WHY TAYLOR JOHNSON KEEPS COMING BACK TO THE EYE OF THE HEMEL STORM
By John Hobbs
Hemel Storm guard Taylor Johnson is proud to call the club and Great Britain his second home.
This comes after he scored 30 points, going 11-for-17 from the field on his home debut in the Storm’s 83-75 victory over the Bristol Hurricanes on Saturday.
A blistering start to Johnson’s third spell with Hemel, a club where he has won every major trophy and MVP honour when the Storm were in Basketball England’s NBL Division 1.
But for Johnson, being at Hemel is about more than trophies. It’s about the community and going deeper, why he loves playing in Great Britain.
“Hemel have always been great to me and have always looked out for me,” Johnson said.
“Obviously, we've had a lot of success and a lot of fun playing basketball, and this is kind of like my second home. My wife is also here, so that makes it a big reason for me to be around.
“It’s not just Hemel, but also being in [Great Britain], the league is competitive, there are great players across the country, and it’s a wonderful basketball community.”
Big reasons why Johnson keeps coming back to what he calls his second home, having started his British adventure with the Leicester Warriors back in January 2019.
From there, he went to the Thames Valley Cavaliers (now London Cavaliers), where he helped them reach the first-ever BCB Trophy final, then called the L Lynch Trophy.
But it was when he joined Hemel in 2021 that Johnson truly flourished, narrowly losing out in the NBL Division 1 Playoff final to Team Solent Kestrels in his first season before bouncing back to win the quadruple and going a sensational 41-0 in all competitions.
He rejoined the Storm following a brief stint in the old British Basketball League, capturing the Playoff crown before spells in Germany and, most recently, Mexico have landed Johnson back in his old stomping ground.
Many new faces, but some familiar ones that highlight the players’ loyalty to Hemel.
“It's been really nice to see the faces that make Hemel the club it is,” Johnson said.
“We got some of the same guys, but then there's a handful of new guys, and they've been awesome, and it's been great to be around them. It's taken us some time to figure things out and get all that chemistry we had going, but we’re getting there.
“The team have had a long stretch of road games and now we really have to make home court count.”
With two straight wins under Hemel’s belt – and Johnson back in full flow - they finally seem to be going in the right direction.
