Fifteen questions with the Miami Heat’s Tyler Johnson

Heat guard Tyler Johnson threw up when he heard the Brooklyn Nets had thrown a four-year, $50 million offer sheet his way this summer, guaranteeing one way or the other his life was about to drastically change.

A week later, he cried when the Heat matched that offer sheet, keeping him around as part of its future.

Last week, before the Heat’s preseason opener in Washington, Johnson, 24, agreed to participate in the second installment of 15 questions.

Q: The obligatory first question inspired by former Miami Herald columnist and current 790 The Ticket radio host Dan Le Batard: Your house is on fire, family is safe, what three things are you running back into your house to save?

A: “I’m going back to get my PlayStation. I have a lot of stuff saved up on there. What else? Damn, I don’t have a lot of stuff in my house right now. I guess I’m going back to get my TV because it took a lot of time to put it up. Then, I think I’m going to go back in and grab a bottle of Hennessy because my house just burned down. I need something to decompress.”

Q: When you go home to Mountain View, California, what are you asking Mom to make for dinner?

A: “I wouldn’t say something she makes. It’s a place we go. We always go to the House of prime rib. We always go when I come back. There’s probably only 15 things on the menu. But it’s solid.

I get the creamed spinach, the mashed potatoes and the beet salad as the sides. And I’m solid, I’m ready.”

Q: Goran Dragic said if anybody played him in a movie it would be Jim Carrey. Who is playing Tyler Johnson?

A: “It’s funny he said Jim Carrey because people always say I look like him in “Dumb and Dumber.” I would probably say the bad guy in “Spider-Man” and in “Pineapple Express.” Who am I thinking of?”

Q: James Franco?

A: “Yes, him. I just think we look alike. I think it would be James Franco.”

Q: We steal your iPhone — what tunes do you have in there?

A: “A little bit of everything: Got a little Coldplay, got a little hip-hop. I’ve got a little bit of Kesha, a little bit of Calvin Harris, a little bit of everything.”

Q: Kesha and Calvin Harris? Are you an EDM guy?

A: “I mean, I don’t like to listen to it per say, but before games, instead of trying to get all hyped up like that with hip-hop, I like to mellow out.”

Q: What’s the last song you sang in the shower?

A: [Johnson breaks into song] “Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy, got my glasses, I’m out the door, I’m gonna hit this city.”

Q: Kesha? Really?

A: “Yeah. I’ve never met her. But if you can put the plug in I’d appreciate it.”

Q: There’s lots of ink on you. How many tattoos do you have?

A: “About 10.”

Q: Which one means the most to you?

A: “The one on my side. It was my first one. It says God Protect My Soldier. I got it for my Mom [Jennifer].”

Q: Where did your Mom serve when she was in the Air Force?

A: “She was deployed to Djibouti a lot and once to Afghanistan. She was in flight management. Basically people come up to her with orders and she has to cut the orders and make sure people are capable of doing their missions. She does search and rescue.”

Q: Any scary moments?

A: “No. But she would give us a heads up she was going on a mission and wouldn’t be able to call for a few days. Nothing like to where I was really concerned like death. But I was young. I didn’t really know how to comprehend it.”

At this point Johnson needs to take a break from our conversation because a teammate has come over to ask him for a favor.

“$1,500?” Johnson replies. “For what?”

A minute later, Johnson reaches into the pant pockets in his locker and pulls out an envelope with a wad of hundreds and hands it over.

Q: All that money this summer — what’s the first thing you bought with it?

A: “The house [in Pinecrest]. That was the first major purchase. I also took my fiancée [Ashley Fletcher] on a little shopping spree in New York.”

Q: Did you buy a new car?

A: “I got a Jaguar. But I got that last year actually.”

Q: You put a ring on Ashley’s finger. When is the wedding?

A: “To be decided.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2016 at 9:48 PM with the headline "Fifteen questions with the Miami Heat’s Tyler Johnson."