After well-regarded Eberlein Drive became the fifth team booted from The Basketball Tournament — because of positive coronavirus tests, of course, not actual basketball — former Arizona Wildcat Nick Johnson and his teammates decided not to take any chances.
Johnson’s The Money Team, which will face ex-Cat Ryan Luther and Herd That on Thursday, declined to practice together or hang out even after passing an initial 24-hour quarantine with negative tests.
“It was up to us, but we knew the risk,” Johnson said Wednesday from Columbus, Ohio, where he has been mostly in isolation at a hotel since Saturday.
It was too much risk. Eberlein Drive, considered one of the top contenders for the $1 million prize in the winner-take-all tournament, passed all its first and second tests before a third round revealed one positive test from an asymptomatic player.
“Since they had already practiced together, they were disqualified,” Johnson said. “We were only doing individual workouts so if one person tested positive, that player would be out instead of the whole team.”
It wasn’t until Wednesday, after The Money Team players had tested negative for a third time, that they practiced as a team. Even then, Johnson said, they were sometimes split into two groups while continuing to follow the same guidelines that so much of the world is these days.
“We’ve been quarantining, so it’s really no different than that,” Johnson said. “Wear masks everywhere, don’t go in each other’s rooms, and having Zoom calls — that’s how we’ve been doing our meetings.”
The Money Team’s lack of together time on the court will be a drastic contrast to that of Herd That. Not only did a lot of Herd That’s roster play together collegiately at Marshall but they also practiced together before the TBT over a week in Charleston, West Virginia, where they stayed in a semi-bubble with meals delivered to their hotel rooms.
But still, The Money Team has a perceived advantage in talent. That’s why it is the TBT’s No. 7 seed while Herd That is the No. 23 seed out of 24 teams, advancing to Thursday’s game possibly in part because of, well, the coronavirus.
Herd That beat the Peoria All-Stars, a substitute for the Playing for Jimmy V team that had a positive test — after Jimmy V had already replaced another team that had a positive test.
The Money Team, backed by boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather, has plenty of name-brand talent, some of whom faced Arizona as collegians: Kyle Wiltjer (Gonzaga), Bryce Alford (UCLA), and Tony Wroten (Washington).
Former Arizona guard Nick Johnson is playing for The Money Team, a squad fronted by boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., in The Basketball Tournament.
Besides, Johnson said, many of them have played together before or at least know each other’s games. Johnson and Wiltjer were club-ball teammates on the Oakland Soldiers and played together last season in Ankara, Turkey, while Johnson said he’s faced Wroten for a decade at different levels.
“When you get to this level of basketball, it’s all about playing basketball,” Johnson said. “I mean, you benefit from chemistry but everybody has ties to one another and we’re all basketball fans. I have seen each person play.”
Even though Johnson left Arizona in 2014, four years before Luther arrived for a grad-transfer season for the Wildcats, the two know each other.
Johnson said he regularly spends part of the offseason working out in Tucson, doing so with Luther in Tucson before the 2018-19 season after Luther transferred from Pitt. He fielded questions from Luther about playing overseas before Luther signed with a Latvian club last season.
And, while the two will face each other Thursday in the TBT, they might also face each other next season halfway around the world: Johnson says he’s talking to his Turkish club about returning for another season in 2019-20, while Luther has signed with Darüssafaka Tekfen, a rival in the Turkish Super League.
Johnson never knows where the journey will take him next, nor who will be there with him, and he’s not complaining a bit.
Since becoming a second-round pick of the Houston Rockets in 2014, he’s split up his professional career in the NBA, G League, Germany, France and Turkey.
“I always say this there’s 2,000 people talented enough to be in the NBA but only 450 spots,” Johnson says. “You can be the 14th or 15th guy on your (NBA) team, or you can go overseas and be the best player on your team or have a big role, playing in front of fans where it’s more like a college atmosphere.
“So I’ve definitely grown to love that. It’s pretty amazing basketball over in Europe, as far as the support you get and style of play. I get to see the world. I’ve been to countless countries. It’s pretty cool.”
