While focusing on positives, Texas' Johnson isn't blind to negatives

AUSTIN, Texas -- Gary Johnson has a confession: He never shut down.

He knows that's what you think he did.

He knows that's what he was supposed to do.

But it's just hard to up and stop doing something you've done your entire life on a moment's notice, even when doctors explain how you have a heart condition that -- no sense in sugarcoating it -- could lead to your death if you continue playing basketball.

Considering everything else he has been through, wearing a mask to protect a broken nose won't faze Gary Johnson. (AP)

I mean, smokers are told every day that they will die if they keep smoking, and when they leave the hospital they buy a carton of Marlboro Reds. Why? Because they're addicted. And so it was a similar type of addiction that had Johnson sneaking into the Texas practice facility late at night despite opposite instructions, and Rick Barnes, if you're reading, I'm sorry you had to find out this way.

"When everybody would leave I'd come back at night, me and Craig Winder, and nobody else knew," Johnson said. "Craig supported me a lot. He would always tell me there is still a chance and that there was no point in laying back."

Clearly, Craig Winder is not a doctor.

But he's a good friend whose goal was to cheer his friend up during down times, and his friend was undeniably enduring some down times. Johnson had enrolled at Texas with much hype, a Parade All-American most expected to be the Longhorns' top inside presence. Among those expecting as much was Johnson himself. But a physical checkup in the summer rendered bad news when the 6-foot-7 forward was diagnosed with a heart ailment.

The first opinion?

"They told me I would never be able to play again," Johnson said. "That kinda shook me up."

The second opinion?

"They told me there was a small chance that I might be able to play again," Johnson said. "So I've taken the positive out of that."

Because really, what else can he do?