Tweet of the Day: Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson Recalls His Retirement

An article on NBA.com crossed paths with former Phoenix Suns point guard and current Sacramento city mayor Kevin Johnson Friday afternoon.

What was it about?

Retired Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson recalled the tale of his first game against Mayor Johnson back on February 26, 1997. KJ made him cry.

It was a situation, coming out of college, I never knew about getting destroyed by nobody. I was always the one on the other end of that, destroying somebody else. I can remember he had gave me 36, nine and nine. It was the first time somebody tore me up like that. I was in the locker room and I was actually crying.”

Johnson took issue with the article, stating that it was in fact Iverson who made him retire from the NBA.

I take no solace in that article whatsoever because @alleniverson is the reason I retired! http://t.co/nKAbOt4Yr2 @Espo

— Kevin Johnson (@KJ_MayorJohnson) March 7, 2014

He continued to explain the specific circumstance that made him realize that he should hang up his sneakers.

Every player has that moment when you know the end is near. Playing @alleniverson, I skipped the near part. He showed me the end was here. — Kevin Johnson (@KJ_MayorJohnson) March 7, 2014

.@AllenIverson came down full speed. My knees & ankles buckled & I was stuck. I turned around & he laid it in, ran back & patted my backside — Kevin Johnson (@KJ_MayorJohnson) March 7, 2014

Every player that retires has his own tale of what brought on the very decision, whether fueled by embarrassment, exhaustion or a desire to be around their families. Seeing Johnson vulnerably share his embarrassing moment publicly only further proves both his class and his respect for Iverson.

Previous Tweet Posts:

Tweet of the Night: Rick Fox says the best part of watching Lakers-Clippers is free gum

Big Day For ‘The Big Diesel’, Shaquille O’Neal

_______

Michael writes the Tweet of the Day for SheridanHoops.com and is also a correspondent for BleacherReport.com. Follow @mbrumagin

Walt Coogan says

July 12, 2014 at 2:11 pm

… cool anecdote. Thanks for sharing K.J.’s tweets, and they indeed display class.

Of course, there must have been more to K.J.’s retirement than that. The occasion that he was referring to must have been in one of two games from February 1998 when the Suns played the Sixers. K.J. was actually planning on retiring after the previous season (the one where he “destroyed” Iverson) and where he enjoyed one of the greatest and most underrated seasons by a guard in NBA history (20.1 points per game , 9.3 assists per game, 3.6 rebounds per game, 1.5 steals per game, a 3.0:1.0 assists-to-turnover ratio, a .496 field goal percentage, a .441 three-point field goal percentage, .an 852 free throw percentage in 7.4 FTA per contest, and a .631 True Shooting Percentage, finishing third in the NBA in assists per game, third in three-point field goal percentage, fourth in True Shooting Percentage, fifteenth in free throw percentage, and twentieth in points per game while averaging more free throw attempts than Iverson and Michael Jordan). Indeed, K.J. easily constituted the best guard in the league after Jordan, and there has never been a season in NBA history like that one, not before or since.

He then planned on retiring at the top of his game at the age of thirty-one and after having played ten seasons. But the Suns badly wanted K.J. to return for one more year, and he wanted one more chance to win a championship. So after agreeing to a new one-year contract for $8M, K.J. joined Phoenix for an eleventh season, one that he had not originally planned on playing. Unfortunately, this year did not go nearly as well as the previous one. First, head coach Danny Ainge unnecessarily reduced K.J.’s role, prematurely turning the team over to Jason Kidd, even though K.J. remained the superior player and even though he and Kidd had enjoyed great success the previous spring by playing interchangeably. Through the first 10 games of the ’97-’98 campaign, K.J. posted a .627 True Shooting Percentage and averaged 7.2 free throw attempts per contest, marks nearly identical to the previous season. And over the sixth, seventh, and eighth games of the season, K.J. averaged 24.0 points, 7.0 assists, 8.7 rebounds, a .581 field goal percentage, and an .846 free throw percentage in 8.7 FTA per contest, including averages of 28.5 points, 7.0 assists, 6.5 rebounds, a .647 field goal percentage, and an .867 free throw percentage in 7.5 FTA per contest over those last two games. Yet Ainge rewarded K.J. by moving him to the bench starting with the ninth game of the season (even though Phoenix was 6-2 at the time).

