Back in 2020, it wasn't clear whether Keyontae Johnson would ever play basketball again. He had collapsed on the court while still in college at Florida. He sat out for almost two years before resuming his basketball career at Kansas State. The NBA's Fitness to Play panel had to clear Keyontae Johnson before the Oklahoma City Thunder drafted him with the 50th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Keyontae Johnson signed a two-way contract with the Thunder, ensuring that he would split time between them and their G League affiliate the Oklahoma City Blue. After playing with the Blue for most of the first few months of the season, Johnson was called into action against the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 11.

He played in a season-high 17 minutes and added a little bit of everything with four points, three rebounds and two assists. While he appeared briefly in a game for the Thunder at the beginning of the season, this was his first time receiving extended minutes. It was a moment he won't soon forget.

“It felt great, it's definitely a blessing just to have an opportunity for me to get out there,” Johnson told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “Coach is giving me a chance to fulfill my dream.”

It was a milestone for Johnson who always believed that this moment would come. He spent three days in a medically induced coma after he had collapsed before awakening. He ended up rejoining Florida on the bench before entering the transfer portal following the 2021-22 season.

Johnson was once a projected lottery pick when he was playing for the Gators. Although he had not played basketball in two years, he had a strong year for the Wildcats helping to rebuild some of his draft stock. He started all 36 games averaging a career-best 17.4 points per game while helping lead Kansas State on an NCAA Tournament run.

The NBA was always his ultimate goal and he met with different doctors in hopes of being cleared for the NBA. Even though he had managed to return to the court, the NBA had to deem him healthy in order to participate in the pre-draft activities. Once that happened, Johnson knew his goal was in sight.

“Probably when I got my second opinion, just going to different doctors and everybody telling me that I can be cleared and there's a chance I can play in the NBA,” Johnson said. “Once I got cleared, I just left it up to God and took advantage of it. Now I'm just enjoying the moment and I'm staying grateful for everything.”

Now that Keyontae Johnson is in the NBA with the Thunder, he's working towards helping young athletes so that they don't end up going through what he did. Johnson was diagnosed with a heart condition following his coma. He was offered a settlement that would have effectively ended his basketball career. He passed on that, determined to chase his NBA dream.

After the Thunder drafted Johnson, he started his own non-profit, The Key To My Heart Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to help detect potential heart conditions in youth athletes. One of the key focuses of the organization is to provide heart screenings to young athletes across the country as well as provide youth athletic departments with Automated External Defibrillators.

“Just the situation I went through at Florida, I'm just trying to give it back to a lot of athletes that are in high school,” Johnson said, “Not too many people know they have a heart problem or anything, they haven't been able to scan it. So I'm trying to do an early scan in high school and hopefully we catch people who have different heartbeats or different situations.”

As far as Johnson's on the court play, he has yet to see the same kind of extending playing time with the Thunder that he did against the Blazers back in January. But he's been showing flashes of the kind of player he can be while in the G League.

Johnson has suited up in 13 games for the Blue and has been averaging 22.0 points per game, 6.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.6 steals with shooting splits of 55.7 percent from the field, 40.4 percent from the three-point line and 76.2 percent from the free throw line. On a two-way contract, Johnson is going to spend most of the season in the G League, but he feels like it's got him on the right track.

“I feel like it's preparing me the right way. The coaches in the G League have been watching film with me every day to learn my role with the Thunder. I've been getting extra reps with them just knowing where to be at the right time on the court,” Johnson said “I can defend and hit open shots, just being able to guard 1-4 or 1-5. When they pass it out, just being able to hit open threes. I'm just trying to focus on being a 3&D guy right now.”

It's an accomplishment in itself for Keyontae Johnson to have made it to the NBA. With the Thunder elevating themselves to possible championship contention, regular playing time is going to be scarce for him for the remainder of the season. The Thunder are likely going to finish with a top-three seed in the West and Johnson just wants to help them get there.

“Making the playoffs, during my first year just making the playoffs as a team,” Johnson said. “Being able to play in a playoff game and just contribute for the team any way I can.”