Former Indiana Guard Robert Johnson Talks Returning to Russia, Music Career and More
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Former Indiana guard Robert Johnson is ready to head back to Russia to continue his professional basketball career.
Ahead of his preparation to leave, Johnson caught up with Sports Illustrated to talk about why he signed, his time at Indiana and his passion for making music.
The Return to Russia
Last season, Johnson was playing for Parma Basket Perm, a professional basketball team that is based in Perm, Russia. It plays in the VTB United League, which is the highest level of basketball in Russia.
The season was cut short due to COVID-19. According to Johnson, it was one of the last leagues to officially cancel the season. There were about seven games left of the regular season.
"It was a little bit hectic," Johnson said. "We were still hanging around, working out, and then in the span of like 24 hours, the team brought us in and said we could go home. So it happened really quick, but it worked out smooth with everything."
Johnson got back to the United States in late March, and he's been working out with his brother throughout the summer to stay in shape.
There were a number of options for Johnson to continue playing basketball, and on July 16, Johnson officially signed back with Parma Basket Perm.
"I just weighed the options and tried to figure what was the best route for me," Johnson said. "I think it ultimately came down to Russia being the best chance for me to continue to develop at the highest level possible."
The season is scheduled to start on Sept. 20, and Johnson is currently in the process of getting all his paperwork filled out to head over there.
He said he could be heading to Russia as early as next week. Since Johnson has lived there before, he knows what to expect in terms of adjusting to the language barrier.
"I started in Poland, and obviously the language is different there. It wasn’t as hard because the alphabet was the same and there were more people that spoke English as opposed to Russia," Johnson said. "The alphabet is completely different (in Russia) so you really can’t use context clues to figure it out, and there’s not a whole lot of people that speak English, so that part was tougher. But my team, they all spoke English, my coaches did and from a basketball side of things, everything was great."
Johnson believes the pace and style of play in Russia is as close as you can get to the highest level like the NBA, and he's ready to continue to develop his game.
Reflecting on Indiana
Johnson played at Indiana from 2014-2018. The first half of his Hoosier career featured two NCAA Tournament appearances, and the second half saw a coaching change and team struggles.
"It’s a lot of mixed emotions when I look back," Johnson said. "More than anything, I would say I was blessed to have the opportunity. Even in the tougher times, I think I still was able to contribute in a lot of ways that I could be proud of."
Johnson still keeps up with his former teammates at Indiana. He said he never goes an extended period of time without catching up with one of them and seeing how they are doing.
One of his former teammates, Juwan Morgan, has been impressing in the playoffs with the Utah Jazz after going undrafted in 2019. It's something Johnson has loved to see.
Indiana Hoosiers forward Juwan Morgan (13) and guard Robert Johnson (4) and guard Zach McRoberts (15) and guard Devonte Green (11) look on during the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Jeffrey Becker/USA Today Sports
"Man, I love to see it. I definitely love to see it," Johnson said. "I’m so proud of him for continuing to develop, and when you look at him out there, he continues to get better and he does all of the same things, you know, he stays true to himself. It’s great to see how he continues to develop and just stay true to who he is as a player at the highest of levels."
Despite enduring some hardships during his time at Indiana, Johnson is still grateful the opportunity he had to play in Bloomington.
"I have a lot of love for Indiana and I don’t think that’ll ever change."
NBA Aspirations
After graduating from Indiana in 2018, Johnson spent some time in the G-League and played in Poland as well before his most recent move to Russia.
In the summer of 2018, Johnson had a pretty impressive run with the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Summer League.
"It was great," Johnson said. "I think it was a learning experience that gave me a base to build on and where I needed to continue to develop my game to get to that level."
Since graduating from Indiana, Johnson has become more of a primary ball handler and point guard — a role he rarely played while with the Hoosiers.
"I never really felt like I showed my true and real potential (at Indiana), but ultimately, I got better there," Johnson said. "I think at Indiana I never really, fully stepped into that role of being a primary ball handler and a guy that really runs the team as far as controlling the pace and the tempo of the game. That’s something that I think I’ve grown at in a lot of ways."
Johnson doesn't quite know what the path ahead will look like in terms of trying to make it in the NBA, but he said that it will always be a goal of his as long as he's still playing.
Making Music
In 2019, Johnson began putting more time into something he has always loved — making music.
The first song Johnson ever made was at Indiana with Devonte Green, Curtis Jones and Vijay Blackmon.
"We met a guy who would record music in his apartment, and he invited us over to make some music," Johnson said.
In the summer of 2019, Johnson put out a single titled, "Stunna" and it was available on Soundcloud, Apple Music and iTunes.
"It just turned into a passion of mine, and now I’ve recorded a countless amount of songs and I’m looking to do an album soon," Johnson said.
It's allowed Johnson to focus on something other than basketball, which he has enjoyed.
"It's a lot of fun for me because I don’t do a whole lot other than playing basketball and doing music," Johnson said. "So it gives me something other than basketball as a different space to get away from basketball and something else I can do to be productive and exploit other avenues."
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