Nets' Cam Johnson looks forward to a mentoring role this season
Nets forward Cam Johnson brings up the ball in the second half during a preseason NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. Credit: AP/Heather Khalifa
As a young player with the Suns, Cam Johnson got a lesson in leadership from players like Jae Crowder and Chris Paul. From Paul, he studied his way of calming things down.
“You could always look at him and he has everything under control,” Johnson said Friday. “He controlled the pace of the game. He controls our team mentality, our team disposition and he’s the head of that.”
For the Nets entering the wilderness of a rebuild, Johnson wants to bring some of that calm this season. The preseason ends Friday and the team needs leaders in what could be a challenging year.
It's not just a season that could see losses adding up. It’s keeping players focused under first-year coach Jordi Fernandez despite the front office evaluating who stays beyond this season.
With seven Nets on expiring contracts, they're using this season to convince the Nets or another team to sign them next summer. Johnson has been talked up in trade rumors as has Dorian Finney-Smith.
It makes it hard to commit to a team that might ship you out or see you as a rental. But Johnson reiterated it’s best to focus on the now with the Nets, not what could be next.
“One thing they do in this league, they will throw you around a little bit,” said Johnson. “You might get traded and your name's thrown around and your future can be uncertain. But in the moment, they treat us pretty well.
"So I take that responsibility very seriously, my responsibility to this team, to this organization. And this is where I am, so I’m all in.”
Johnson isn't the only one who's spoken on leading a young team where eight players are 23 years old or younger. Nic Claxton said he wants to assume that role after re-signing with the Nets this summer.
Ben Simmons has also talked about being a leader despite health issues limiting his play the last two seasons. His message to younger teammates has echoed Johnson. No matter what’s said by outside voices or who gets traded, the present matters most
“When you start looking at the end, you’re not focused on the next day,” Simmons said. “You got to control what you can and for us, that’s coming in each day and getting better."
For Johnson, it means it’s his turn to share what he's learned from Chris Paul and other NBA mentors. He’s shown it after one practice giving shooting tips to rookie Cui Yongxi.
It’s a challenge he's embracing more with the season starting Wednesday and players needing to buy in to each other and Fernandez.
“I just remember how much that meant to me,” Johnson said of being mentored. “So, I just want to be there for the young guys and be there for anything they need, whether that's life, basketball, anything in between.”
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
