James Johnson doesn't play much for the Indiana Pacers. But when he does, he makes his presence felt.
He entered the game with three minutes left in the Pacers' huge 108-91 win in Thursday's Game 6 of the NBA Finals to force a winner-take-all Game 7 with the Oklahoma City Thunder. His time on the court didn't last long, though, as he was ejected with just under a minute to play after an aggressive body shove on Thunder guard Dillon Jones.
James Johnson was ejected for this play.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) June 20, 2025
pic.twitter.com/suVAJ1LDdk
james johnson played for 2 minutes and got ejected 😭 pic.twitter.com/yJWSyabOKA
— buckets (@buckets) June 20, 2025
Johnson was called for a technical foul and was ejected from the game after the play. Two garbage time minutes, zero points, zero rebounds, zero assists and one ejection—hang that box score in the rafters at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The 16-year veteran has averaged just 3.1 minutes in his 12 appearances for the Pacers this season. He sits at the end of the rotation and serves as a strong locker room presence for the young, wildly successful group. And maybe more importantly—someone that other teams don't want to mess with.
Toward the end of a long career, we may have just saw Johnson's last minutes on an NBA floor. And he sure made we remember them.
The Pacers now travel back to Oklahoma City for Game 7 against the Thunder Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. If Indiana wins, Johnson would secure his first NBA title.
More NBA Finals on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pacers Enforcer James Johnson Hilariously Got Ejected in Two Minutes of Garbage Time.
