Corona crisis in NBA: Schröder gets help from this pensioner

Copyright: imago / EFE Agency

Joe Johnson, here as Guard of Utah Jazz on October 18, 2017 against Nikola Jotic (Denver), joins the Boston Celtics.

Corona causes strange twists and turns in the NBA: Germany’s top basketball star Dennis Schröder (28) is getting an NBA retiree as a colleague. Due to the lack of players due to the ongoing corona wave, Joe Johnson is about to make his comeback in the professional basketball league at the age of 40.

According to consistent media reports, the seven-time all-star signs a ten-day contract with record champions Boston Celtics and is due to play against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday (local time).

Johnson’s return to the Celtics 20 years after the draft

The Celtics had seven pros on the COVID log this week. Johnson is supposed to help fill the gap that has left. Johnson was drafted as the Bostonians’ tenth pick exactly 20 years ago, in 2001.

The Guard last played in the NBA in 2018 – for the Houston Rockets.

NBA clubs are desperate to recruit players

Due to the tight staffing situation, NBA clubs had recently recruited players from farm teams from the G-League. Because of the many corona-related failures, two games were canceled again on Wednesday. Affected are the game of the Chicago Bulls against the Toronto Raptors planned for Thursday night and the Portland Trail Blazers against the Brooklyn Nets planned for Friday night.

Johnson, however, could prove to be a good grip for the Celtics: Since his NBA exit after a total of 1221 NBA games, he has been active in Big3, the 3 against 3 bast ketball, and was named the best player in the league in 2021.

Boston is only 9th in the Western Conference with 15 wins and 16 defeats and is fighting for participation in the playoffs. Dennis Schröder can use any help in the fight against the Cavaliers in view of the seven corona-related colleague failures … (oh)