Johnson grateful for jersey retirement

One of the NBL’s all-time greats will be immortalised tonight, with Daniel Johnson having his iconic No. 21 jersey hung in the rafters at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Johnson is the fifth Adelaide player to have his jersey retired and he has opened up on how much the honour means to him after 13 seasons with the club. 

“I’m very grateful for it obviously, when it was first announced it kind of shocked me a bit,” Johnson said on NBL Now.

“But now it’s kind of sunk in, I’m just grateful for it and appreciate the club for doing it for me. It’s going to be special for my family, and all of them are coming out which is going to be cool.

“Playing for the club for such a long period of time, you get to hear about the history and the players who came before you. I got a lot of respect for the guys that are already up there. It’s nice to be mentioned alongside them.

“To be able to go to games and see the singlet up there is going to be pretty special.”

The 417-game NBL veteran explained that while it’s a significant moment for him, being able to share this moment with his family will be the most emotional part of the ceremony.

“It will be exciting for them when they get a bit older and kinda know what it’s all about,” Johnson said.

“And for my parents as well, I’m pretty grateful for the opportunities I had growing up and to pay that back and be like ‘you were a big part of that’, that’s going to be pretty special as well.” 

Johnson’s jersey retirement will take place tonight when the 36ers face the Illawarra Hawks, live on ESPN from 7:30pm AEDT.