The Joe Johnson era has officially come to an end..... It wasn't as anti-climactic as it appears. Joe helped make the Hawks relevant again. It only took $70 million to convince him to come to Atlanta and gain the title of "the guy who came to Atlanta when no one else wanted to." He definitely deserves that title, but people make it seem like he came for the veterans minimum. He was paid handsomely to come resurrect this franchise, and try to make a name for himself. Congratulations to him for doing so.I personally will remember the Joe Johnson era fondly. It had its issues, but doesn't everything? Sure the offense was stagnant at times, but that's not all his fault. He played many years with no point guard, and for a coach who would routinely say, "The offense will take care of itself." You've gotta do the best you can with the resources available. All things considered, he did a decent job. He came to Atlanta and transformed himself into a 6x All-Star, and he got a group of dudes to pay him damn near $200 million. It would be silly to look at his time here as anything other than a success. There's no need to point out all of his shortcomings. That would just be nitpicking, and I'm not going to do that. I don't have time, and honestly, he doesn't deserve that. Joe handled the role of "very good player, miscast as a superstar" with grace and elegance. For that, he deserves applause.
I'm happy I got to watch some of Joe's best moments, up close and personal. He's no Kobe or LeBron, but dammit, he had his moments.
I wish him well in Brooklyn.
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4 comments:
"It would be silly to look at his time here as anything other than a success."
I thought this was a well thought out post...but I read and re-read that sentence above a few times and tried to figure out what you meant. Success (and failure) is often quite relative. So, I was just wondering if you could elaborate a bit more.
A financial success for Joe? Of course. But beyond that...not so much. I look at Joe's time in ATL as a period of happy mediocrity. The team was relevant, but never approached being a contender. Being a perennial 4-8 seed is never bad...but there is/was a certain acknowledgement that the team wouldn't get beyond that. (IMHO) While not a failure, that's not exactly success either.
His personal story is one of great success, even outside of the financial aspect. It's hard to be thought of as one of the best players in the league once, let alone 6 times. That's a huge success. To leave a great situation in Phoenix, to make a name for yourself and actually do it, is a success. To make a franchise relevant again, is a success. They never got past the second round with him, but there had been years of futility prior to him arriving. I just think the Joe Johnson story is a success story.
Too bad he didn't go to Chicago, which is now " The place no one wants to go"...
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Chicago. Everything goes full circle.
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