John Tonje shouts out NBA Champion during Junior Jazz road trip

Even though John Tonje has remained unsigned by the Utah Jazz, every indication has been that one way or the other, he will be on the Jazz's roster. The Georges Niang trade indirectly confirmed that. Before he signs on the dotted line, Tonje has been participating in the Junior Jazz road trip, where he's greeted fans in various camps in Utah. Along the way, he shouted out one well-known NBA veteran: PJ Tucker.

Tucker, who was technically a Jazzman for a minute earlier this year, hosted a basketball camp that Tonje went to when he was younger. Tonje himself explained to Deseret News' Sarah Todd the impact of meeting Tucker left on him.

“We had never seen an NBA player before in Omaha, and we thought that was the coolest thing ever,” Tonje told Todd. “I was like swarming him, trying to be around him, asking him all these questions.

“To this day, I don’t really even know how or why he was there, but he was the coolest, so that’s why I feel like I’m able to have a little bit more patience with the kids, because I was that kid.”

It is cool to see the players from the NBA's past leave the kind of mark on the players of the future NBA like Tucker did with Tonje. So much so that Tonje has taken it upon himself to be that influence for asping future NBA players (or really future professional basketball players). He has seemingly embraced every minute of it too.

Tucker is the perfect NBA example for Tonje

Tucker came to be one of the most prolific role players of his generation, as he played a vital role in multiple playoff contenders in the 2010s and 2020s. That includes the Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, and Philadelphia 76ers. Tucker is in fact considered the last piece of the Bucks' title in 2021.

Tucker didn't have the most orthodox NBA path though. After the Raptors picked him in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft, he played one year in the NBA before continuing his professional basketball career overseas. He eventually returned in 2012 with the Phoenix Suns, where he found his footing.

It wasn't traditional, but Tucker became a good example for players to go off of. Minus the five year hiatus, Tonje could follow a similar path. There's no telling what kind of opportunities Utah would give him, but with all that youth on the roster, he should get a fair shot. If not with the Jazz, then definitely with the SLC Stars.