By AMOS BARSHAD JAN. 27, 2018
On the face of it, the story of Dakari Johnson — a 22-year-old backup center for the Oklahoma City Thunder — is familiar. He’s an anonymous rookie, fighting for minutes, hoping to plant the roots of a long career. When his chances have come, he has seized them.
With center Steven Adams out with a contusion to his right calf on Nov. 10, Johnson got his first N.B.A. start. Late in the game, against the Los Angeles Clippers, Johnson made a crucial jump shot, then took the opportunity to blow kisses to the sky. “His swag,” the Thunder star Paul George said after the game, “is at an all-time high.”
