Keldon Johnson - Devastating Driver

Keldon Johnson. The youngest member of the United States men’s Olympic basketball team. Former Kentucky Wildcat. Current San Antonio Spur. You might be wondering what exactly someone averaging 12.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in 28.5 minutes of playing time is doing along the likes of Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Damian Lillard, and Jayson Tatum. Well, Keldon’s Per 36 numbers pop off the page a little better: 16.1 points and 7.5 rebounds on 47.9% shooting from the field and 74.0% from the line. On the Spurs, he was second to only DeMar DeRozan in terms of total free throws attempted on the season and was third in total rebounds. Not bad for someone listed at 6’5”.

Here’s what you need to know about the man they call Mustang: he drives and he's very dangerous when he does. He’s always relentlessly (and rather recklessly) attacking the rack. The walking demolition derby devastates defenses when he drives. He leaves bodies in his wake when he gets going downhill. Defenders that dare to try and deny him the rim end up disheartened because there’s very little to dissuade Keldon from detonating at the cup.

Per Cleaning the Glass, 52% of Keldon’s shot attempts were at the rim - that puts him in the 93rd percentile among forwards. For reference, Jimmy Butler shot 46% of his shots at the rim, RJ Barrett 42%, LeBron James 39%, and Zach LaVine 39%. He also ranks in the 90th percentile among forwards for Shooting Fouled Percentage (the percentage of a player's shot attempts he was fouled on). For reference, DeMar DeRozan is at 99%, Kevin Durant 92%, Aaron Gordon 91%, Kawhi Leonard 79%.

Joe Vardon wrote a great piece detailing just how much the Team USA promotion meant to Keldon and his family:

All clips are from the 2020-21 season.

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[tj]

He has a lot of potential in the nba. Breakout season for him

[michaellouis]

He looks bigger than I thought he was. Absolutely devastating at the rim! Perfect title!

[AceAndThings]

Love the way he welcomes contact and is able to keep his touch at the rim with either hand. Nice euros in traffic and developing floater game. Improving his 3 will open up driving lanes more. And Big Body is a hilarious name for a guard, gotta root for that.

[j.g.production]

Shoutout to coach Pop 😆 he had to call one his players to come thru for defense for team USA. Genius 🏀. Bro gonna be the key 🔑 for the team

[CharlesASmithJr]

Thank you so much for introducing the reason why Pop choose his guy.

[Letsbehonest]

Didn't watch the spurs like that this year, gonna keep an eye for him next year ✍️

[gospursgo]

He's not afraid!!! Bigbody not afraid to score even if its up against an all star player! 💪💪💪

[rer]

Man. Love ur videos and how u put them together

[valis]

This guy ain’t afraid of nobody. In this vid alone Keldon drove right into the chest of MVPs, Defensive Player of the Years, role players, All-stars, big 5s, big wings, small wings, lowly guards. He’s like a bowling ball 🎳 taking out the pins, bowling guys over left and right. Gobert, Durant, Bam, Jokic, Valančiūnas, Myles Turner, Draymond, the Lopez Bros. are just some of the names that make appearances… Embiid wisely moved out of the way, Jaylen Brown got crossed up something nasty. Keldon’s motor is Westbrookian. If he can get up at least 15-20 shots a game, hit at least 35% from 3, take on more of that leadership role Pop likes, he could have a breakout year now that he doesn’t have to share shots w/DeMar & LMA.

[futurehofer]

Evin please could you post a Cameron Payne finishing video and a Markelle video?? Thanks for these amazing videos! 🙏🔥

[GrandRed]

As a Spurs fans, I was already known these stuff man, his contact is amazing.

[sherlockstrange]

4:53 my fav part of the video😂
"When Rudy Gobert patrols the paint, guys sometimes don't drive quite.."
Keldon: hold my beer

[nataliec]

Don’t resign demar, move keldon to 3, draft Kai play him at 4.

[jesus.kraist]

The finish of this video is hilarious man

[versatillion]

I like the alliteration you slid in the description lol someone has to acknowledge it

[finessethaprofit]

The way he lands after dunks is crazy sometimes

[dfyre_rett]

His nickname is big body now, not mustang. Even Bill land calls him that now after acknowledging some spurs fans tweets about it

[jpsatre]

may not become an allstar but right now he is a terrific power forward for us.

[yunan]

He just doesn't care how many bodies in his way

[areacode]

Spurs have funny announcers. Big body is a wild name