Though Miami Heat forward James Johnson is one of the more versatile forwards in the NBA in that he can play either forward spot and come off the bench or start, his 2018 campaign was a bit of a letdown.
Even though Johnson started exactly half of Miami’s outings this season as opposed to only two the year before, his numbers dipped slightly. However, now we know that Johnson may have been hindered by an ailment, as Yahoo’s Shams Charania reports that the veteran underwent sports hernia surgery following their first-round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Heat forward James Johnson underwent surgery for sports hernia, league sources told Yahoo. Johnson had procedure recently, following Miami's first-round series loss.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 28, 2018
Though this doesn’t excuse Johnson’s struggles this year, it may provide an explanation for them though it surely goes deeper than that. Johnson earned himself a major payday last summer, signing a four-year, $60 million deal with Miami, something that could’ve also impacted his motivation at times.
It was Johnson’s scoring output that took the biggest hit, as his points per game average dropped two whole points from 12.8 to 10.8 last year while his other counting stats remained almost identical.
James Johnson just turned 31 this February so his health may begin to become a concern as his age gets up there. The average recovery time for a sports hernia surgery is anywhere from six to twelve weeks. Given Johnson had his surgery performed immediately following their series loss to the Sixers over a month ago, he should be ready to go for training camp.
Johnson is far from the only concern the Heat have this summer. Flashy guard Dion Waiters is also still recovering from ankle surgery that put an end to his season and Miami also needs to figure out what to do with marginalized center Hassan Whiteside. Johnson’s recovery is just another thing to monitor during what should be a busy offseason in South Beach.
