33
w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
Clay
Johns
by JARRETT VAN METER
A
S AN ASSISTANT
COACH AT HIS ALMA
MATER, METROPOL-
ITAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN
KANSAS CITY, CLAY JOHNSON
SAVES A FEW MINUTES OF PRAC-
TICE EACH DAY FOR STORY TIME.
The team lines up on the baseline under-
neath one hoop, and he chooses the tale
of the day, sometimes with input from the
players.
"Tell the one about Magic and the 'John-
son' jerseys."
"Tell the one about your dunk in the NBA
Finals."
"Tell one about Lenny Wilkens."
Many of the stories are from his days on the sport's
biggest stages, about playing alongside Magic
Johnson (no relation) on the Los Angeles Lakers, win-
ning the 1982 National Basketball Association title, and
making another playoff run a year later with the Wilkens-led
Seattle SuperSonics.
Yet before Johnson broke through to the limelight, he spent
years navigating the fault line that separates being on the in-
side looking out and the outside looking in. At the time, most
of those in the latter category were doing so from the mar-
kets of the Continental Basketball Association, outposts like
Rochester, New York; Anchorage, Alaska; and, in Johnson's
case, Billings, Montana.
In the 1980s, every player in the CBA was just one call away
from the NBA. Every night was an audition, and the result
was high quality basketball. From 1980 through 1983, Mon-
