Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Johnson as a gondolier? Whatever floats his boat
MIAMI —James Johnson knows his return to the Miami Heat must be imminent.
His closet is telling him as much, as he explained to trainer Jay Sabol.
“I was telling Jay, ‘I’ve only got five or six more suits left and I’m not trying to rotate ‘em, so I need to hurry up and get back,’ “said Johnson, who takes as much pride in the uniqueness of his wardrobe as the uniqueness of a game yet to be put on display this season.
On opening night, there was a gondolier look, complete with red-striped shirt.
“Yeah, you know, just twisting it up,” he said of distinctive looks that have continued through the opening games of the season. “I’m comfortable being uncomfortable. And when it comes to swaggy, you’ve got to take risks.”
For Swaggy J, there has been little choice, still sidelined from May hernia surgery, despite a recent return to contact practices.
For Saturday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Johnson chose his own version of a preview, wearing a suit made for him by former University of Miami guard John Salmons, who started a menswear line while the two were teammates with the Sacramento Kings, the Heat’s Monday night opponent at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“He had a clothing line which sells suits and all kinds of stuff like that,” Johnson said of the Salmons & Brown label. “He was awesome for the team and I bought a couple of them from him. These are the things that I cherish.
“I saw him in Philly last year during the playoffs. I let him know I still have the suits.”
Johnson said his fashion statements are more about style than opulence, now in the second year of a fouryear, $60 million contract. He said he would buy off the rack if there were such a rack for a 6-foot-8, 240-pound NBA forward.
“There’s a lot of stuff that I can’t fit that I wish I could buy off the rack,” he said. “But when I can fit and it’s off the rack, I’m more for it.”
All for one: Dwyane Wade said having been on both sides of the equation, he is enjoying playing in the Heat’s equal-opportunity offense, with so many players capable of scoring in double figures.
“I think everybody feels involved,” Wade said before Monday’s game. “I’ve definitely been on teams where I’ve had the ball the majority of time and you get guys who just stand around for five or six minutes without touching the ball. And then you pass it to them and you expect them to make a shot. That’s very tough.
“The way we’re playing right now is everybody’s involved.”
So after Wade scored 18 points in Saturday’s first half in the victory over Portland, he said he had no issues being limited to one in a second half when the ball went elsewhere.
“That’s how our team is,” he said. “You’ve got to be OK with that. You’ve got to be prepared and ready when your time comes, when the ball’s finding you. And when it’s not, you’ve got to be able to do other things and understand that someone else on your team is going to get you guys going. That’s succeeding on the offensive end. And that’s the kind of team we’ve got to be.”
Staying big: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he is staying with the bigger opening lineup with 7-footers Hassan Whiteside and Kelly Olynyk because of the chemistry between the two.
“K.O. did a lot of things that helped Hassan and vice versa,” he said of the initial results. “We’ll continue to try to develop that, and then if we have to make changes whenever, we’ll revisit that.”
Derrick Jones Jr., an athletic 6-7 wing, had started the first three games at power forward before being sidelined by a foot injury that had him out for a game.