1 on 1 with Amir Johnson

Amir Johnson has been one of the NBA's most underrated players for years, and the veteran big man is now a key starter on a playoff caliber Toronto Raptors team.

Just before Raptors training camp began, the analytics darling stopped by theScore headquarters to talk to us about his ankles, his offseason, the grind of an 82-game schedule and the new pressure of expectations.

Here are a few minutes with Amir.

Casciaro: You’ve had some ankle issues the last couple of years. Did you do anything specifically this summer to address those?

Johnson: Yeah, one of the biggest things I did this summer is working on getting those joints tighter and being in the weight room, physically, just to get all those bumps and bruises fixed. I didn’t need surgery this summer (Johnson had ankle surgery last summer) and I feel up to 100 percent.

It’s been a great off-season for me. I went down to Houston and worked with ‘The Dream’ (Hakeem Olajuwon) a little bit. Just working on my skills, critiquing my game. It was an honor going down there working with him. And The Dream still looks great. He says he works out everyday. I was very grateful to work with him.

Casciaro: Can Dream still bump and grind with you guys from a strength perspective?

Johnson: One of the things he told me was that when he retired, he didn’t want to look like a retired NBA player all out of shape. When he was working with us, he looked solid, and he’s still got it. When we were playing one-on-one, he looked like he just wanted to come and be like the old Dream and dunk on us. He looked great and like I said, it was an honor just working with him and learning his skills. You might see some of The Dream Shake this season.

Casciaro: Does he still have the shake? Is it still as effective?

Johnson: He does, he does. I have a lot on my camera, but I can’t really post my secrets of the trade.

Casciaro: As someone who has had nagging pains over the years, as I’m sure most players do, how do you feel about the longer All-Star break but extra back-to-backs. Do you think it will affect anything, positively or negatively?

Johnson: I think it’s cool for the players that make the All-Star team, because they don’t really get a chance to have a break. I think they said this is the only year they’re going to do it because they have to play in Brooklyn and then New York. They’re playing the game at The Garden but they’re playing Saturday night at Barclays Center. I guess if it really works for players, they’ll see how it works this year and we’ll take it from there.

But it is great that the guys (who make the All-Star team) are getting rest, because they don’t really get time off. Especially when you have guys on the U.S.A. team, then coming to start the season, then playing in All-Star weekend. It’s just constant basketball. The biggest thing for guys to do is just rest up because it is such a long season.

That’s what makes that San Antonio team so good, because those guys know how to rest their bodies. To be so old in the NBA and just come out winning championships, they know to rest their bodies. When you’ve been in the NBA so long, you need that rest.

Casciaro: 82 games is a really long season for your bodies to go through. I know it’s a longshot considering the money involved in every game, but do you think the season should be shortened? Do you ever sit around in the middle of the season and think it’s just too long?

Johnson: It’s long, but I’ve been in the NBA so long. I’m just kind of used to the schedule. They probably could cut some games down but my body is so trained to play, I don’t really think anything of it. You just have to be smart with when to maybe rest, or not come in and get those shots, or coach is probably going to tell you to take a couple days off. You’ve just got to know how your body feels. At a young age, you just keeps going and going, but as you get older, you’re kind of like, ‘Okay, let me just take a seat.’

Casciaro: Some players aren’t happy about how their reputations have been affected by advanced stats as opposed to basic stats, but you’re a guy whose reputation has probably benefited from media and fans paying more attention to details and deeper analysis. For example, 10 years ago I don’t think many fans and media members would be talking about how great of a screener a player is, but that’s something an NBA fan today would probably know about you today.

Johnson: What I call that is pretty much taking one for the team. You don’t have to be the scorer, you don’t have to be the passer or the rebounder, you can do something else on the court, and that’s taking one for the team. You don’t have to touch the ball. You can go set a screen or you can do something to help the team be successful.

We all have one goal and our goal is to win, and win a championship. Anything you can do to help the team, no matter what it is, everybody gets happy. At the same time everybody will get paid because they look at a team like, ‘This team is winning, why are they so good? Let’s try to break this team up and pay this guy to get him over here to help our team.’ That’s everybody’s mindset. Once you’re on the same page, you start winning, and that’s pretty much what we did last year.

Casciaro: Have you noticed that under the radar parts of the game are more appreciated now by fans and media alike with everyone trying to pay more attention to the intricacies of the game?

Johnson: It does. Guys like Reggie (Evans), guys like Tyler Hansbrough, those hustle guys. Andre Drummond grabbing 20-something rebounds, the Kevin Love’s, the guys who do the nitty-gritty stuff are some of the top guys in the NBA. Even in the fantasy teams, you see those guys getting high picks.

All that little stuff is starting to get respected, because it’s big. For me, it’s just what I do on the court. I’ll always play the same way. Like I said, I want to win, so I’ll do anything it takes to win. Even if it’s just sitting on the bench, if they need me to do whatever, I’m about that. That’s what makes a great team player, and a great team, in my opinion.

Casciaro: How has last season’s success (the Raptors won a franchise record 48 games and advanced to the playoffs for the first time in six years) changed your own expectations going into a new season, and maybe changed how you approached the off-season?

Johnson: It just makes me hungrier. Just to see what we’ve done. The five years I’ve been here, just to see how the team has changed. It just makes me hungrier. It’s inspiring to see the fans react to what they see and our progress. It just makes us want to work even harder and get better, get past round one, and do well and win a championship in this city. It just brings all that into factor for us.

Casciaro: You guys became a story around the league last season and you’ll get multiple national TV games in the States this season after a long time without one. A lot of athletes talk about earning respect, do you feel like the Raptors finally have get respect around the league?

Johnson: We definitely are. We were definitely getting some respect around the league and teams know we’re definitely going to be a problem now. We’ve just got to keep working, gear up and get ready.

Casciaro: Every team says they want to win a championship, but what do you think the ralistic expectations for the Raptors should be this season?

Johnson: Top-three again in the East, for sure. We’ve got to at least reach that goal. When we get to the playoffs, we’ve got to do better than what we did. We’ve got the same team. There shouldn’t be any reason why we don’t get to the same position where we got. We added a couple of players, too. Everybody should have the same mindset and know what we did to get there. I definitely have high expectations, but I think everybody else has it, too.