Atlanta Hawks: Former teammates Johnson, Smith battle in Big 3 opener

A pair of former Atlanta Hawks teammates returned to the basketball court for another season, this time on opposing sides. Joe Johnson’s Triplets took out Josh Smith’s Bivouac 51-39 Ice Cube’s summer league, the Big 3. The match was part of the opening week of the league’s fourth season after COVID wiped out last year.

The pair played together from 2006-20012, making the playoffs five straight seasons, never making it past the second round.  Both are captains of their respective squads.

Johnson went off for 27 points and 12 rebounds. He wasn’t done though as he also chipped in two assists and two steals. Smith was second on Bivouac in scoring with six points (giving you a snapshot as to how this one went) but he did haul in 10 boards and three assists.

Former Atlanta Hawks Joe Johnson and Josh Smith squared off in the opening week of Ice Cube’s Big 3

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The Triplets are also coached by former WNBA star Lisa Leslie, who won a gold medal as a player on Team USA in the 1996 Olympics that were held in Atlanta.

They won the championship in 2019, their inaugural season, with Johnson winning MVP in what was also his first year in the half-court style league.

Johnson played in The Basketball Tournament with last season nixed for the Big 3.

Big man Al Jefferson joins Johnson along with shooters Jannero Pargo, Jamario Moon, Sergio Gipson, and Alan Anderson.

Smith and Team Bivouac also entered the league in 2019 as part of a three-team expansion in the league that season. They went 4-4 and made the postseason, but were defeated by Johnson’s Triplets.

Still, it was a successful season that saw Smith average 7.5 rebounds per game, better than his career average.

His teammates are another former teammate (with the Detroit Pistons) in Will Bynum, former journeyman big Mareese Speights, Julian Wright, and Alonzo Gee. Immediately one notices the lack of outside shooting on this squad. That’s a big deal in a league with a four-point shot.

That brings us back to Saturday as the Triplets jumped out to an early lead on Bivouac and the latter was never able to recover.

Both teams’ Week 2 opponents are coming off of decisive wins.

Johnson and the Triplets will take on 2018 champ, Power led by a very gray, but still effective Cuttino Mobley and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, Nancy Lieberman. Smith and Bivouac are set to face off against 2017 champion Trilogy lead by Jarret Jack and player-turned-coach Stephen Jackson.