Kori Ellis
12-01-2004, 04:25 PM
Linton Johnson III did things his way and it paid off
A Different Approach
by Grant Fuller, spurs.com contributor
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/johnson_feature_041130.html
Last year’s un-drafted Bulls rookie Linton Johnson III arrives in San Antonio overflowing with confidence and motivated more than ever
Linton Johnson III is not a household name.
In fact, his former Chicago Bulls teammates and coaches finally resorted to a simplified “L” or “LJ” after bungling the power forward’s first name so often, calling him Lenny, Lemont, Wendan, Lincoln, Lyndon or even Wyndham. Despite his relative obscurity today, the new Spurs acquisition is fully confident he can make a name for himself tomorrow, a process he began last season as a rookie in his hometown of Chicago.
But the 24-year-old Johnson took an alternate route to get his shot at the NBA. After an average career and disappointing senior season at Tulane University, he spent a year bouncing around from overseas gigs to summer league games. He was teased by the interest of a Bulls team that was too packed with young athletes at the time to make him a serious offer. So he went back to school to finish his degree in Finance, ready to relax and put his NBA dreams on the backburner for a while.
“That summer I just didn’t have anything going,” Johnson said. “I was just playing in park tournaments and going to job interviews. I was just about to get a job at H&R Block and they told me I’d be making $10,000 or $12,000 a year, so I was like ‘I guess this is what it comes down to,’ you know.”
That’s when the Bulls came to the rescue. Soon after his job interview, Johnson won Randy Brown’s tournament for Chicago’s best street ballers, putting on an impressive one-on-one display that eventually earned him a spot on the Bulls roster.
“Everybody takes a different path and it makes you appreciate things differently,” Johnson said of taking the un-drafted route to the league. “I just feel like the people who start out last end up first, you know. And I feel like there’s something divine in that.”
However, the roller coaster did not stop there as he was released last January and spent a month developing his game in the Continental Basketball Association before returning to finish the season with the Bulls, averaging 4.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
“You gotta learn something every year,” Johnson said. “First off, I learned that I can play in this league. I learned that my first year.”
Johnson began believing that he could play in the NBA as a seven-year-old imitating the basketball exploits of his uncle, Mickey Johnson, who enjoyed a successful 12-year NBA career with several teams.
“In the back of my house there was a vacant lot, so we cleaned it up and built a court back there and called the court ‘Sundown,” Johnson said. “I used to come from school and go straight to the court and get in trouble because I didn’t report home first, and I wouldn’t go home until it was dark. And I just remember when I was a kid, there was no such thing as getting tired. We just played all day.”
Taking advantage of the strong work ethic instilled by his United States Marine Corps father, Johnson continuously climbed the basketball ladder and, along the way, pictured himself in an NBA uniform one day, living out his dream.
“No matter what you do as a child, you always dream about doing something,” Johnson said. “Like if you played with blocks and dreamed about being a construction worker or if your father’s a lawyer and you got to thinking about being a lawyer, you know. I always played basketball, and the ultimate goal was always to think about making it to the NBA. And one thing I realized is that there is a power in visualization. When you actually visualize something, it’s almost true because half of being is believing. So I’m a true believer in visualization.”
Crossing the borders between the court and the community, Johnson took his message of visualization to Chicago-area kids this summer at his first-ever basketball camp and he began his own non-profit organization called Third Gear Youth Leadership, starting a tradition of community service that he plans to expand upon in San Antonio, a city he says is full of “real nice, real warm people.”
With his bachelor’s degree in Finance, Johnson also recently got his feet wet in the Chicago real estate business. Even with so many off-the-court opportunities on his plate, Linton Johnson has never lost sight of his ultimate goal and fought through every obstacle to be able to stake his claim in the Spurs locker room today.
“Last summer I never got down, thinking I don’t have this or that, how some people get,” Johnson said of his long road to the league. “I packed my bag and my two balls, and I took the bus to the gym to work out, and there was no shame. And I’d work out everyday, not knowing where I was going, but I knew I was going somewhere.”
Never lacking in self-confidence, Johnson kept a journal to remind himself of what he needed to do in order to reach the NBA, and eventually proceeded to check every one of them off the list.
“I had a final destination,” Johnson said. “I saw the NBA. I didn’t know how I was gonna get there, but I saw it. So it wasn’t hard, but it was just passion that got me here. I’m doing something I love and I just thank God for that.”
Coming in this season with high hopes from the Spurs coaching staff, Linton looks forward to harnessing his potential and fitting into the winning tradition that the Spurs have established in recent years. “I’m not a role player, but I know my role,” Johnson asserts with a combination of confidence and humility.
“What I’m looking forward to bringing to San Antonio is just smart play good effort, man,” Johnson said. “They already have a system that’s intact and they already know how to win, so I’m here to try to fit in that system. They know what they want, and they know what they need, and I’m sure I can provide that.”
