bape_lovers wrote:JJ is real MVP
Speaking of JJ:
The before and after story of James Johnson’s physical transformation Before he lost nearly 40 pounds, reignited his playing career and put himself in position for a big pay day this coming July, James Johnson found himself shirtless, embarrassed and a bit confused standing in front of the camera lens of an iPad inside the Heat's training facility last summer.
“It was weird to me – really weird to me,” said Johnson, a former first round pick of Chicago back in 2009, who in his first seven years in the league with the Bulls, Raptors, Kings, Grizzlies and Hawks had never been asked by the team's strength and conditioning coaches to pose shirtless for a photo.
“I thought I was going to be the only [player to do it] because I came in something huge... But then I ran through their iPad. It was like a magazine, a list of their accomplishments with other players and I saw it with my own eyes. And from what I saw on that iPad, I wanted to change myself.”
As Johnson, 30, flipped through Bill and Eric Foran's iPad, he saw before and after photos of dozens and dozens of former Heat players, who all went through the Foran's intense workouts and transformed their bodies into finely tuned, fit, athletic machines to survive the demands of coach Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley before him.
Of all the photos that stood out, Johnson said, it was that of seven-time All-Star and former Heat guard Joe Johnson, 35, who joined the team in late February of last season and was part of the Heat’s run to within a victory of the Eastern Conference Finals, which made the biggest impression on him.
“That’s because he came in with the Miami Heat so late and was still able to change his body like that,” James Johnson said. “It has a lot to do with the player, but all the compliments and all the rewards should go to the Forans.”
As the Heat (30-34) head toward the back stretch of the season as winners of 19 of its last 23 games, one overriding sentiment from the players who joined the team in the past year is how they all feel as though they are in the best shape of their playing careers.
Dion Waiters, Wayne Ellington, Willie Reed and Johnson have all remarked how they’ve each trimmed their body fat levels considerably since joining the Heat.
“It's amazing,” Reed said in early February. “You see a transformation. Sometimes you can’t see it because you feel like you aren’t doing as much as you can, but when coaches show you film and you have people saying ‘Hey you’re getting better’ you start to understand it a little bit more. It’s just a testament to the Forans and coaching staff. It’s a testament to [personal trainers] Drew Hanlen and Stan Remy as well to help me become better offensively. The stronger I get, the more conditioned I get, I know I’ll be able to do what I’m doing now at a higher level.”
Johnson, though, could be the most amazing transformation yet for the Forans.
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/heat-check/article136917233.html
We need to rekindle the Knicks-Heat rivalry of old. The NBA is stronger when the Knicks are good.
