Kevin Maurice Johnson (born March 4, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player and politician who served as the 55th mayor of Sacramento, California, from 2008 to 2016. Elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, Johnson is the first African American to serve as mayor of

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

. Before entering politics, Johnson was a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). After a stint with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

during a portion of his rookie year, the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

played as a member of the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

for the remainder of his NBA career. During his 12-year playing career, Johnson was a three-time

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Traditionally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

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 The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, Johnson was named a two-time All-Pac-10 Conference player and an honorable-mention

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. Johnson holds a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from U.C. Berkeley that he completed after his initial retirement from the NBA. 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 The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

basketball team from moving to Anaheim, and, later, to Seattle, Washington.

Early life

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.

Basketball career

University of California

Johnson accepted a scholarship to play basketball for the

. 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 Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the List of current NBA head coaches, head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regar ...

), steals, and scoring (since eclipsed by Lamond Murray, Sean Lampley,

Patrick Christopher James Patrick Christopher (born June 3, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the California Golden Bears and was a two-time first-team all-conference selection in the Pac-10 (now known as t ...

, Joe Shipp and

Jerome Randle Jerome Jerry Randle (born May 21, 1987; ) is an American-Ukrainian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the California Golden Bears before playing professionally in several European countries. Randle has a Ukra ...

). 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. 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 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

to post a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

. In 1992, Johnson became the first Golden Bear to have his jersey (No. 11) retired. Johnson briefly played for Cal's baseball team and the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

drafted him as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

in the 23rd round of the

1986 MLB draft The 1986 Major League Baseball draft was the 22nd MLB draft that took place in 1986. During this draft 21 future all-stars were drafted: Greg Swindell, Matt Williams, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Roberto Hernández, Jack Armstrong, Dean Palm ...

. After playing a couple games with Oakland's minor-league team in

Modesto, California Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the List of cities and towns in Ca ...

during the summer of 1986, Johnson ended his baseball career, finding the road to professional baseball more arduous and risky compared to basketball.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Following his senior season of college basketball, the

selected Johnson with the seventh pick in the

1987 NBA draft The 1987 NBA draft was held on June 22, 1987, in New York City. This draft included two future members of the NBA 50 Greatest Players list, David Robinson and Scottie Pippen, as well as fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, who was named to t ...

. Originally drafted by Cleveland to challenge the incumbent point guard

Mark Price William Mark Price (born February 15, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. The last coaching job he held was as head coach of the Charlotte 49ers men's basketball, Charlotte 49ers. As a four-time NBA All-Star and ...

for the starting spot, Johnson found himself playing limited minutes as Price's backup during the

1987–88 NBA season The 1987–88 NBA season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their second straight Championship, beating the Detroit Pistons in seven hard-fought games in the NBA Fina ...

Phoenix Suns

On February 28, 1988, Johnson, Mark West,

Tyrone Corbin Tyrone Kennedy Corbin (born December 31, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who last worked as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets. He was first appointed the assistant coach of the Phoenix Suns, then was named th ...

, and a future draft pick were traded to the

in exchange for forward

Larry Nance Larry Donnell Nance Sr. (born February 12, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. A forward from Clemson University, Nance played 14 seasons (1981–1994) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Phoen ...

, 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 Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

and

Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas III ( ; born April 30, 1961), also known as "Zeke", is an American former professional basketball player who is head coach of the Saginaw Soul of the Basketball Super League, and also an analyst for NBA TV and Fox Sports. H ...

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 Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...

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. 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

Team in 1990, 1991, and 1994. In the 1991 All-Star Game in Charlotte, Johnson wore number 41 instead of his familiar number 7.

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

announcers

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from ...

and

Mike Fratello Michael Robert Fratello (born February 24, 1947), nicknamed "the Czar", is an American sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional basketball coach. He is currently a part-time Color commentator, analyst for FanDuel Sports Net ...

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 The 1991 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game between players selected from the National Basketball Association's Western Conference and the Eastern Conference that was played on February 10, 1991, at the Charlotte Coliseum in C ...

, Johnson started alongside

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. The previous spring in the 1990 Western Conference Semifinals, Johnson led the Suns past Magic's league-best, 63-win

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, 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 William Theodore Walton III (November 5, 1952 – May 27, 2024) was an American basketball player and television Sports commentator, sportscaster. He played college basketball, collegiately for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins an ...

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 John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the great point guards of all time, he spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) with the Utah Jazz, and the team made the pla ...

