Post by amanuel0620 on Jul 22, 2011 18:09:36 GMT -5
Joe Johnson brushes off the notion that his window to win a ring closing.
With a crowd of almost 1,000 people ready to pour in the Atlanta Hawks TRAINING CAMP I knew that I had to get up there a little early. I started to realize that the buzz around the city was beginning to grow once the Hawks made the blockbuster deal to land super super star Joe Johnson. But if you asked me three years ago that people would pay hundreds of dollars to watch PRACTICE, I would have smacked you silly. After 2 straight seasons in which you saw your team lose in the final game, of the conference finals, to the eventual champs, you expect people to lose some faith in the team. But instead just imagine throwing a match inside a pool filled with gasoline. The buzz around the city and this team is inconceivable. Kids screaming JOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! JOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Never have I seen such excitement for a player since the days of Michael Jordan. Even to a degree, a 5 time champion like Lebron James doesn't get the love Joe Johnson does. If you want proof just last year, Joe Johnson was getting MVP chants in 12 arenas, including Lebron's own Boston garden. But my question is why?
For a superstar that has won six MVP's, he has yet to win a championship yet alone get to a finals. From time to time many have questioned his heart and even wonder if he will ever win a championship. The whole Lebron James vs Joe Johnson should not even be a debate. Until Joe Johnson wins a ring, he will never touch the Lebron. But because of the rape accusations that have dragged down Lebrons image people like to bring in Joe Johnson into the conversation. Yes he has better offensive game and is more effcient but Lebron kills him with an all around game. He nearly averages 24/8/8 for his career. Even though alot of people question Lebrons first 4 rings because of the stacked squad he had, he shut people up by winning one with an aging Erick Dampier.
That being said what if Joe Johnson does win a couple of rings by the time his career ends? Well hypothetically if he does win a ring or two, does be become the greatest player post michael jordan era? Or does he become the greatest player of all time. Even though he has never won a ring, he has only missed the playoffs once in his career. And never has he been on a stacked team like Lebron had earlier in his career. This Hawks team is probably the best squad hes been with and even though he is aging he has led them to back to back conference finals. They were nearly a foul away from potentially winning it all. But just think about it he is already tied to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most MVP in league history. And he could potentially win it all agian this year and become the first player to win MVP three years in a row. He is the only player in league history to have scored over 30,000 points, grabbed over 5,000 rebounds and dished out 10,000 assist.
So with Caio Torress entering his prime, Andreas Biedriens on a contract year, both Al Harrington and Morris Almound happy with new contracts and a bolstered frontline that includes 7'4 former Hawks Peter John Ramos and 7'1 Spencer Hawes the Hawks could be primed to make a run at the ring. Even with youngster Scotty Hopson leaving the Hawks for more money in Milwaukee, the Hawks front office will do everything in their powers to make sure Joe Johnson doesnt become the next Karl Malone or Charles Barkley.
