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Larry Johnson Believes He Would Be A Force Down Low If He Was Playing Today’s NBA: “I Can Make A Living In The Paint”
As the No.1 overall pick of 1991 NBA draft, Larry Johnson got out of the gates strong for the Charlotte Hornets. He won the Rookie of the Year award in his first season, and by his second year, Johnson got into his first All-Star game and was selected as a member of the All-NBA second team.
Johnson’s career however was marred by injuries. In just about 10 seasons, the former Hornets and Knicks forward called it a career, turning in a resume that includes a ROY award, two All-Star selections, and one All-NBA selection.
Taking a look at Johnson’s career, many fans and pundits alike have often remarked that Johnson would translate well in today’s NBA, especially that Johnson appears similar to New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson, who has impressed as a dominant undersized power forward.
Appearing on OpenCourt-Basketball’s “Sidelines” podcast, Johnson was now asked whether he sees himself faring in today’s NBA. The former Hornets star then set it straight that he would even got an advantage.
“Absolutely. I don’t see a lot of guys posting up. Zion and maybe one or two other guys make their living posting up in the NBA,” said Johnson. “Even seven-footers now in the NBA, they all want to shoot the basketball in the outside, dribble the basketball, play point guard, do all these stuff from outside.”
“I’m looking at today and I go ‘man, I can make a living in the paint,’ because when I was playing, everybody was in the paint. It was all about black and blue in the paint… the Charles Oakleys, the Anthony Mason, Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone… it was all about getting down and banging. These guys don’t do that as much,” he added.
“So I think I would’ve had an advantage. I just see myself kind of like being a force down low if I was playing today.”
(Starts at 1:35:40 mark)
To find out more about Larry Johnson, visit his website:www.larryjohnson2.com, or follow him on social media: https://www.facebook.com/theoriginallj2
