Chris Sheridan of ESPN reports:
“Joe, do you think you are costing yourself money?”
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That was the question posed to Joe Johnson after one of the more lackluster playoff performances a supposed max-salary player had played since the term “max-salary player” was added to the NBA lexicon in 1999.
And even more unbelievable than his performance and that of his teammates was Johnson’s answer: “No.”
Huh?
Let me try to get this straight: In one of the final games this highly talented player will perform in before becoming an unrestricted free agent July 1, Johnson attempted 15 shots, missed 12 of them, was booed repeatedly and loudly and had about as much impact on the outcome as teammate Mario West, who was inactive.
Memo to Johnson: Go back and take a look at what the Dow Jones did last Thursday. Go look at the value of Accenture stock, which went from $35 a share to mere pennies in an eyeblink. (OK, so that was caused by a glitch.) Read up on what’s happening with the economic crisis in Greece, where the word “plummet” is being redefined downward with each passing day.
Because a stinker like the one Johnson played Saturday in the Atlanta Hawks’ 105-75 shellacking at the hands of the Orlando Magic is bound to have a profound, multimillion-dollar impact on the value of the contract(s) Johnson will be offered when he hits the open market.
