Omaha native John Tonje played college basketball at Colorado State, Missouri and Wisconsin, where he was a consensus second-team All-American in 2025. The Utah Jazz drafted him 53rd overall that year and traded him to the Boston Celtics, where he played six games. Portland signed him to a two-way contract in July 2026. All of his tracked games have been in the Nike Kobe 6, including the Italian Camo and ASG Hollywood 3D colorways.