Kevin Johnson (basketball)
- Kevin Johnson is also the name of a songwriter and singer who is most famous for his multi-million selling song "Rock And Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)".
Kevin Maurice Johnson (born March 4, 1966 in Sacramento, CA) is a former American NBA player for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns. Originally drafted in 1986 to play professional baseball with the Oakland Athletics as a pitcher, Johnson chose to play basketball instead, and was drafted for the 1987-'88 season by the Cavs after three years as a star at the University of California, Berkeley.
On February 28 1988, Johnson and teammate Mark West were traded to the Suns, where he averaged 18.8 points and 9.5 assists a game for the next 10 years. He became an NBA All Star three times and was part of a team that made it to the playoffs every year he was there.
Johnson teamed up with Charles Barkley in 1992-'93, and with Barkley, who won the MVP that year, Johnson and the Suns posted the NBA's best record at 62-20. The Suns made it to the NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls but lost in six games. Johnson, however was praised for his stellar defense of Michael Jordan throughout the series.
Johnson retired after the 1997-1998 season, leaving a legacy as one of the most potent, prolific, efficient, and explosive playmakers in league history.
Johnson returned briefly during the 1999-2000 campaign, helping the Suns win their first playoff series in five years (and their only series victory between 1995 and 2005). But after Phoenix fell in the second round to Los Angeles, he retired for the second and final time. He left the court as one of four players in NBA history to have averaged 20.0 points and 10.0 assists per game in the same season in three different years (the others are Oscar Robertson, Isiah Thomas, and Magic Johnson); he is one of three players in league history to have averaged 20.0 points and 10.0 assists per game in the same season in three consecutive years (the others are Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas); he is one of four players to have averaged 15.0 points, 10.0 assists, and .500 in field goal percentage in the same season (the others are Magic Johnson, John Stockton, and Steve Nash); he is one of three players to have avaveraged 15.0 points, 10.0 assists, and .500 in field goal percentage in multiple seasons (the others are Magic Johnson and John Stockton); he is one of two players to have averaged 20.0 points, 10.0 assists, and .500 in field goal percentage in the same season (the other is Magic Johnson). In the entire history of the NBA, there have been only four 20.0 pt./10.0 ast./.500 fg. seasons: two by Magic Johnson ('86-'87 and '88-'89) and two by Kevin Johnson ('88-'89 and '90-'91). As of 2005, Johnson owned seven of the top one hundred single season assist averages in NBA history, trailing only John Stockton (ten), Magic Johnson (ten), and Oscar Robertson (nine) in that area.
In 2001, Johnson had his number 7 jersey retired during a game where the Suns lost to the Sacramento Kings, Johnson's hometown team.
While he was a Suns player, he would often sign free autographs at mall autograph shows. During his time with the Suns, he opened St. Hope Academy, a school for inner-city children in his hometown of Sacramento.
Trivia
- His nickname is KJ.
- He was inadventently responsible for Gary Payton's nickname, "the Glove". After stuggling in certain games against Payton and the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1993 Western Conference Finals, Johnson was reported to have been "held like a baseball in a glove". Since then, Payton's nickname stuck. However, it was Johnson who received the last laugh in that playoff series. He led the Suns with 20 points in a crucial Game Three victory in Seattle, and he also led Phoenix with 22 points in a Game Six loss. And when it came time for the decisive Game Seven in Phoenix, with the right to go to the NBA Finals on the line, Johnson shined. He scored 22 points, dished out nine assists, and went 14-16 from the free throw line, as his continual penetration tore holes in the Sonics' defense and freed Charles Barkley (44 points, 24 rebounds) and Tom Chambers (17 points) for open shots. Afterwards, Seattle forward Eddie Johnson said that while everyone talked about Barkley, it was Kevin Johnson who won that game for Phoenix.