Amir Johnson Named Celtics Teammate of the Year

Amir Johnson was named the Boston Celtics Teammate of the Year

Every season the players on every team vote for the player on their respective team that they believe was the best teammate. This isn’t an award that people are counting down to, and it doesn’t carry any weight as far as the scoreboard. Although, this is an honor for players to receive and says a lot about a player as a person.

Amir Johnson was named the Boston Celtics Teammate of the Year for the 2015-16 season. Despite only averaging 7.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game, the Celtics felt Johnson was the team’s best teammate. It may not be a reward for his play on the court, however, having a closely knit locker room without drama is also a key to a successful team.

With Johnson not having a big role on offense and being an afterthought when thinking about the Celtics starters last season, this speaks even louder to the type of teammate he is. A lot of players complain about not getting enough shots or not having a big enough role, but Johnson accepted his 22.8 minutes per night during his first season with Boston.

Since Brad Stevens was implemented as the head coach for the Celtics, there has been a lot of movement, especially in his first season. The Celtics have been trying to find a core they can build around and think they finally have found one. There could still be more moves, however, Stevens’ ability to keep a moving locker room happy without any drama has been impressive.

The last thing you want on any team is a bad teammate or someone who causes problems. It can be hard to win with a disruptive locker room, look at the D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young fiasco last season with the Los Angeles Lakers. While that was far from the only reason they had trouble winning games, it highlights their poor play on the court and brought more unneeded attention to their losing season.

Having a veteran who is a good influence on the younger players sets the tone for a winning mentality and attitude. An unspoken reason bringing back Johnson was worth it is his influence on the locker room. He was the team’s veteran last season and coming from a winning team with the Toronto Raptors, Johnson helped implement the winning attitude that helped the Celtics win 48 games last season.

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Although, this season he will be joined by Al Horford. The former Atlanta Hawks All-Star center was voted the Hawks Teammate of the Year. Adding another presence will continue to shape the winning mentality that Boston is still trying to implement. Not to mention that an already tightly knit locker room shouldn’t have any problems adding Horford to the mix.

When you think about it, the professionalism that Horford has had throughout his entire career is a big reason he has maintained his consistent success. Also, Johnson’s willingness to extend the date for the Celtics to guarantee his contract to July 7 is something not many players would have done. Yet, Johnson did what was best for the team, highlighting his team-first mentality.

Being named the Teammate of the Year isn’t going to change games. It doesn’t carry the same weight as winning MVP, Defensive Player of the Year or any award based off of on-court production.

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However, it shouldn’t be understated how important a good locker room is to a winning team. The best teams have the closest locker rooms and don’t have dumb, unnecessary drama surrounding them, and that type of culture is part of the reason Boston’s rebuild has gone so smoothly.