Last summer, when the Utah Jazz were looking for someone who could give Gordon Hayward a breather without much letdown, they called on Joe Johnson.
Johnson, the 6-7 Little Rock native and former University of Arkansas, Fayetteville standout, was 34 and already had two huge contracts, but the Jazz lured him with a two-year deal worth $22 million.
Johnson has been worth it, especially in the playoffs.
The Jazz take a 3-2 advantage home for Friday night's game with the Los Angeles Clippers. If the series goes to a Game 7, the Jazz will have to go on the road.
In five playoff games, Johnson is averaging 18.2 points per game and has no doubt been a huge spark on the road when he scored 21, 13 and 14 points.
Johnson has made more than $200 million in his 16 years in the BA, second most of any active player behind Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki.
At an age when most NBA players are contemplating what golf course they are playing next week, Johnson has been a prime example that clean living leads to longevity. There has never been a hint of a scandal during Johnson's career.
Johnson played 53 games in two seasons for the Razorbacks before declaring early for the NBA Draft. He was the 10th player taken in the 2001 draft, played 48 games for the Boston Celtics before being traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he spent the next 3 1/2 seasons.
He signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Hawks, where he averaged more than 20 points per game the next seven seasons. He spent three full seasons with Brooklyn before opting out of his contract in late February 2016 before turning around and signing the next day with the Miami Heat.
Oh, and the player he backs up at Utah, Hayward, is the guy who missed the half-court shot at the buzzer that would have given Butler the victory over Duke in 2010 NCAA championship game.
(stars)
Michigan's Jim Harbaugh has taken his game to yet another level.
After two years of taking his team to Florida for a week of spring camp, Harbaugh opted this year to take 90 players and his entire staff to Rome for three practices, which came during spring break.
The team did practice. They also had a paintball tournament, visited the Pope and the Vatican as well as the Trevi Fountain and the Roman Colosseum.
Harbaugh did the obligatory three coins into the Trevi Fountain over the right shoulder. The money from the fountain -- more than $3,000 per day -- goes to support a supermarket for the poor.
In compliance with NCAA rules, Harbaugh was allowed to contact each recruit one time, and apparently he did a little video chat in front of the Colosseum.
There's no doubt the trip was expensive -- Michigan didn't have to take out any loans -- but well worth it, especially since Harbaugh explained that he was doing it to offer his players some life experience.
(stars)
Tommy Tuberville, a native of Camden, has announced he will not run for governor of Alabama in 2018, something he had been contemplating since retiring as head football coach at Cincinnati last December.
Tuberville started his college coaching career as an assistant to Larry Lacewell at Arkansas State University, and after stints as an assistant and defensive coordinator at Miami and Texas A&M, became the head coach at Ole Miss.
He jumped to Auburn where he became the victim of a rich, meddling fan, and despite a winning record against Alabama, was bought out and headed to Texas Tech. He spent three years there and four at Cincinnati before deciding at 62 to explore other avenues.
Being the governor of Alabama is no longer one of those, but for the record, Tuberville had a winning record at every school he coached.
Sports on 04/27/2017