's Jazz (55 wins) and Magic Johnson's Lakers (63 wins) in the same postseason. Johnson made the playoffs every year of his career after his rookie season, reversing the fortunes of the perennially losing Phoenix Suns. The 1992–93 Suns, led by Johnson and new teammate

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

, posted an NBA-best 62–20 record and managed to make it to the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

, where they lost to the

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

-led

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

four games to two. Johnson averaged 17.8 points and 7.9 assists in the playoffs and established an NBA record for Finals minutes played by logging 62 minutes in Game 3 (a 129–121 triple-OT victory) vs. the Bulls. But even before Johnson played his first regular season game with Charles Barkley, he suffered an undiagnosed sports hernia in October 1992 when he attempted to lift heavy-set rookie teammate Oliver Miller off the ground during warmups before a preseason game. By the middle of the 1995–96 season, Johnson had suffered a second undiagnosed sports hernia. Primarily due to the groin, hamstring, quadriceps, and other muscle strains stemming from these undiagnosed hernias, Johnson missed 109 regular season games during his four seasons with Barkley from 1992–93 through 1995–96 (although he only missed one playoff game during his entire career). When diligent off-season workouts during the summer of 1996 failed to erase the abdominal and groin pain that had been plaguing Johnson since the middle of the last season, the Suns' doctors finally diagnosed the second hernia just before the start of training camp in the fall of 1996. Then, during surgery to repair the sports hernia, the Phoenix doctors discovered the second, "hidden" hernia that had existed for four years. Despite the undiagnosed hernia problems, K.J. continued to thrive in the postseason. In 1994, he averaged 26.6 points and 9.6 assists in the postseason, scoring 38 points three different times in ten games and averaging 11.0 assists in those three contests. In 1995, after an injury-riddled regular season, Johnson returned to form in the postseason. He averaged 24.8 points on 57.3% shooting from the field and 9.3 assists in ten games, including 43 points (18–24 FG) with 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and just 1 turnover in Game Four of the Western Conference Semifinals at Houston and 46 points (21–22 FT) with 10 assists against only 1 turnover in Game Seven. During that series, K.J. sank more three-pointers (5) than he'd hit in the entire 1994–95 regular season (4). In game four of the previous year's series with Houston, Johnson completed a remarkable play, driving the baseline and dunking over Rockets' center

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NB ...

. The shot became an oft-played highlight for the ages and was part of a second consecutive 38-point, 12-assist effort by the point guard.

International competition

In the summer of 1994, Johnson played with the U.S. national team, otherwise known as Dream Team II, in the

1994 FIBA World Championship The 1994 FIBA World Championship was the 12th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Canada from August 4 to 14, 1994. The tournament was held at SkyDome ...

, reuniting with old teammate and point guard rival Mark Price to win the gold medal. Johnson led Dream Team II in both total assists (31) and assists per game (3.9), while shooting 47.1% (16–34) from the field and 50.0% (16–32) on two-point field goal attempts. The U.S. head coach, Don Nelson, stated, "I really like having KJ on the court. The thing that stood out is how he sacrificed his scoring to be a distributor of the ball and make his team win. We didn't need his offense on this team. We did need his defense, penetration and assists. He gave us all three."

Retirement and comeback

Johnson retired after the 1997–98 season, but returned briefly after receiving a call from his former coach and friend

Cotton Fitzsimmons Lowell Gibbs "Cotton" Fitzsimmons (October 7, 1931 – July 24, 2004) was an American college and NBA basketball coach. A native of Bowling Green, Missouri, he attended and played basketball at Hannibal-LaGrange Junior College in Hannibal, ...

during the 1999–2000 season to replace the injured

during the playoff run. Johnson helped the Suns win their first playoff series in five years. After Phoenix lost in the second round to the Los Angeles Lakers, he retired for the second and final time. In 2001, Johnson's No. 7 was

