James Johnson’s agent reacts to his client not participating in Heat training camp

Mark Bartelstein, the agent for Heat forward James Johnson, said Friday that Johnson’s absence from training camp has been the result of not meeting the weight goal set by Heat president Pat Riley, but said that he easily passed the team’s conditioning test and will be back with the team “shortly.”

Johnson was not at training camp for a fourth consecutive day on Friday after being informed Monday that he would not be permitted to practice with the team until he reached a certain weight.

Johnson, who’s entering the third year of a four-year, $60 million contract, is not being fined and has not been suspended.

The Heat has declined to discuss the issue beyond this Tuesday morning statement:

“The Miami Heat announced today that James Johnson will miss the beginning of camp because he fell short of our conditioning requirements. Once he fulfills and maintains those requirements, he will rejoin the team.”

Bartelstein emphasized that Johnson “did not fail the conditioning test. He passed the conditioning test with flying colors. He was a plus 4 in how he passed the test.

“The only issue is Pat feels very strongly that there is a certain weight level where J.J. performs best. The Heat are strong proponents of weight and body fat. They put a lot of time and effort into trying to figure out what is the absolute optimal level for players to perform.

“Even though he passed the conditioning test, and James feels like he’s in really good shape, Pat thinks there’s a level he wants him at, and he wasn’t there and he wanted him to focus on getting that taken care of, which is what James is doing.”

Bartelstein declined to say the weight that Johnson has been told to get to, or how close he is to that.

Asked if he and Johnson are angry about the situation, Bartelstein said: “It’s not about being angry. Let’s do what we need to do to meet the Heat standards. Pat and James have a great relationship. Pat feels strongly about James being at his best. He will be back with the team shortly. Everything will be in a good place.”

Johnson is working out at AmericanAirlines Arena in conjunction with Heat staff.

“We’ve been in constant communication,” Bartelstein said. “He’s working hard to get to those numbers. A vast majority of players would never be able to get to that level.”

Bartelstein said it was mutually agreed by both parties that Johnson would focus on getting to the targeted weight before joining the Heat for practice.

The Heat’s move with Johnson was surprising because coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday: “He’s been very serious about his work this summer. You can see it in our conditioning day. He did a great job with that. James, to be the best version of himself, has to have a clear mind. For him to impact the game, conditioning is a big part of it. And he wasn’t healthy last year.”

Bartelstein is one of the NBA’s most respected agents and ranks among the industry’s leaders in clients. He and Riley have a very good relationship and there’s no indication that this will do any damage with regard to their future negotiations. Among Bartelstein’s clients is Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who’s expected to be a Heat target in 2021 free agency.

The Heat concludes training camp on Saturday at Keiser University in West Palm Beach, then holds a scrimmage at 4 p.m. Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena before opening preseason at home Tuesday against San Antonio.

This story was originally published October 4, 2019 at 4:30 PM.