Johnson became the third member of the Miami Heat organization to win the Slam Dunk Contest.
He held off San Antonio Spurs rookie Carter Bryant in the final round.
Both players represented California, with Bryant coming from Riverside and Johnson representing Oakland.
Johnson considered himself an under-the-radar second-year player entering the week, with the mindset of wanting to make a name for himself.
“I can’t make this up right now. I’m still kind of speechless,” Johnson told USA TODAY. “This all started with it just being a dream. I was a kid who grew up watching the slam dunk contest, which was the main event for me.”
Johnson had the opportunity to celebrate his victory with basketball fans by taking the trophy down to Venice Beach as part of the AT&T Dunk District event.
The trophy will be making its way back to the Bay Area, where it will reside with his mom, along with the many other trophies that have been won by him and his siblings over the years.
He stayed energetic throughout the competition, often dancing after successful dunk attempts and remained true to his roots.
Johnson invited notable Bay Area rapper E-40 to join him and participate in his first dunk.
“I met him a few times when I was younger, but we crossed paths again after my manager reached out to him and he made it happen,” Johnson said. “E-40 was on board with the plan after he learned that a Bay Area native was in the dunk contest and now we are family forever.”
The rapper made himself available and even participated in a practice dunk session the day prior, allowing Johnson to get comfortable with dunking over E-40.
Johnson’s support group went beyond the Bay Area with several members of the Heat organization in attendance for the contest.
Heat president Pat Riley was in the crowd, cheering on his young player.
Miami guards Norman Powell, Jahmir Young and center Kel’el Ware were also seen on the sideline showing their support after competing in their respective events on Saturday.
“’Heat Culture’ was in the building,” Johnson said. “They told me after ‘we had faith and knew you were going to win it.’ They had seen me in my element and were confident in me.”