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

by the Suns and he was inducted into their

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 52 , , 3 , , 20.1 , , .460 , , .222 , , .821 , , 1.4 , , 3.7 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1987–88 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 28 , , 25 , , 31.2 , , .463 , , .200 , , .859 , , 4.3 , , 8.7 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , 12.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988–89 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 81 , , 81 , , 39.2 , , .505 , , .091 , , .882 , , 4.2 , , 12.2 , , 1.7 , , .3 , , 20.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1989–90 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 74 , , 74 , , 37.6 , , .499 , , .195 , , .838 , , 3.6 , , 11.4 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 22.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1990–91 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 77 , , 76 , , 36.0 , , .516 , , .205 , , .843 , , 3.5 , , 10.1 , , 2.1 , , .1 , , 22.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1991–92 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 78 , , 78 , , 37.2 , , .479 , , .217 , , .807 , , 3.7 , , 10.7 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , 19.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1992–93 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 49 , , 47 , , 33.5 , , .499 , , .125 , , .819 , , 2.1 , , 7.8 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , 16.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1993–94 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 67 , , 67 , , 36.6 , , .487 , , .222 , , .819 , , 2.5 , , 9.5 , , 1.9 , , .1 , , 20.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1994–95 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 47 , , 35 , , 28.8 , , .470 , , .154 , , .810 , , 2.4 , , 7.7 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 15.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1995–96 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 56 , , 55 , , 35.8 , , .507 , , .368 , , .859 , , 3.9 , , 9.2 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 18.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1996–97 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 70 , , 70 , , 38.0 , , .496 , , .441 , , .852 , , 3.6 , , 9.3 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 20.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1997–98 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 50 , , 12 , , 25.8 , , .447 , , .154 , , .871 , , 3.3 , , 4.9 , , .5 , , .2 , , 9.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1999–00 , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 6 , , 0 , , 18.8 , , .571 , , 1.000 , , 1.000 , , 2.7 , , 4.0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 6.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 735 , , 623 , , 34.1 , , .493 , , .305 , , .841 , , 3.3 , , 9.1 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 17.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 3 , , 1 , , 17.0 , , .500 , , – , , .333 , , 1.0 , , 4.3 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 4.3

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 12 , , 12 , , 41.2 , , .495 , , .300 , , .927 , , 4.3 , , 12.3 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , 23.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 16 , , 16 , , 36.4 , , .479 , , .182 , , .821 , , 3.3 , , 10.6 , , 1.6 , , .0 , , 21.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 4 , , 4 , , 36.5 , , .302 , , .143 , , .600 , , 3.3 , , 9.8 , , .5 , , .3 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 8 , , 8 , , 41.9 , , .484 , , .500 , , .861 , , 4.1 , , 11.6 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , 23.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 23 , , 23, , 39.7 , , .480 , , .000 , , .795 , , 2.7 , , 7.9 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , 17.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 10 , , 10 , , 42.7 , , .458 , , .300 , , .852 , , 3.5 , , 9.6 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 26.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 10 , , 10 , , 37.1 , , .573 , , .500 , , .845 , , 4.1 , , 9.3 , , .9 , , .4 , , 24.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 4 , , 4 , , 37.8 , , .474 , , .250 , , .824 , , 4.3 , , 10.8 , , .5 , , .5 , , 17.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 5 , , 5 , , 41.6 , , .295 , , .136 , , .879 , , 4.4 , , 6.0 , , 2.6 , , .0 , , 16.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 4 , , 1 , , 30.5 , , .548 , , .250 , , .667 , , 2.3 , , 4.8 , , .5 , , .3 , , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 9 , , 0 , , 14.3 , , .324 , , .000 , , .833 , , 1.4 , , 2.6 , , .3 , , .1 , , 3.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 105 , , 93 , , 36.9 , , .469 , , .244 , , .833 , , 3.3 , , 8.9 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 19.3

Real estate

In 2007, ''The Sacramento Bee'' investigated Johnson's real estate holdings in the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento and found that more than half the properties owned by Johnson and his entities had been cited for various code violations, including fire risk from overgrown vegetation, dead animals, junk and debris on the properties, as well as decaying and fire-damaged buildings. A local group, Oak Park United against Slumlords (OPUS), complained that Johnson was "stopping progress" in the neighborhood by refusing to develop some of its key properties.

St. HOPE

In 1989, while still an NBA player, Johnson founded St. HOPE (Helping Others Pursue Excellence) as an after-school program for kids in his native Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento, California. St. HOPE eventually expanded to run as a nonprofit umbrella organization that consisted of three divisions: St. HOPE Academy, St. HOPE Public Schools, and St. HOPE Development Corporation. This encompassed the new vision to be a nonprofit community development corporation whose mission is to "revitalize communities through public education, civic leadership, economic development, and the arts." Johnson served as CEO of St. HOPE until January 2008. The St. HOPE Development Corporation, founded in 1994, has focused its efforts on Oak Park. The Development Corporation has enabled the renovation of a number of projects including a historic bank building that is now a local

