Miami Heat forward James Johnson made a lot of headlines on Tuesday when he got involved in an altercation on the court with Toronto Raptors big man Serge Ibaka. During the third quarter of their teams' game, the two exchanged punches which led to their ejections and the league office slapping them with a one-game suspension each. He has since shown a lot of remorse for his actions.
The 30-year-old Wake Forest product took to his Twitter account recently to issue an apology to his teammates, the Heat organization and to their fans. He made it known that he should have dealt with his emotions better and that he vows not to allow the same situation to happen to him again.
Johnson is having himself another solid season for the South Beach team this year. In 33 games, he is averaging 10.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 26.5 minutes. He is also giving head coach Erik Spoelstra the ability to field in more combinations on the floor with his versatility and ability to play multiple positions.
That said, his presence for the team during games is very important, and they will have some depth issues in their big man rotation whenever he's unavailable to play. The Heat have a back-to-back set going and will play the second game on Wednesday versus the Indiana Pacers, and will be without Johnson who will serve his suspension on the night. Kelly Olynyk and Bam Adebayo are both expected to see an increase in their usage and take over his minutes.