Louisville Point Guard Refuses to Play Because His Tights Don't Fit Right

Uncomfortable underwear can ruin anyone’s day. Can it make you worse at basketball? Louisville point guard Ty-Laur Johnson was unwilling to take that chance.

If you’re unfamiliar with Ty-Laur Johnson’s game, he was one of the highest-ranked recruits in Kenny Payne’s 2023 recruiting class. It took the Top 100 talent a little longer to get to campus, but since his arrival the point guard has provided some much-needed energy for the lifeless program.

Johnson scored in double figures three times in his first six games while averaging more than 20 minutes per contest. That is why Louisville fans were perplexed when he only played three minutes in the first half against Bellarmine, a half in which they trailed by five points at intermission. When Kenny Payne was asked after the game why Johnson was on the sideline, the Louisville head coach gave an honest response.

“You ready for this? I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” Payne said (correctly).

“We didn’t have the tights he wanted, so he didn’t know if he wanted to play. Oh yeah, you heard it. We didn’t have the tights he wanted, that we’ve never had for him, and he decided, ‘I don’t feel like I can go.'”

You read that correctly. If you need video evidence to prove those were real words said in a real press conference, by all means.

Here's the full quote from Kenny Payne on Ty-Laur Johnson and his tights situation: pic.twitter.com/WnIX88d1Lz

— Kent Spencer (@WHAS11Kent) November 30, 2023

Eventually, Johnson got his tight situation situated. He tallied five assists in 16 second half minutes to help the Cards come from behind and snap a losing skid to Bellarmine with a 73-68 victory over the small Catholic school off Newburg Road.

“In the second half, he accepted the fact that we didn’t have the kind of tights that we’d never had for him, and he played well,” said Payne.

Of course, that didn’t end this Louisville Tight Talk. Reporters asked Scotty Davenport if he ever dealt with a similiar situation during his decades-long career.

“I coach my guys… I will say, I’ve coached a lot of years, at all levels and that’s a first.”

The Louisville basketball program is no stranger to underwear problems, albeit away from the actual basketball court. But this, this is a first.