Amir Johnson is All About The Fans

It has been a rough season on the floor for Amir Johnson. But in good times or bad he always is active in giving back to his fans. He has had some of the more unique ideas in promoting himself while giving back to the people who support him. Last season, as a way to say thanks to his fans, he treated about 50 fans to a Raptor game and an after game meal with him at a pretty high end restaurant in Toronto. His latest idea encourages fans to hit the streets and take photos of his jersey or just a Raptor jersey on various things like statues or whatever I guess. This is called "Draping", rather than have me explain just go to his website for a full explanation. The deadline to get your picture posted on his facebook page or tweet it to him @IamAmirJohnson is Feb 9th which is a week today. Winners get a autographed poster from Amir and the ultimate winner 2 tickets to an upcoming Raptor Game. I really admire the creativity of Amir in his promotions. I had a brief chance to catch up with him and get his thoughts on it. There is also some thoughts on a feature I was going to do on "What you would never want to forget on a road trip?". It seemed like a good idea but never really panned out. It does lead to a funny story about how he use to steal Reggie Evans lotion a couple seasons back. So I left it in.



It is these kind of things that even when times are tough, by and large the fans will stick with you. Amir has went out of his way for fans since coming here to embrace them. In times when things are not as good that goodwill comes back to you. Most Raptors fans instead of complaining about any problems they see with Amir on the floor, more are likely just to keep rooting for him to find the answers. I make a point of this often, how players are people the same as all of us. If a player goes out of his way to appreciate you, that can only serve to help him in the long run. There was some speculation Amir might have some issues beyond basketball right now. I have no idea what they are or if that is the case. But what I do know, is that based on my interactions with him whatever the case maybe I wish him nothing but my heart felt best wishes. Fans because of who he is would agree with this I am pretty certain. Amir Johnson is an example of a guy that gets it in terms of promotion and in terms of giving back to the people that support him. That is something you love to see in any pro athlete. Something that is rare enough these days to be admired.