RealGM

The six-time All-Star Joe Johnson hasn’t often been given a warm embrace by the sports fans of Atlanta. That’s because no matter how many times he is referenced by team officials as “the six-time All-Star Joe Johnson,” significant matters keep getting in the way. Like his contract, his aloofness, his seeming lack of leadership and his team’s general shortcomings.

Well, here’s one way “six-time All-Star Joe Johnson” can score some points with the general populace: Don’t play in his sixth All-Star game.

The Hawks are on a slide. They have lost more games in the last 10 (3-7) than they did in the first 22 (16-6). This isn’t completely unexpected. They’re banged up. They’re worn down. They’re starting to play some better teams. They’re missing their starting center (Al Horford) and his backup (Jason Collins), and this was an undersized team to begin with. It figured at some point that a 16-6 team would have a market correction.

Johnson has tendinitis in his left knee. He came out of Monday’s game in Chicago and never went back in. http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/ ... awks-sake/