Amir Johnson is one of the few veterans over the age of 30 on the team of the future, the Philadelphia 76ers.
There was a time when he was a rookie straight out of high school and the youngest player on a veteran Detroit Pistons team that had won an NBA title a few years before.
One big lesson that he learned in his first season that he is passing on to his young teammates now is simple: Don’t let South Beach beat you.
76ers’ Amir Johnson, cautioning teammates about not losing to South Beach: “We have that mindset of just coming here, taking care of ourselves, taking care of our bodies, and don't let the streets of Miami beat you, get the job done, and go home and finish it off."
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) April 20, 2018
76ers’ Amir Johnson, cautioning teammates about not losing to South Beach: “We have that mindset of just coming here, taking care of ourselves, taking care of our bodies, and don't let the streets of Miami beat you, get the job done, and go home and finish it off."
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) April 20, 2018
The Pistons went 0-3 in their three games in Miami in the 2006 eastern conference finals, losing the series in six after beating the Heat in seven in the eastern conference finals the previous season.
While I can understand the temptations that exist on South Beach in Miami, it seems odd that the veteran led Pistons team with Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince (you notice what starter I excluded from this list) would succumb to South Beach in 2006 when they won the series the year before and had already climbed the NBA mountain top and won an NBA title in 2004.
Either way, the 76ers have seemed to heed Johnson’s advice as they won Game 3 and Game 4 and now have a 3-1 series lead with a chance to close out the series on Tuesday.
