NEW ORLEANS -- If Sunday's All-Star Game is close in crunch time, last-shot specialist Joe Johnson says he's going to demand the ball from East coach Frank Vogel.
Ahead of LeBron James, Paul George, you name it.
Johnson was actually half-kidding when he said "I definitely should get it," but the exchange was just one of the highlights from a fun conversation Marc Kestecher, P.J. Carlesimo and I had with the Brooklyn Nets guard Friday that will air Saturday night at 6 p.m. on ESPN Radio's "Meet The All-Stars" show.
My man Mike Mazzeo from ESPN New York has the thorough rundown from the chat right here, which includes Johnson's disclosure that first-year coach Jason Kidd is getting "a bit more stern" with the Nets as they inch toward the playoffs ... as well as Brooklyn's belief that there's still time in the regular season to find a groove because "we're in the East."
“He’s grown from training camp to this point, he's grown each and every day, he’s getting better," Johnson said of his coach. "More than anything [there's] a side to Kidd that I’ve never seen, he’s had to become a bit more stern. Because as players, him coming straight from playing to coaching, it’s been a little different. It’s kinda hard to look at him as a head coach and still as a good friend.
“He’s not really our friend anymore."
