Josh Smith played his first 9 NBA seasons in Atlanta. In seven of those seasons, he was teammates with Joe Johnson .
Together, they helped the Hawks make the playoffs five straight times from 2008 to 2012, advancing to the second round in three straight seasons from 2009 to 2011.
During his recent appearance on the Forgotten Seasons podcast with Dylan Dreyfuss and former NBA center Jelani McCoy, J-Smoove talked about how good Iso Joe was when they played together.
“Really good, really good man, Iso Joe,” said Smith. “I think about 85% of our offense was ran through Joe, so. He’s big, man. He was like one of 300 soldiers. And he has to be one of my most clutch teammates ever.”
A walking bucket
Johnson was the No. 10 pick in the 2001 by the Boston Celtics after starring at Arkansas. He was traded to the Phoenix Suns 48 games into his rookie season, and he blossomed there while playing with a pass-first point guard in Steve Nash. But it wasn’t until Iso Joe played for Atlanta that he really became a true superstar.