North Preston hooper aims to combat racism with 3-on-3 tournament

Basketball has taken Chris Johnson a long way from his childhood home of North Preston. The six-foot-five 35-year-old, who once called Cole Harbour’s Auburn Drive High School home, has competed against the likes of NBA superstar Jimmy Butler. Played in front of a roaring crowd in the NCAA’s March Madness tournament. Called Canadian NBAers Andrew Nicholson, Tristan Thompson and Corey Joseph teammates. Now, Johnson sees basketball as another avenue: A way to reach young Haligonians and Nova Scotians and set them on a better, more inclusive path.

This weekend, he’s hosting the third annual Anti-Racism Tournament at Citadel High School—an initiative that both promotes social justice and funds skills development programs for young Haligonians.

“I think [basketball] is about perspective,” Johnson says, speaking by phone with The Coast. “I found purpose within the game. I was able to play in different countries and get two college and university degrees. And I’m using it the same way now to connect with our youth.”

Johnson started the tournament—which blends basketball with guest speakers and discussions on anti-racism—in the fall of 2020. It came in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police, and a summer of Black Lives Matter protests that spread from Minnesota to Portland to New York to Halifax and around the globe. That same year, hundreds marched in Halifax to mourn the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, an Afro-Indigenous woman who fell to her death during a police visit to her home in Toronto. In Halifax, calls mounted to defund the police.

“There were a lot of protests taking place. For me, personally, I felt like my way of protesting was using basketball as my platform to try to provide the same type of message for the youth, but in a different way,” Johnson says.

Close to 250 young athletes between grades 5 and 12 are expected to compete in this year’s tournament at Citadel High School. Guest speakers include African Nova Scotian educator Rachel Ross, former AUS all-star and St. FX basketball coach Augy Jones and longtime HRCE principal and lieutenant-colonel Kenneth Fells.

“I don’t want to get caught up in the basketball part of it,” Johnson says. “I think the cool thing about the [high turnout] is there’s going to be more kids hearing a powerful message about anti-racism.”

A decorated career

Johnson’s hoops beginnings in rural Nova Scotia might have been unassuming—but his career path has been something to marvel at. After starring at Auburn Drive, where Johnson would average 32 points per game in his Grade 11 year, he transferred to basketball powerhouse Eastern Commerce in Toronto: A high school that produced the likes of NBA all-star Jamaal Magloire and Marquette standout Junior Cadougan. On the heels of two strong seasons, Johnson was able to catch the attention of Kilgore College, a community college in Kilgore, Texas. (Miami Heat star Butler made a splash as a freshman at nearby Tyler Junior College just a year prior.) Johnson averaged 11 points per game that season.

“I actually got 21 Division-1 offers to go play at the next [NCAA] level,” he tells The Coast.

Johnson chose St. Bonaventure in New York. For one, there were two other Canadians on the roster—including Nicholson, who would go on to play six NBA seasons with the Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets and Portland Trail Blazers. In Johnson’s two seasons with the Bonnies, he would start in 28 games and average nearly 10 points and three rebounds. That fuelled eight years of professional basketball, from Scotland to Germany to Portugal and back to Canada.

“It’s a full-circle story,” he says. “I had a dream. And although maybe the steps in front of me weren’t always clear to get there, my belief [didn’t waver]. Even going back to those courts in North Preston, I had a lot of nights where I spent countless hours… on the court.”

Now, Johnson finds fulfillment in seeding the dreams of the next generation of Halifax hoopers: A burgeoning hotbed that has produced the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks’ Lindell Wigginton, the Ontario Clippers’ Nate Darling and now Johnson’s younger brother, Caleb, who recently committed to playing basketball at Jacksonville State.

“I think back to great players that didn’t have the notoriety, just based on the spotlight not being here—guys like Tyson Beals [who led the Queen Elizabeth Lions during the 1990s],” Johnson says. “I think now, it’s just having that belief system: Once you see guys get there, the belief comes with it… I think there’s more eyes and more opportunities [today]. There’s always been a big collection of talent here.”