Suns locker room is a house divided … for the AFC Championship game
Jan 29, 2022, 8:36 AM | Updated: 8:41 am
NBA athletes, (L-R) Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Cameron Johnson of the Phoenix Suns attend the Hoophall West tournament at Footprint Center on December 11, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The Phoenix Suns are clicking on the court having won nine straight games, but there could be some jawing off of it this weekend.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals will face each other in the AFC Championship game Sunday with a chance to reach the Super Bowl, and Phoenix’s locker room has fans on both sides.
Forward Cam Johnson will be rooting for the young Bengals, while wings and Kansas City natives Ish Wainright and Landry Shamet will be hoping for anther Chiefs’ conference title.
“Every day (Johnson) gives me that look like ‘Oh man, we got the Chiefs,'” Wainright said to Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo this week.
“I get more nervous watching Bengals games than playing in my own,” Johnson told reporters after Friday’s game. “Hands are going to be sweating.”
RELATED STORIES
Wainright went to games growing up with his dad. His said his brother was a fan of linebacker Derrick Thomas while he was a tight end Tony Gonzalez guy.
The forward spent a rookie mini camp with the Buffalo Bills in 2018, but he was rooting for the Chiefs last weekend.
Johnson grew up near Pittsburgh, but he said his dad was not into the Steelers having grown up a Dallas Cowboys fan.
The Suns forward became a fan of wide receiver Chad Johnson and Cincinnati’s uniforms with the tiger stripes as a kid.
He even received a “C. Johnson” jersey for Christmas one year.
“Coach the other day was saying, ‘Oh, you bandwagon,'” Johnson said. “I’ve been a diehard Bengals fan for 18 years. It’s all led up to this Sunday.”
Johnson said his brother is a Chiefs fan, oddly enough, because he loved watching running back Priest Holmes.
The fourth-year Sun also said he competed against Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd in high school sports and attended the University of Pittsburgh with him.
The drama in Phoenix could last beyond this week.
Forward Mikal Bridges is a Los Angeles Rams fan, and his team faces the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game on Sunday.
If L.A. gets the win, there will be Super Bowl smack talk in the Suns’ locker room. Wainright said he isn’t a betting man, but he would be open to it for that occasion.
“I’m really looking for that Chiefs vs. Rams, I need to shut (Mikal) up,” he said.
The Suns have a game against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, but it starts at 6 p.m. The AFC Championship game kicks off at 1 p.m., which gives the players some time to watch.
