Raptors Amir Johnson says he asked to be taken out of starting line up

The Toronto Raptors have made some changes to their starting line up, inserting Tyler Hansbrough at power forward in place of Amir Johnson. Johnson says it was actually his idea for the change.

“I kind of asked to be on the bench,” Johnson told the Toronto Sun on Friday. “I guess everybody didn’t know that, huh? … Yeah. I wanted to see if there would be a difference. I wanted to see if we could get the offense going that way. I had talked to the coach weeks before the decision was made. I just wanted to make that clear.”

Way to put the team first. Johnson played better in the two games since the change but it hasn’t resulted in any wins. The Raptors currently have a 6-12 record and will face off against the Lakers – in Kobe Bryant’s return to the court – Sunday night.