U.S. Bank U.S. Bancorp (stylized as us bancorp) is an American multinational financial services firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota and incorporated in Delaware. It is the List of largest banks in the United States, 5th-largest ban ...

branch, a Victorian house that has been converted to office space, and a 25,000 square foot art gallery and retail complex that includes the Guild Theater and 40 Acres Art Gallery. St. HOPE Public Schools is a pre-K-through-12th-grade independent

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

system that provides education to nearly 2,000 students in seven small schools. One of the schools St. HOPE impacted was Sacramento High School (colloquially known as Sac High and now the Sacramento Charter High School), where three generations of Johnson's family including him attended. In October 2002, Sac High was at risk of being shut down and restricted into five smaller schools due to low test scores. But by January 2003, Johnson had raised seed money from the

Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

and drafted a petition to reopen Sac High as an independent charter school. On September 2, 2003 Sac High reopened as Sacramento Charter High School, a charter school with 1,450 students. Since St. HOPE's involvement with Sac High, student performance has improved. In 2010 Sac High's API score improved to 719, compared to 610 in 2006. The number of students who completed all courses required for

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

Admission also rose between those years from 84% to 90.6%. These improved test scores attracted the attention of a school in New York and St. HOPE eventually expanded into Harlem at the St. HOPE Leadership Academy Charter School which opened in 2008. Since 2007, the decision to expand St. HOPE to New York has been taught as a case study in the Entrepreneurship in Education Reform class at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. Following presentation of the case study, Johnson discusses it over lunch with the Harvard students and faculty. The class works as a feeder program for students to participate in the Mayoral Fellowship Program in Sacramento. On April 9, 2009, Acting

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

Lawrence G. Brown Lawrence G. Brown (born February 6, 1943, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American mathematician who studies operator algebras. Brown studied at Harvard University, graduating in 1968 with George Mackey as his advisor and thesis entitled ''On the St ...

announced that St. HOPE Academy had agreed to pay $423,836.50 over ten years in

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), downward movement of a structure's foundation *Settlement (finance), where securities are delivered against payment of money *Settlement (litigatio ...

of allegations that it did not appropriately spend

AmeriCorps AmeriCorps ( ; officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in ...

grants and education awards and did not adequately document spending of grants.
The settlement amount represented one half of the $847,673 in AmeriCorps funds received by St. HOPE Academy over three years from 2004 to 2007. Johnson, St. HOPE Academy's founder and former CEO, agreed to pay $72,836.50 of St. HOPE Academy's $73,836.50 initial payment. In settlement, St. HOPE Academy acknowledged not adequately documenting a portion of its AmeriCorps grant expenditures, and the

Corporation for National and Community Service AmeriCorps ( ; officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer wor ...

terminated its September 24, 2008 suspension of St. HOPE Academy and Johnson from receiving federal funds, ending questions about Sacramento's eligibility to receive federal stimulus funds.

Sacramento mayoral elections

On March 5, 2008, Johnson announced he would run for mayor of Sacramento, his hometown, challenging incumbent Heather Fargo. Election day was June 3, 2008. Since no candidate received a majority of the vote in the

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

election, there was a runoff. Johnson garnered the endorsement of the Sacramento Police Officers Association (SPOA), the Region Builders, the Chamber of Commerce, Realtors' Association and Labor Council, among others. Johnson was also endorsed by

Sacramento City Council The Sacramento City Council is the governing body of the city of Sacramento, California. The council holds regular meetings at Sacramento City Hall on Tuesdays at 6:00 pm, with exceptions for holidays and other special cases. Sacramento's city co ...

members Steve Cohn (Vice Mayor) and Sandy Sheedy, and by former Sacramento Mayor

Jimmie Yee Jimmie R. Yee (born 1934) is an American politician who formerly served on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Yee was Mayor of Sacramento, California after the death of Joe Serna in 1999. Yee is a Democrat. Early life and education ...

.Kevin's Biography – Kevin Johnson for Mayor
On June 4, 2008, Johnson, who led by 8 percentage points, forced a runoff election for mayor versus the two-term incumbent. 374 of 378 precincts were reported, and Johnson was ahead of Mayor Heather Fargo 47% to 40%. Five other candidates split the rest of the vote. The candidates needed more than 50% to win the election. Third place finisher Leonard Padilla endorsed Mayor Fargo on June 4, 2008. Johnson, by late May, loaned his campaign $500,000 and raised $490,000, while Fargo raised $340,000 despite having started fundraising in 2005.

