Former US college star signs for Nelson Giants

First round 2016 NBA draft pick Brice Johnson has opted for Nelson to make his basketball comeback.

The well-travelled 2.08 metre power forward has been out of the game since rupturing his Achilles tendon in Japan two years ago.

He was a star for the North Carolina Tar Heels, the same university side that the legendary Michael Jordan played for more than 40 years ago.

Brice was No. 25 in the draft, picked up by the Los Angeles Clippers. But a herniated disc injury delayed his debut until 2017 with his first court time, off the bench, coming against NBA powerhouse the Golden State Warriors.

Brice scored his first points against the Houston Rockets as the Clippers went on to make the play-offs. He was traded to the Detroit Pistons in January 2018 and just 11 days later was traded again to the Memphis Grizzlies.

By April, he was released, and his 21 game NBA career was effectively over at 24.
When his phone stopped ringing, the big man headed offshore.

The first stop was Puerto Rico followed by stints in Italy, which he described as the best time of his life, France, Ukraine and two years in Japan before his injury.

Brice is the first of three imports the Nelson Giants plan to sign before the NBL season starts next month.

His journey is some back story on the ups and downs of an NBA bench player and the 30-year-old South Carolina native recounted it, with lots of humour, in a US podcast last December.

The NBS Nelson Giants will play 11 home games this season with the first one marked for Thursday, 20 March.