My son’s 14, so he keeps me in the gym. We work and work and work, and I always talk to him [and say], ‘Just work. Even when you can’t see what’s next, you just gotta continue to work,”

This may very well be the only good thing this global pandemic has given us – an ISO JOE comeback.