Former Pitt, WPIAL hoops star Cam Johnson using NBA platform, family motivation in Rush to Crush Cancer

While Cameron Johnson was starring in the WPIAL at Our Lady of Sacred Heart, Pitt basketball coach Jamie Dixon wanted to make an in-home recruiting visit shortly before Easter. The way Johnson’s aunt — Gina Caliguire — tells the story, her nephew was looking forward to the visit.

But it came with one stipulation: Johnson didn’t want to miss out on the family’s Easter egg-dying tradition at his grandmother’s house.

“Sure enough, Jamie Dixon rolls up for the Easter egg dying, and he met with (Johnson and his parents) on the back porch so Cam could still participate with his cousins and dye the Easter eggs,” Caliguire recalled with a laugh. “That was an example of Cam’s family ties and how he was with his cousins. Family is very important to him.”

Johnson must’ve dyed his egg blue and gold because he did end up playing at Pitt for 73 games over three years. He transferred to North Carolina for his final two years of college basketball. Since then, he’s been playing in the NBA. After three and a half years with the Phoenix Suns, Johnson was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in February as part of the Kevin Durant deal.

Upon arriving in Brooklyn, Johnson started all 25 games he played and posted career bests in points per game (16.6), rebounds per game (4.8) and minutes per game (30.8). Plus, he provided one of the highlights of the playoffs with his posterizing dunk on NBA MVP Joel Embiid.

CAM JAM. https://t.co/DH716eDZWf pic.twitter.com/pMvjeey6lg

— NBA (@NBA) April 18, 2023

Now, with the Nets’ season over, Johnson is heading back to Pittsburgh with his family top of mind once again. The 27-year-old forward has two items on his to-do list. The first is to buy a new bike. The second is to ride it with his family this weekend in an effort to support his uncle, who is battling terminal cancer.

Caliguire’s husband, Tony, was diagnosed with cancer in his pancreas and his liver in December 2022. Biking has always been a passion of the Caliguires, with Gina recently riding the full Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., bike trail.

While in the oncologist’s office before receiving chemotherapy one day, the Caliguires saw a pamphlet for the recently created Rush to Crush Cancer bike ride. The inaugural event is set for Saturday. Individuals or teams can sign up to ride 15, 40 or 60 miles. Registration fees and fundraising goals vary based on the length of ride chosen. All of the funds raised by riders go directly to benefit research at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

The Caliguires and their children (Alex, Fino, Luciano) started a group text with their cousins about it. Since then, Johnson and his team have raised more than $45,000 for the event. Johnson has donated personally while also securing funding from the Nets and his agent and has been working with the NBA Players Association toward a matching grant as well.

“This section of my family, we were pretty close all throughout childhood in terms of every holiday and family gathering,” Johnson said during a phone call last week. “I just want to show (Tony) I’m supporting him. In this entire process, my aunt has reported back to me, saying that it’s giving him something to smile about. For me, that’s a win.”

The struggle against cancer is something Johnson’s family knows well. His aunt, uncle and mother all worked in nursing. His brother Aaron is involved with medical research at Pitt.

“The Hillman Cancer Center is pretty cutting edge. A leader. A very respected renowned organization in the industry. It’s always great to find ways to give back in those regards,” Johnson said.

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With no NBA team in town, the league doesn’t have a direct connection to Pittsburgh. So Johnson also sees it as his responsibility to be in community outreach programs such as these to further the growth of youth basketball in Pittsburgh.

“The Pittsburgh basketball landscape is improving, and the basketball culture is growing. There’s some pretty good talent in high school and below,” Johnson said. “T.J. McConnell (Chartiers Valley) and I try to represent the area as best we can in the league. I think a couple more young guys will join up with us eventually.

“The biggest part of it is letting kids back home know that this is real and achievable and guys from your town are able to play at a high level.”

As for Tony, he’ll be cheering on the bike team from the North Side. He is still riding to stay in shape, but he said he’ll be unable to participate in the event. He is getting chemo every other week, down from three times a month. The treatments are rough, but effective. His results have been good, especially in the attack on his liver cancer.

The pancreatic cancer he has is deemed terminal. Right now, it’s not curable. You fight it on all fronts and adjust accordingly. As Caliguire says, you “play a lot of defense.” But his numbers and scans have largely been moving in a good direction.

While a cure is always the goal, Caliguire emphasizes research that is aided by events such as the Rush to Crush Cancer bike ride is needed to help people like him live well while being engaged in the fight.

“Part of fundraising is helping those working on a cure, prevention and the treatment in the care of cancer patients,” Caliguire said. “I’m not looking for a magic bullet. I just want to live my best life until that is taken away from me. … I may have a bald head, no mustache anymore, and I’m a little thinner. But I’m trying to live every day the best I can. That is the message for everybody with cancer, to live the best life that you can every single day.”

For Caliguire, at 62, that should mean many more days with his family, watching his nephew shine in the NBA.

And many more years of decorating eggs at Easter.