PHOENIX — It was a madhouse on Glenrosa Avenue in Phoenix Monday afternoon, as more than a thousand Phoenix Suns fans descended on Los Olivos Park to get some lemonade from Suns forward Cameron Johnson.
Johnson, who is a huge Cincinnati Bengals fan, lost a Super Bowl bet to teammate Mikal Bridges, who is a huge Rams fan.
The Suns had Monday off, so Johnson decided to make good on his bet. But what he didn't expect was how many people would show up.
"What a wonderful idea by Mikal, right? I was like, I'll be there for an hour, maybe we'll get 60, 100 people (or) a person a minute will show up," Johnson said. "If people catch wind of it, maybe a couple more. I got a text at like 2:00 (saying) 'Oh there's 300 people outside.' And then I was like, 'Oh man, this is adding up quick.' So it was quite, quite an undertaking, quite the experience, didn't know what to expect, but it's a big honor to be out here in the community."
Johnson sold lemonade and cookies from Flower Child for $2 and $1, respectively, with all of the proceeds going to Phoenix Suns Charities. But that wasn't all. He also talked with fans, signed autographs and took pictures.
"We had to slow down pictures and autographs because in the first 15 minutes we only got through like 10 people," Johnson said. "(We) tried to keep everything going, tried to get out as much as we could and in as little time as we could. We went past business hours, but we got out all the lemonade, got out all the cookies. It was a successful day overall."
Some Suns players even made an appearance at the lemonade stand to help Cam out, including Cam Payne, Ish Wainwright and Chris Paul.
"When (Chris Pal) pulled up, there was all the hooting and hollering over there, and I had thought a fight had started," Johnson said. "So I was like, oh no, not here. And then I hear 'CP! CP!' And of course, (Chris Paul) rolling through is like the president rolling through. Everybody went crazy. But it was really cool of Ish, Cam Payne, all the guys that stopped through. It meant a lot to me, it really did."
And, of course, Mikal Bridges made an appearance as well and gave his stamp of approval.
"When he left, he was like, 'You know what? Good luck. You fulfilled your end of the job," Johnson said. "He skirted on out of here, but he did put in a lot of work himself. He was in here helping, passing out lemonade, passing out cookies and dealing with the crowd."
Johnson added that he enjoys getting to see fans and help out in the community, especially since he was unable to during the pandemic.
"Just for lemonade, it means a lot to me," Johnson said. "I've loved playing in the city since the moment I got here. I've loved living here and these people are a big part of the reason why."