Kevin Johnson

Kevin Maurice Johnson (born March 4, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player and Democratic Party politician who served as the 55th mayor of Sacramento, California from 2008 to 2016.

Johnson, the son of Georgia West and Lawrence Johnson, was born March 4, 1966, in Sacramento.

After his father died in a boating accident when he was three, Johnson was raised by his grandparents, the Peat family.

He attended Sacramento High School, where he starred in both baseball and basketball.

In his senior year, Johnson led the state of California in scoring (32.5 ppg) and was named the Northern California Player of the Year.

Johnson accepted a scholarship to play basketball for the University of California, Berkeley.

He led Cal to the program's first post-season appearances in 26 seasons with NIT bids in 1986 and 1987 and was the first player in the Pac-10 Conference to post a triple-double.

Johnson briefly played for Cal's baseball team and the Oakland Athletics drafted him as a shortstop in the 23rd round of the 1986 MLB draft.

After playing a couple games with Oakland's minor-league team in Modesto, California during the summer of 1986, Johnson ended his baseball career, finding the road to professional baseball more arduous and risky compared to basketball.

As a four-year starter, Johnson ended his college career in 1987 as the school's all-time leader in assists (since eclipsed by Jason Kidd), steals, and scoring (since eclipsed by Lamond Murray, Sean Lampley, Patrick Christopher, Joe Shipp and Jerome Randle).

Johnson was named to the Pac-10's All-Conference First Team in his junior and senior seasons, averaging 17.2 points and 5 assists in his final year.

Following his senior season of college basketball, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Johnson with the seventh pick in the 1987 NBA draft.

Originally drafted by Cleveland to challenge the incumbent point guard Mark Price for the starting spot, Johnson found himself playing limited minutes as Price's backup during the 1987–88 NBA season.

On February 28, 1988, Johnson, Mark West, Tyrone Corbin, and a future draft pick were traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for forward Larry Nance, Mike Sanders, and a future draft pick.

Adjusting quickly to the change of scenery and much-increased playing time, Johnson excelled and the league named him the NBA Rookie of the Month for April 1988 as he averaged 15.1 points, an 86.4% free throw percentage, 10.6 assists, and 5.6 rebounds.

In his first full season with Phoenix, Johnson grew into one of the game's elite players, averaging 20.4 points, 12.2 assists, a 50.5% field goal percentage, and an 88.2% free-throw percentage.

With those numbers, Johnson joined Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas as the only players in NBA history to average at least 20 points and 12 assists in a season.

His rapid improvement earned him the 1988–89 NBA's Most Improved Player Award.

The 1988–89 season was the first of three straight seasons in which Johnson averaged at least 20 points and 10 assists, joining Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas as the only players in league history to accomplish that feat.

It also represented the beginning of a new era for the previously moribund Suns' franchise.

Since founding St. HOPE in 1989, Johnson has been active in education reform.

As Mayor of Sacramento, Johnson launched two education initiatives: Stand UP and Sacramento READS!, to benefit students in Sacramento.

Johnson also helped to deter the Sacramento Kings basketball team from moving to Anaheim, and, later, to Seattle, Washington.

In K.J.'s first seven full seasons in Phoenix from 1989 to 1995, the Suns won the most regular season games in the NBA (394, an average of 56 and never fewer than 53), constituting the only club to win at least 50 every year during that span, and they won the second-most playoff games (46), trailing only the Chicago Bulls.

Johnson received berths to the NBA All-Star Team in 1990, 1991, and 1994.

The previous spring in the 1990 Western Conference Semifinals, Johnson led the Suns past Magic's league-best, 63-win Los Angeles Lakers, four games to one.

Over the last two games, Johnson closed out the series by averaging 33.5 points and a dozen assists as the Suns won both Game Four and Game Five, with K.J. vastly outplaying Magic Johnson in the fourth quarter of both contests.

Indeed, Johnson's clutch performances led Hall of Fame center and NBC commentator Bill Walton to later remark, "Kevin Johnson ... really came to the top of this league in the 1990 playoffs when he waxed Magic Johnson and the Lakers in the early rounds. Kevin Johnson—and the Suns—taking care of business in 1990, four to one over the Lakers ... Kevin Johnson just totally outplaying Magic."

Johnson's performance during the 1990 playoffs led the Suns to a second consecutive berth in the Western Conference Finals as Phoenix became the only team to ever defeat John Stockton's Jazz (55 wins) and Magic Johnson's Lakers (63 wins) in the same postseason.

In the 1991 All-Star Game in Charlotte, Johnson wore number 41 instead of his familiar number 7.

NBC announcers Bob Costas and Mike Fratello speculated that the decision represented K.J.'s quiet way of honoring teammate Mark West, the Suns' stoic, largely unrecognized center who thanklessly executed the dirty work on the glass and in the paint.

In the 1991 NBA All-Star Game, Johnson started alongside Magic Johnson in the Western Conference backcourt.

In anticipation of the game, the Sporting News asked whether K.J. may have surpassed Magic as the best player on the court.

In 1992, Johnson became the first Golden Bear to have his jersey (No. 11) retired.

Elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, Johnson is the first African American to serve as mayor of Sacramento.

Before entering politics, Johnson was a professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

After a stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers during a portion of his rookie year, the point guard played as a member of the Phoenix Suns for the remainder of his NBA career.

During his 12-year playing career, Johnson was a three-time NBA All-Star as well as four-time second team All-NBA selection and held numerous records for the Phoenix Suns organization.

At the University of California, Berkeley, Johnson was named a two-time All-Pac-10 Conference player and an honorable-mention All-American by the Associated Press.

Johnson holds a B.A. in political science from U.C. Berkeley that he completed after his initial retirement from the NBA.