A Different Approach
by Grant Fuller, spurs.com contributor
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/johnson_feature_041130.html
Last year’s un-drafted Bulls rookie Linton Johnson III arrives in San Antonio overflowing with confidence and motivated more than ever
Linton Johnson III is not a household name.
In fact, his former Chicago Bulls teammates and coaches finally resorted to a simplified “L” or “LJ” after bungling the power forward’s first name so often, calling him Lenny, Lemont, Wendan, Lincoln, Lyndon or even Wyndham. Despite his relative obscurity today, the new Spurs acquisition is fully confident he can make a name for himself tomorrow, a process he began last season as a rookie in his hometown of Chicago.
But the 24-year-old Johnson took an alternate route to get his shot at the NBA. After an average career and disappointing senior season at Tulane University, he spent a year bouncing around from overseas gigs to summer league games. He was teased by the interest of a Bulls team that was too packed with young athletes at the time to make him a serious offer. So he went back to school to finish his degree in Finance, ready to relax and put his NBA dreams on the backburner for a while.
“That summer I just didn’t have anything going,” Johnson said. “I was just playing in park tournaments and going to job interviews. I was just about to get a job at H&R Block and they told me I’d be making $10,000 or $12,000 a year, so I was like ‘I guess this is what it comes down to,’ you know.”
That’s when the Bulls came to the rescue. Soon after his job interview, Johnson won Randy Brown’s tournament for Chicago’s best street ballers, putting on an impressive one-on-one display that eventually earned him a spot on the Bulls roster.
“Everybody takes a different path and it makes you appreciate things differently,” Johnson said of taking the un-drafted route to the league. “I just feel like the people who start out last end up first, you know. And I feel like there’s something divine in that.”
However, the roller coaster did not stop there as he was released last January and spent a month developing his game in the Continental Basketball Association before returning to finish the season with the Bulls, averaging 4.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
“You gotta learn something every year,” Johnson said. “First off, I learned that I can play in this league. I learned that my first year.”
Johnson began believing that he could play in the NBA as a seven-year-old imitating the basketball exploits of his uncle, Mickey Johnson, who enjoyed a successful 12-year NBA career with several teams.
“In the back of my house there was a vacant lot, so we cleaned it up and built a court back there and called the court ‘Sundown,” Johnson said. “I used to come from school and go straight to the court and get in trouble because I didn’t report home first, and I wouldn’t go home until it was dark. And I just remember when I was a kid, there was no such thing as getting tired. We just played all day.”
Taking advantage of the strong work ethic instilled by his United States Marine Corps father, Johnson continuously climbed the basketball ladder and, along the way, pictured himself in an NBA uniform one day, living out his dream.
“No matter what you do as a child, you always dream about doing something,” Johnson said. “Like if you played with blocks and dreamed about being a construction worker or if your father’s a lawyer and you got to thinking about being a lawyer, you know. I always played basketball, and the ultimate goal was always to think about making it to the NBA. And one thing I realized is that there is a power in visualization. When you actually visualize something, it’s almost true because half of being is believing. So I’m a true believer in visualization.”
Crossing the borders between the court and the community, Johnson took his message of visualization to Chicago-area kids this summer at his first-ever basketball camp and he began his own non-profit organization called Third Gear Youth Leadership, starting a tradition of community service that he plans to expand upon in San Antonio, a city he says is full of “real nice, real warm people.”
With his bachelor’s degree in Finance, Johnson also recently got his feet wet in the Chicago real estate business. Even with so many off-the-court opportunities on his plate, Linton Johnson has never lost sight of his ultimate goal and fought through every obstacle to be able to stake his claim in the Spurs locker room today.
“Last summer I never got down, thinking I don’t have this or that, how some people get,” Johnson said of his long road to the league. “I packed my bag and my two balls, and I took the bus to the gym to work out, and there was no shame. And I’d work out everyday, not knowing where I was going, but I knew I was going somewhere.”
Never lacking in self-confidence, Johnson kept a journal to remind himself of what he needed to do in order to reach the NBA, and eventually proceeded to check every one of them off the list.
“I had a final destination,” Johnson said. “I saw the NBA. I didn’t know how I was gonna get there, but I saw it. So it wasn’t hard, but it was just passion that got me here. I’m doing something I love and I just thank God for that.”
Coming in this season with high hopes from the Spurs coaching staff, Linton looks forward to harnessing his potential and fitting into the winning tradition that the Spurs have established in recent years. “I’m not a role player, but I know my role,” Johnson asserts with a combination of confidence and humility.
“What I’m looking forward to bringing to San Antonio is just smart play good effort, man,” Johnson said. “They already have a system that’s intact and they already know how to win, so I’m here to try to fit in that system. They know what they want, and they know what they need, and I’m sure I can provide that.”