Nick Johnson visits Europe, attends Arsenal game in London

Had a blast at the @arsenal vs West Ham game with @andrewrose929 ! Got my Alexis And Özil jerseys, so I’m happy… Last day in London!

A photo posted by Nick Johnson (@njohn13) on Aug 9, 2015 at 9:55am PDT

As most hardcore Denver Nuggets fans are well aware, team owner Stan Kroenke owns a lot of things — and by things I mean gigantic, billion-dollar grossing professional sports franchises. In addition to the Nuggets, Kroenke owns the Colorado Rapids, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Mammoth and the St. Louis Rams. He’s also the largest shareholder of the English Premier League soccer team Arsenal Football Club.

Oddly enough, Nick Johnson, one of the newest Nuggets acquired from the Houston Rockets in the Ty Lawson trade, just so happens to be a huge fan of Arsenal F.C. (or so it appears), as seen in the photo above.

In reality Johnson probably isn’t an Arsenal fan at all. He’s posted photos on Instagram in recent months wearing a Chelsea F.C. jersey as well as an AFC Ajax jersey. In all likelihood Johnson is simply a fan of European soccer — not a crime in the slightest.

As for those Arsenal tickets, you have to wonder if Papa Kroenke reserved a few seats for one of his newest minions. I don’t imagine too many of his athletes make it to Europe for soccer matches, even more so to watch the club he owns, so I imagine Kroenke was quite pleased when Johnson got in touch asking for a couple tickets — if that’s in fact what happened. 

In addition to attending an Arsenal game Johnson made it to Elizabeth Tower while in the capital of the Commonwealth and appears to have toured at least one other European city given he posted photos to his Instagram account in front of the Louvre Museum and Eiffel Tower in Paris, seen below…

A photo posted by Nick Johnson (@njohn13) on Aug 4, 2015 at 2:53pm PDT

MUSÉE DU LOUVRE

A photo posted by Nick Johnson (@njohn13) on Aug 4, 2015 at 12:02pm PDT

Self with Big Ben A photo posted by Nick Johnson (@njohn13) on Aug 3, 2015 at 12:07pm PDT

As a fan of traveling I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see a member of the Nuggets family connect with his inner wanderlust. It’s amazing how much money professional athletes make and how much of that coin is in turn spent on material possessions rather than life experiences. At only 22 and making about half a million per year (after taxes) Johnson is one of the youngest and least affluent players in the NBA — yet he might be living one of the more fulfilled lifestyles of any of his peers. And for that alone I’m incredibly thankful he’s a member of the Denver Nuggets organization.

More of this please!