Wyoming is known more for rodeo than rebounds, but a Cowboy State native could take the floor in this year’s NBA Finals.
Indiana Pacers forward James Johnson is a 2007 Cheyenne East High School graduate.
“Cheyenne… is where I came up,” Johnson told Slam magazine. “I moved there from California… It was about sixth grade… My father [Willie] was an orphan, and that’s where his foster parents raised him, so he felt it was a good place to raise his kids.”
Johnson said martial arts and football were his primary interest when he arrived in Wyoming.
Willie Johnson was a Marine and a seven-time world kickboxing champion while Johnson's mother, Vi, was a five-time nationals winner in kickboxing. James Johnson and his eight siblings hold black belts of varying degrees.
He discovered basketball as his eighth-grade football season ended.
"Ended Up Joining It"
“… I was headed home and all my friends were headed to basketball practice,” Johnson said in 2012. “I never was one to play video games or anything like that, so I ended up joining it.”
The next year, Johnson made the Thunderbirds’ varsity roster as a 6’4” freshman guard and led the team to a state championship in 2006, as well as two appearances in the state 4A semifinals.
He won an MVP award at a Nike All America camp before his junior year and received several scholarship offers before selecting Wake Forest, the school that recruited him first.
“Those are the guys that gave me a chance when nobody was seeing me,” Johnson said. “I didn’t get a real look nowhere because ‘all the kids from Wyoming…[aren’t good]’ and this and that.”
NBA
Johnson was named to the third-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference in both of his years at the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, university. He was drafted 16th overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2009.
He spent two years in Chicago before making stops in Toronto, Sacramento, Memphis, Minnesota, Dallas, New Orleans, Miami and Brooklyn.
Pacers
Johnson signed with the Pacers Sept. 16, 2022, and has been released and resigned several times.
Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle coached Johnson in Dallas and believes the team benefits from Johnson’s veteran presence and his physical presence on the court.
“He’s not going anywhere. We need him,” Carlisle said according to a Pacers beat writer.
Johnson and the Pacers will tipoff against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on ABC.
