KJ looks to direct hometown of Sacramento as mayor

Before his basketball skills blossomed, Kevin Johnson expected he would become a sheet metal worker like his grandfather. AP

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Clearly time has proved F. Scott Fitzgerald wrong. For what is public life in America today if not a series of second acts?

Athletes who run afoul of the law become ad pitchmen, movie stars become governors, and now, former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson hopes to become the next mayor of Sacramento.

"I could have lived anywhere I wanted, but I moved back to my hometown, and I feel that the city has the potential to be a great city," said the 42-year-old Democrat, who has made education, public safety and trust in government the primary thrusts of his campaign in the city of 1.3 million residents.

"And I think to get to the next level, there needs to be a different type of leadership. I just felt I could do more by throwing my hat in the ring and being a participant as opposed to standing on the sidelines."

Johnson, however, has been anything but a quiet observer in the city. Two years into an NBA career during which he set up teammates while becoming the Phoenix Suns' all-time assists leader, Johnson tried to offer similar support to the downtrodden neighborhood where he was raised, Oak Park, by starting a nonprofit corporation dedicated to revitalizing the area. Under the umbrella of his St. HOPE community-development organization, the neighborhood of 20,000 has sprouted 14 businesses, a charter high school and a 25,000-square foot arts and cultural center over the last decade.

"We invested when no one else was willing to do it," Johnson told SI.com after announcing his candidacy last week. "[Oak Park] is a distressed community, and when you can bring in a Starbucks, that's huge. You're providing jobs, it impacts the tax base and more.

"On the education side, we've improved our [Oak Park] school system to the point that in our first graduating class last year, 73 percent of the students got accepted to a four-year college. Prior to us taking over, it was only 20-30 percent."

The path from 12-year NBA point guard to possible point man for a city wasn't set forth for Johnson in leading the Suns to 11 straight playoff appearances. Rather, he was motivated by a grandfather who regularly took his grandson to the voting booth on Election Day.

"My grandfather always taught me to be engaged and be an active participant in the community," Johnson said. A sheet metal worker, Johnson's grandfather also stressed the importance of keeping things simple. "His philosophy was that you measure something twice and cut once, so he was practical and methodical in how he went about doing things. But ultimately, it boiled down to being a good neighbor and making a difference in your community."

St. HOPE has been Johnson's effort at doing that. Funded through a combination of private donations and public partnerships with government entities, it has brought him the type of accolades -- and credibility as a public servant -- that dribbling a basketball couldn't: citizenship awards, "Most Caring American" honors, inclusion on a magazine's list of the "15 Greatest Men on Earth" and induction into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.

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