From the way Detroit Pistons rookie Stanley Johnson was talking post game, you’d think his team would have evened up its first round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers at one game apiece. Or at least that he’d gotten the best of LeBron James. "He jabbers," Johnson said of James. "He moves his mouth sometimes. Their whole team does, kind of like their little cheerleaders on the bench. Every time you walk in the right corner.”
That’s enough, right? Only Stanley Johnson wasn’t finished. Not even close.
“They're always saying something like they're playing basketball, like they're actually in the game,” Johnson continued. “There's only seven or eight players who play, I don't see why the other players are talking. They might as well just be in the stands, in my opinion."
The Detroit Pistons did not win Wednesday. In fact, they were torched, 107-90. Johnson didn’t lock up James either. In fact, LeBron had one of his best shooting nights of the year, going for 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting (2-of-4 from three). And the Cavs actually went 13 players deep, with 10 of them playing nine minutes or more. They are up 2-0, and it seems reasonable to think they will close the overmatched Pistons out in four.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, James shot even better when guarded by Johnson, going 6-of-6 from the floor. Not that the 19-year-old seemed particularly bothered by it.
“I'm definitely in his head, that's for sure," Johnson said afterwards. "That's for sure." (Some thought this statement was a terrible idea.) Johnson had more to say than that—a lot more—and when asked why he wasn’t scared of James like other players in his position might be, he had a simple answer: “Why would I be?”
Johnson’s brash statements not only brought attention to a series that no one would otherwise gloss over, they broke through the zombie-eyed “taking things one game at a time” and “just playing our game” cliché storm.
This is great. Not for what Johnson said, which could result in James absolutely destroying the Pistons again, but simply for the fact that he wasn’t afraid to say it. It brings back memories of a another rookie 20 years ago telling Michael Jordan he didn’t have to respect him. That rookie was a first ballot Hall of Fame selection.
That’s not to say that Johnson will become another Allen Iverson, although he’s in the playoffs in his first season while Iverson didn’t make it until his third. But it’s refreshing to see that Iverson’s attitude lives on in someone who wasn’t even born when the Answer played his first NBA game. It’s not the next generation’s job to bow down to established stars and escort them into hallowed retirement, it’s to kick them out the door and take their place.
Given that Johnson worked out with Kobe Bryant and considered him a mentor and “big brother,” his defiant attitude should probably come as no surprise. He clapped back at Kevin Durant earlier this season when Durant was dismissive of the Pistons, and repeatedly stated he thought he was the best player in the draft, even before the draft happened.
And even if—or maybe more accurately, when—James and the Cavaliers dispatch Johnson and the Pistons, it won’t dead the discourse. Detroit will be back. Johnson is just 19—he was all of eight when LeBron made his NBA debut—and the Pistons, who finished the regular season 44-38, should only get better. The Bulls and Wizards, the teams they beat out for the eighth spot, not so much.
For now though, James has to deal with Johnson for at least two more games. Which suits the rookie just fine. “He's a great player,” Johnson said of James. “I never took that away from him. I never said anything about that. I just said I'm going to compete every night and give my hardest effort every night and live with it.”
Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy had a talk with his rookie, but hopefully Johnson keeps talking. The first round of this year’s NBA playoffs has been a snoozefest, full of blowouts, unfortunate injuries and James Harden’s “defense.” Johnson’s brash statements not only brought attention to a series that no one would otherwise gloss over, they broke through the zombie-eyed “taking things one game at a time” and “just playing our game” cliché storm that usually make up the bulk of postgame interviews. In fact, it will likely even force LeBron to answer questions about Johnson.
Is Stanley Johnson in LeBron James’s head? Maybe not. But by the end of this series, whatever may come, you can bet LeBron will remember his name. And so will we.