Then, after the twelfth game of the year, K.J. went to the Injured List with knee problems that eventually resulted in arthroscopic surgery, costing him over two months’ worth of games (his first game back was in Philadelphia on February 2, 1998, versus Iverson and the Sixers). Aside from four starts in March, Ainge continued to bring K.J. off the bench, and with a second-year Steve Nash seeing increased playing time, K.J. sometimes found himself on the fringes of the playing rotation. At one point in late March, K.J. had to go to Ainge and ask him not to reduce his minutes any further.

The problem was that without K.J. on the floor, Phoenix was not nearly as efficient offensively. The Suns went 15-2 (.882) that season when he played at least 30 minutes and 18-4 (.818) when he played at least 28 minutes, but Ainge usually did not give him those kinds of minutes. Although the Suns still won 56 games that year and earned the fourth seed in the West, they could have challenged for the league’s best record had Ainge not prematurely reduced K.J.’s role.

After the season, K.J. did not want to merely play a complementary role off the bench as a third or fourth guard in the rotation, so he and the Suns mutually agreed to part company, with Johnson probably looking to retire. Over the next ten months, however, he received offers or encountered interest from at least a dozen teams: the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Kings, Sonics, Rockets (for whom his former teammate, Charles Barkley, publicly and privately recruited him), Knicks, Bucks, Hornets (for whom his former coach, Paul Silas, recruited him), Pistons, Magic, and Wizards. During the lockout, he participated in pickup games in Phoenix with Kidd, former teammates Eddie Johnson, Joe Kleine, and Frank Johnson (who by then was an assistant coach with the Suns), and Mike Bibby. After the lockout, he worked out by himself at the local YMCA. K.J. seriously considered the Lakers (who were coming off a 61-win season with a prime Shaquille O’Neal and a blossoming Kobe Bryant, and who needed a veteran point guard), the Knicks, and his hometown Kings (who had just traded for Chris Webber), but ultimately decided that he did not want to wear a uniform other than Phoenix’s. Yes, a concern that he did not want to play past the point of high effectiveness, perhaps reinforced by his memory of Iverson’s crossover, may have also influenced his decision. For years, K.J. had wanted to leave the NBA while he was still in his prime, hence his initial decision to retire in 1997, one that he then postponed in hopes of taking one more crack at a championship. But in the spring of 2000, after Jason Kidd broke his ankle, K.J. (who by then had officially retired, had not played in a competitive game in almost two years, and had not touched a basketball in nearly a year) returned to the court at Phoenix’s request and helped the Suns win their only playoff series over a nine-season span.

Comments

Walt Coogan says

July 12, 2014 at 2:11 pm

… cool anecdote. Thanks for sharing K.J.’s tweets, and they indeed display class.

Of course, there must have been more to K.J.’s retirement than that. The occasion that he was referring to must have been in one of two games from February 1998 when the Suns played the Sixers. K.J. was actually planning on retiring after the previous season (the one where he “destroyed” Iverson) and where he enjoyed one of the greatest and most underrated seasons by a guard in NBA history (20.1 points per game , 9.3 assists per game, 3.6 rebounds per game, 1.5 steals per game, a 3.0:1.0 assists-to-turnover ratio, a .496 field goal percentage, a .441 three-point field goal percentage, .an 852 free throw percentage in 7.4 FTA per contest, and a .631 True Shooting Percentage, finishing third in the NBA in assists per game, third in three-point field goal percentage, fourth in True Shooting Percentage, fifteenth in free throw percentage, and twentieth in points per game while averaging more free throw attempts than Iverson and Michael Jordan). Indeed, K.J. easily constituted the best guard in the league after Jordan, and there has never been a season in NBA history like that one, not before or since.