2008 primary

Johnson and Fargo had a runoff election in November, won by Johnson.''

The Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

'', November 5, 2008
Race for mayor was costly, contentious
/ref>

2008 runoff

2012 election

Johnson announced he would run for reelection for Mayor of Sacramento on September 14, 2011. Election day was June 5, 2012. Johnson was challenged by three individuals: Jonathan Michael Rewers, Leonard Padilla, and Richard Jones. Since Johnson received a majority of the vote (more than 50% of the vote), no run-off was required. Johnson raised at least $841,394 in his reelection bid and spent $500,000 of that on the race. Johnson was endorsed by

members Angelique Ashby (Vice Mayor), Steve Cohn, and Jay Schenirer. Johnson also received support from the Sacramento Police Officers Association, the Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522, and the Sacramento Metro Chamber along with California Senate pro Tem President

Darrell Steinberg Darrell Steven Steinberg (born October 15, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who was the 56th mayor of Sacramento, California from 2016 to 2024. He was elected to be mayor on June 7, 2016 (avoiding a runoff). Before that, he was Calif ...

, Governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

, and Senator

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel Feinstein (; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 38th ...

2012 primary results

Johnson defeated the three other candidates with 58.74% of the votes.

First term

Johnson launched nine initiatives in his first term as Mayor. Volunteer Sacramento was launched alongside Cities of Service, a bipartisan coalition of mayors founded in 2009 to encourage public service. As one of the founding cities, Sacramento logged 1.7 million hours of service and created $22 million in economic impact in 2009. In 2010, 3 million hours of service were logged, adding a $70 million economic impact in the region. For these efforts, Sacramento was awarded a City of Service Leadership Grant. For Arts' Sake was launched to increase interest and support of Sacramento's local art. In response to this commitment, Sacramento was chosen by the

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

in Washington, D.C. as the first city in the nation to pilot the "Any Given Child" program. The program is designed to bring equal access to arts programming for children K-8. It currently operates in

Sacramento City Unified School District Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) is a public school system in Sacramento, California. With 47,900 students in 81 schools, it is the eleventh largest school district in California. Boundary The SCUSD includes most of Sacramento ...

and

Twin Rivers Unified School District Twin Rivers Unified School District is a school district in McClellan, California, United States. The district office is located at 5115 Dudley Boulevard, McClellan, California. Twin Rivers operates the cleanest school bus fleet in the countr ...

. Sacramento Steps Forward is an initiative launched to end chronic homelessness in Sacramento. Johnson assumed leadership as Chair of the regional Policy Board to End Homelessness and joined the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness in 2009. By 2011, 2,350 households were moved into permanent housing and Sacramento was awarded approximately $6 million through the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program. Johnson launched the STAND UP education initiative to increase student achievement in Sacramento schools with $6 million being raised to bring education reform and innovative programming to Sacramento. In 2010, Johnson was the founding chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Public Schools Task Force and the Co-Chair of U.S. Secretary of Education

Arne Duncan Arne Starkey Duncan (born November 6, 1964) is an American educator and former professional basketball player who served as the 9th United States secretary of education from 2009 to 2015 and as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools ...

's Mayoral Advisory Council. The Greenwise initiative was launched to diversify economic development, go green, and promote Sacramento as the "Emerald Valley." Sacramento was selected by President Obama to participate in the Better Buildings Challenge which provides federal investment to achieve energy efficiency. Sacramento committed to reducing energy use 20% by 2020 in 12 million square feet of building space. The Greenwise initiative works to establish programs to achieve this commitment. Think Big was launched to facilitate the economic development of Sacramento, including the construction of a new entertainment and sports complex. Think Big oversees progress at the downtown Railyards, an area that has been left unutilized since the 1980s and is currently one of the largest urban infill project in the country. In 2011 Johnson launched another education initiative, Sacramento READS!, in response to the "literacy crisis in Sacramento." Beginning in 2011, Sacramento READS! was designed as a 10-year initiative to ensure all children in Sacramento can read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade by focusing on school readiness, attendance, and limiting summer learning loss. The City-Schools Collaborative was launched to better align city services with school districts to maximize resources to support public education. The Gang Prevention Task Force was launched to form a three-year city-county partnership to reduce gang violence through school-based and job-training programs. Johnson acquired over $17 million in federal and state stimulus dollars for law enforcement and community policing.

Affiliations and awards

In June 2012 Johnson was elected the second vice president of the

United States Conference of Mayors The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded ...

