The Atlanta Hawks have had to do life without Jalen Johnson for the past two months after he was ruled out for the season due to a shoulder injury. Johnson was a major contributor to the team and did almost everything on the floor, and losing him left a big stain.
For the first time since his injury, Johnson was made available to the media and spoke about his recovery and the state of the team. Johnson was been on the sidelines during home games supporting the team, but he’s also been trying to help in any way possible.
“Obviously, I wish we can get more wins right now, and that’s what the main goal is for us as a team, and I’m still trying to play a role in it even though I’m not playing,” Johnson said. “Even if it’s just in the locker room or practice, and just being around the guys. I love being around them, I miss being around them.”
Johnson has dealt with a few injuries since being in the league, but this one has probably been his most serious. Nonetheless, he’s treating it like any other setback in life.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been through adversity, it’s just another hurdle I have to overcome,” Johnson said. “I’ve been going through stuff my whole life, no matter what it is, go day by day and you gotta keep focusing on what you can control.”
Jalen Johnson recovering well from shoulder injury
Jalen Johnson is now out of the sling that he was in for a few weeks, which sounds like progress is being made on the recovery front of his injury.
“It’s been good, everybody knows that it’s a slow process when you’re having a procedure done,” Johnson said. “It’s been a good process; I’m just trying to take things day by day, not get too far ahead.
“When you’re in the league you’re constantly learning about your body, things we may need to tweak here and there, but I’m still learning things.”
Before Johnson was dealing with his shoulder injuries, the Hawks were 22-19 and sixth in the Eastern Conference. It looked like they were building and on pace to stack more wins. Things changed when Johnson suffered a shoulder injury, but they’ve been weathering the storm and staying in the Play-In mix. The Hawks also have a few new players that Johnson hasn’t shared the court with, and he had nothing but good things to say about them.
“George [Niang], Caris [LeVert], and [Terance] Mann, they’ve been great,” Johnson said. “They were great on the teams they were on before. We have a great system and organization here, so it’s been fun to watch them and I’m excited to play with them.”
The expectation is for Johnson to be ready to go at the start of next season, and the hope is that he can pick up where he left out this season, where he was averaging 18.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game.
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