Normally when a 10-dayer makes a debut with a team, it’s just a few minutes in garbage time. There are exceptions to this (I am eternally thankful to Isaiah Canaan for coming right in and hitting a few threes while the Bucks were sucking in his debut, but now he’s gone), and B.J. Johnson is one of them. Unlike the Hawks’ last 10-dayer, Jordan Sibert, who didn’t even get to play, Johnson got signed, and immediately played in his first quarter of availability.
And then he hit a shot! Heck yes. That’s what I live for, totally unknown players making their faint imprint on the vast fabric of the NBA. But he wasn’t done. Oh no. Oh no no no no. He hit three triples after that first bucket, and ended his debut with an impressive 11 points. His faint imprint became slightly more defined, more solid. 11 points is something legitimate players do all the time, and he just did it like it was no big deal.
The Hawks even won this game. So that makes him look even better. He played an honest role for a team who was trying to win and succeeding in winning a game. It’s one thing to score some garbage buckets in garbage time with a bunch of other scrubs on the court. It’s another to hit buckets while real NBA players are really trying to stop you.
If you can’t tell, I’m frickin’ hyped right now. And you should be too.