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Coming home to play for the Halifax Hurricanes means more than just basketball for Chris Johnson.

“I get to represent the hometown team and have my family watch me play and I get an opportunity to grow my brand off the court,” said the 31-year-old from North Preston who was acquired by the Hurricanes in an August trade with the Sudbury 5.

“I get a chance to influence the lives of the younger athletes coming up. To be right here in the city and train with kids and teach them the recipes they need in order to get their careers going is pretty exciting for me too.”

Hurricanes head coach Mike Leslie sought more experienced players to add to his roster during the off-season and the veteran six-foot-five guard/forward fit the criteria. So he dealt guard Malcolm Duvivier to acquire his rights.

But another intangible came into play.

“Chris has proven himself in this league and he has played a number of years overseas,” Leslie said in a recent interview. “He will help share some of that scoring load.

“But it’s always nice to have a player on the team from the city that you’re playing in. The fit was right. To have that homegrown talent who has gone away and now gets a chance to play back home, it shows other aspiring kids – whether he goes to a high school game or talks to players or attends camps – and helps further grow the sport of basketball in our province.”

To that end, Johnson has created a non-profit, Tunnel Vision Association, which, Johnson said, encourages young basketball players with structured fundamental skills “through individual training, clinics and camps, mentoring and tutoring.”

“Being at home I want to be as busy as I can, doing the right thing,” Johnson said.

“A lot of the kids that have these dreams of playing basketball come out to the camps and I work with them. But that was just once a year when I came home during the off-season. Now that I’m home, I can be with them at the gym constantly and they can come to the games. Having them around me will give them a better opportunity.”

Unless he was wearing an opposing uniform, Johnson’s family and friends had very few chances to cheer for him in person.

The Auburn Drive high school product played NCAA Division 1 hoops at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, N.Y. After college, he headed overseas to play professionally in Portugal, the United Kingdom and Germany.

But with younger brother Caleb and nephew Jashajaun Downey – each playing prep school hoops in the Toronto area – drawing interest from college recruits south of the border, Johnson wanted to be closer to home.

“Being overseas created a disconnect with me and my little brother and nephew,” Johnson said. “I want to help them pursue their dream.”

So his global basketball tour brought him back to North America two years ago. He played one season (2017-18) with the Island Storm – where he averaged 18 points, four rebounds and three assists as a starter – before signing with the Cape Breton Highlanders last season.

Johnson had other NBL Canada courters, including the Hurricanes, but he felt Cape Breton best suited him.

He earned second-team all-Canadian honours after averaging 14 points, four rebounds and two assists per game with the Highlanders, who qualified for the playoffs for the first time in their third year of existence.

But the team struggled to remain viable and, in September, was granted a one-year sabbatical to stabilize its finances in hopes of a return to the NBL Canada for the 2020-21 season.

“My time in Cape Breton was a learning experience,” Johnson said. “I met some amazing people off the court and I made some great relationships off the court and learned a lot of life lessons off the court.

“I feel like bad situations are the best teachers. But I committed to a decision to play in Cape Breton. It was an up-and-down year but we did make the playoffs for the first time. We ended up making the most of it. We took Halifax to five games (in the best-of-five opening-round playoff series) despite injuries and people leaving.

“But we persevered against a well-structured, A-plus team in Halifax. The Hurricanes always came across as an organization that you want to be with, if you’re a player. If you want things done the right way with unselfish teammates and dedicated coaches, you want to be on this team”"

And playing at home comes with an added bonus.

“After playing in P.E.I. and Cape Breton, I can now go up and see my grandmother or go to my mother’s and have a home-cooked meal,” Johnson said. “As a basketball player at a professional level, you never expect those things, you don’t even dream about that stuff. To me, it's still surreal.”