PISTONS’ JOHNSON OK WITH NBA ELIGIBILITY RULE
As the last high school player drafted straight to the NBA, you’d expect Detroit forward Amir Johnson, selected with the 56th pick in the 2005 draft, to have a negative opinion on the league’s decision to require one year of college.
Instead, Johnson respects the rule.
“It’s a pretty good rule, because some guys are really not ready to go to the NBA,” Johnson said after his Pistons fell to the Dallas Mavericks 79-73 in the first game of the NBA Summer League on Thursday at Cox Pavillion. “If you’re ready, you’re ready — but some people just need to go to college. I don’t think it’s that bad to go to college for one year.”
And yet, Johnson didn’t.
He jumped to the NBA, directly out of Los Angeles’ Westchester High School, after committing to play for Rick Pitino at Louisville. A great raw talent out of high school, Johnson admitted that he didn’t foresee himself as a first-round pick at the time. Now, after two years primarily in the NBA D-League, Johnson has started to blossom, averaging almost four points and four rebounds in 12.3 minutes for the Pistons last season.
“I was just hoping I got drafted,” Johnson said. “It didn’t really matter what team I played for — I knew I was going to work hard no matter what team I went to. I’m feeling pretty positive in myself right now, though, pretty happy.”
If he was a year younger, though, and the rule was in effect, Johnson would have been in school. He hears about Brandon Jennings — the high school star who will play overseas for a year — and he can’t imagine that decision.
“I woulda gone to school, man,” Johnson said. “I wouldn’t have been ready to go to a different country or anything. If he had that mindset, if he’d already made up his mind, he’s a grown man.”
MEDIA WATCH
Two premier sports media members took in the Summer League on Thursday, Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star and Fox Sports, and ESPN’s David Aldridge.
Whitlock, you might remember, garnered controversy with his post-Las Vegas NBA All-Star games columns last year.