(USCM). He became the first Sacramento mayor to be elected to the second vice president position and became the first Sacramento mayor to serve as president, which he was set to assume in 2014. This was the second national leadership position Johnson assumed in 2012, as he was previously elected to the first vice president of the National Conference of Black Mayors, where he assumed the presidency in 2013. After becoming president of the National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM), Johnson took steps that resulted in the dissolution of the organization. Johnson has served on the board of directors for the University of California Alumni Association, Phoenix Suns Charities, Christian Athlete Ministries, Phoenix Symphony, the School House Foundation, Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG), and on the advisory board for the Caring Institute. In 1991, Former President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

honored Johnson with as the 411th Point of Light recipient in recognition of Johnson's concern and compassion for children and education. In addition to being selected as one of the "15 Greatest Men on Earth" by ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly United States, American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. The publication ...

'', Johnson has received the NBA's

J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award The J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to a player, coach, or staff member who showed "outstanding service and dedication to the community." The winner was selected by the Pro Bask ...

, the John R. Wooden Lifetime Achievement Award 2008, the Good Morning America Award from ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', the "Most Caring American" award by the Caring Institute, and induction into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame in

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

Personal life

Johnson married

Michelle Rhee Michelle Ann Rhee (born December 25, 1969) is an American educator and advocate for education reform. She was Chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools from 2007 to 2010. In late 2010, she founded StudentsFirst, a non-profit organizati ...

, the former Chancellor of the District of Columbia School System, on September 3, 2011, in front of 40 people at Tennessee mountain resort Blackberry Farm (resort).Reliable Source blog
Michelle Rhee and Kevin Johnson kept their wedding under the radar
''The Washington Post'' (September 7, 2011). Retrieved on November 20, 2011. They had originally planned to get married the year before, but decided to postpone it in the wake of a large amount of press attention to their nuptials.

Sexual misconduct allegations

A teenager told Phoenix police in 1996 that Johnson had allegedly molested her in his home during the summer of 1995, when she was sixteen years old. During a phone conversation secretly recorded by detectives, Johnson apologized to the girl after she confronted him with the accusation. However, he also stated that "what you're saying happened, I'm not entirely agreeing happened." ''

'' stated that they had received a copy of a proposed settlement agreement, under which Johnson would have paid the girl's family $230,000. After conducting an investigation, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office declined to prosecute, on the grounds that there was not a reasonable likelihood of conviction. On October 8, 2015, press accounts surfaced of a 1996 police video which showed detectives saying there was a likely chance that he was abusing her and others. On April 16, 2008, rival mayoral candidate Leonard Padilla distributed a 2007 report of similar allegations made against Johnson at St. HOPE Sacramento High School; these accusations were investigated by local police, but no charges were filed. On April 29, 2008, a group of female civic leaders that included former Sacramento Mayor

Anne Rudin Anne Rudin (January 27, 1924 – November 25, 2021) was an American politician who served as the 51st Mayor of Sacramento from her election in 1983 until she stepped down, after declining to seek a third term in 1992. She was Sacramento's firs ...

, Sacramento Municipal Utility District board member Genevieve Shiroma, and former State Senator Deborah Ortiz demanded the release of the police report on the matter. The teacher to whom the student initially brought the complaint subsequently resigned over the incident, claiming, "St. HOPE sought to intimidate the student through an illegal interrogation and even had the audacity to ask me to change my story." Two classmates and a school counselor confirmed the teacher's version of events. Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel responded, saying, "I think the allegations at the school were handled in the way that you would want them handled. Immediately they followed all the normal protocols that they were supposed to follow. I think it was pretty clear there was nothing there... We did ask the young lady whether anyone had influenced her—her answer was no." The Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness said on May 30, 2008, that Johnson's actions, though ill-advised, were not illegal.''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', May 31, 2008
Sacramento sheriff won't reopen Johnson probe
/ref>

References

External links

NBA Encyclopedia profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Kevin 1966 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century mayors of places in California 1994 FIBA World Championship players African-American baseball players African-American mayors in California American athlete-politicians American men's basketball players Basketball players from Sacramento, California California Golden Bears men's basketball players Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Democratic Party mayors in California FIBA World Championship–winning players Mayors of Sacramento, California Modesto A's players NBA All-Stars NBA broadcasters NBA players with retired numbers Philanthropists from California Phoenix Suns players Point guards Presidents of the United States Conference of Mayors United States men's national basketball team players