He then planned on retiring at the top of his game at the age of thirty-one and after having played ten seasons. But the Suns badly wanted K.J. to return for one more year, and he wanted one more chance to win a championship. So after agreeing to a new one-year contract for $8M, K.J. joined Phoenix for an eleventh season, one that he had not originally planned on playing. Unfortunately, this year did not go nearly as well as the previous one. First, head coach Danny Ainge unnecessarily reduced K.J.’s role, prematurely turning the team over to Jason Kidd, even though K.J. remained the superior player and even though he and Kidd had enjoyed great success the previous spring by playing interchangeably. Through the first 10 games of the ’97-’98 campaign, K.J. posted a .627 True Shooting Percentage and averaged 7.2 free throw attempts per contest, marks nearly identical to the previous season. And over the sixth, seventh, and eighth games of the season, K.J. averaged 24.0 points, 7.0 assists, 8.7 rebounds, a .581 field goal percentage, and an .846 free throw percentage in 8.7 FTA per contest, including averages of 28.5 points, 7.0 assists, 6.5 rebounds, a .647 field goal percentage, and an .867 free throw percentage in 7.5 FTA per contest over those last two games. Yet Ainge rewarded K.J. by moving him to the bench starting with the ninth game of the season (even though Phoenix was 6-2 at the time).

Then, after the twelfth game of the year, K.J. went to the Injured List with knee problems that eventually resulted in arthroscopic surgery, costing him over two months’ worth of games (his first game back was in Philadelphia on February 2, 1998, versus Iverson and the Sixers). Aside from four starts in March, Ainge continued to bring K.J. off the bench, and with a second-year Steve Nash seeing increased playing time, K.J. sometimes found himself on the fringes of the playing rotation. At one point in late March, K.J. had to go to Ainge and ask him not to reduce his minutes any further.

The problem was that without K.J. on the floor, Phoenix was not nearly as efficient offensively. The Suns went 15-2 (.882) that season when he played at least 30 minutes and 18-4 (.818) when he played at least 28 minutes, but Ainge usually did not give him those kinds of minutes. Although the Suns still won 56 games that year and earned the fourth seed in the West, they could have challenged for the league’s best record had Ainge not prematurely reduced K.J.’s role.

After the season, K.J. did not want to merely play a complementary role off the bench as a third or fourth guard in the rotation, so he and the Suns mutually agreed to part company, with Johnson probably looking to retire. Over the next ten months, however, he received offers or encountered interest from at least a dozen teams: the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Kings, Sonics, Rockets (for whom his former teammate, Charles Barkley, publicly and privately recruited him), Knicks, Bucks, Hornets (for whom his former coach, Paul Silas, recruited him), Pistons, Magic, and Wizards. During the lockout, he participated in pickup games in Phoenix with Kidd, former teammates Eddie Johnson, Joe Kleine, and Frank Johnson (who by then was an assistant coach with the Suns), and Mike Bibby. After the lockout, he worked out by himself at the local YMCA. K.J. seriously considered the Lakers (who were coming off a 61-win season with a prime Shaquille O’Neal and a blossoming Kobe Bryant, and who needed a veteran point guard), the Knicks, and his hometown Kings (who had just traded for Chris Webber), but ultimately decided that he did not want to wear a uniform other than Phoenix’s. Yes, a concern that he did not want to play past the point of high effectiveness, perhaps reinforced by his memory of Iverson’s crossover, may have also influenced his decision. For years, K.J. had wanted to leave the NBA while he was still in his prime, hence his initial decision to retire in 1997, one that he then postponed in hopes of taking one more crack at a championship. But in the spring of 2000, after Jason Kidd broke his ankle, K.J. (who by then had officially retired, had not played in a competitive game in almost two years, and had not touched a basketball in nearly a year) returned to the court at Phoenix’s request and helped the Suns win their only playoff series over a nine-season span.