Catching Up With The Kings: Eddie Johnson
Mar 31, 2020, 11:03 AM | Updated: 11:03 am
(Getty Images)
KHTK is bringing former members of the Kings on the air to reflect on their time in Sacramento, talk basketball and much more!
This morning on “The Drive”, Carmichael Dave and Jason Ross had NBA Sixth Man of the Year award winner Eddie Johnson on the show to reflect on his time as a Sacramento King.
Johnson, 60, played 17 seasons in the NBA from 1981-1999 for the Kings, Seattle Super Sonics, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets.
Over six seasons with the Kings, Johnson averaged 18.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists over 483 games.
Starting his career with the Kansas City Kings, Johnson was present for the franchise relocation to Sacramento in 1985, helping lead the team to a playoff berth in their first season in the Capital city.
This morning, Johnson joined the show to reflect on his time in the league, his time in Sacramento and the current developments of the COVID-19 outbreak that has affected hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.
“I’m pretty much a homebody, so it’s not a huge adjustment there,” Johnson said of what he is doing to stay busy during this tumultuous time. “You just start to do things that you need to do at the house, keep yourself busy and keep up on your movies, series that you watch. Still get your exercise in.”
On the Kings franchise moving from Kansas City to Sacramento, Johnson shared his thoughts on how he felt at the time about moving across the country.
“It was emotional, because I was really enjoying Kansas City. I started my career there,” he said. “When we moved to Sacramento, we didn’t understand what we would be encountering. We went there in the middle of our season in the year before, and we were greeted by about five-thousand people at the airport.
We had a practice there, and we had more people on the outside than on the inside. We were simply blown away; it was simply amazing. I think the Kings fans grabbed ahold of us right there, and we looked forward to moving there.”
Throughout the interview, Eddie goes on to share more memories and stories of his time with the Kings, his excitement for the upcoming Michael Jordan documentary and more.
Check it out below, or in the YouTube video at the top of the post!