Reach for the Sky
original theatrical poster
Directed by	Lewis Gilbert
Produced by	Daniel M. Angel
Written by	Paul Brickhill (book) Lewis Gilbert (screenplay) Vernon Harris (add'l scenes)
Starring	Kenneth More Muriel Pavlow Lyndon Brook Lee Patterson Alexander Knox
Music by	John Addison
Cinematography	Jack Asher
Editing by	John Shirley
Distributed by	Rank
Release date(s)	10 July 1956 (1956-07-10) (UK) April 30, 1957 (US)
Running time	136 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Reach for the Sky is a 1956 British biographical film about aviator Douglas Bader, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film of 1956.

Plot[link]

In 1928, Douglas Bader joins the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a cadet. Despite a friendly reprimand from Air Vice Marshal Halahan for his disregard for service discipline and flight rules, he successfully completes his training and is posted to No. 23 Squadron at RAF Kenley. In 1930, he is chosen to be among the pilots for an aerial exhibition.

Later, though his commander has explicitly banned low level aerobatics (as two pilots have been killed trying just that), he is goaded into it by a disparaging remark by a civilian pilot. He crashes.

Mr. Joyce has to amputate both legs to save Bader's life. During his convalescence, he receives encouragement from Nurse Brace. Upon his discharge from the hospital, he sets out to master prosthetic legs. At a stop for some tea, he meets waitress Thelma Edwards. Once he can walk on his own, he starts courting her.

Despite his undiminished skills, he is refused flying duties simply because there are no regulations covering his situation. Offered a desk job instead, he leaves the RAF and works unhappily in an office. He and Thelma marry.

As the Second World War starts, Bader talks himself back into the RAF. He is given command of a squadron comprising mostly dispirited Canadians who had fought in France. Improving morale and brazenly circumventing normal channels to obtain badly needed equipment, he makes the squadron operational again. They fight effectively in the Battle of Britain. Bader is then put in charge of a new, larger formation of five squadrons. Later, he is posted to RAF Tangmere and promoted to wing commander.

In 1941, Bader has to bail out over France. He is caught, escapes, and is recaptured. He then makes such a nuisance of himself to his jailers, he is repeatedly moved from one POW camp to another, finally ending up in Colditz Castle. He is liberated after four years of captivity. The war ends (much to Thelma's relief) before Bader can have "one last fling" in the Far East.

On 15 September 1945, the fifth anniversary of the greatest day of the Battle of Britain, Bader is given the honour of leading eleven other battle survivors and a total of 300 aircraft in a flypast over London.

Cast[link]

Aircraft[link]

The following aircraft were used in the filming of Reach to the Sky.^[1]

Aircraft	Registration or serial	Role	Fate	Photo
Avro 504K	E3404	Flying	Preserved at Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, United Kingdom.[2]
Avro Tutor	K3215	Static	Preserved at Shuttleworth Collection.
Bristol F.2b	D8096	Camera ship	Preserved at Shuttleworth Collection.
Bristol Bulldog	K2227	Static	Preserved at RAF Museum, Hendon, United Kingdom.
Hawker Hurricane I	P2617	Static	Scrapped in May 1956.
Hawker Hurricane IIC	LF363	Flying	Airworthy with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, RAF Coningsby, United Kingdom.
Hawker Hurricane IIC	unknown	Static	Believed scrapped.
Spartan Arrow	G-ABWP	Static	Airworthy, privately owned.
Supermarine Spitfire XVI	RW345	Static	Scrapped May 1956
Supermarine Spitfire XVI	RW352	Flying	Scrapped 1957
Supermarine Spitfire XVI	SL574	Flying	Preserved at the Air & Space Museum, San Diego, United States.	Supermarine Spitfire XVI
Supermarine Spitfire XVI	SL745	Static	Scrapped May 1956
Supermarine Spitfire XVI	TB293	Static	Scrapped May 1956
Supermarine Spitfire XVI	TB885	Static	Under restoration in United Kingdom to flying condition.
Supermarine Spitfire XVI	TE288	Static	Preserved at Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum, Wigram, New Zealand
Supermarine Spitfire XVI	TE341	Static	Scrapped at Pinewood Studios
Supermarine Spitfire XVI	TE358	Flying	Scrapped by Coley's Ltd, Feltham, United Kingdom in April 1957
Supermarine Spitfire XVI	TE456	Flying	Preserved at Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand

Production[link]

In order to depict the various Royal Air Force bases realistically, principal filming took place in Surrey at RAF Kenley, and around the village of Bagshot. Studio work was completed at the Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK. Available wartime combat aircraft including Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters were arranged to take on the aerial scenes.

According to Ben Mankiewicz on TCM, Richard Burton was producer Danny Angel's first choice for the lead but he dropped out. More's fee was £25,000.^[3] Mankiewicz also noted that More arranged to meet Bader to prepare for the role. They played a round of golf; much to More's surprise (as he was a good golfer), Bader beat him decisively.^[4]

Reception[link]

The film fared well with the public, being the most popular film in the UK for 1956. When the film was released in North America in 1957, the American release version was slightly altered with 12 minutes edited out. Rank made a concerted effort to ensure the film was successful in America, sending Kenneth More over to do a press tour, but the public was not enthusiastic.^[5]

References[link]

Notes

Bibliography

External links[link]

• Reach for the Sky at the Internet Movie Database
• Reach for the Sky at the TCM Movie Database

Crepuscular rays of light shining through clouds near the Washington Monument in Washington D.C.

The sky, also known as the celestial dome, commonly refers to everything that lies a certain distance above the surface of Earth, including the atmosphere and the rest of outer space. In the field of astronomy, the sky is also called the celestial sphere. This is an imaginary dome where the sun, stars, planets, and the moon are seen to be traveling. The celestial sphere is divided into regions called constellations. Usually, the term sky is used from the point of view of the Earth's surface. However, the exact meaning of the term can vary; in some cases, the sky is defined as only the denser portions of the atmosphere, for example.

During daylight, the sky appears to be blue because air scatters blue sunlight more than it scatters red.^[1][2][3][4] At night, the sky appears to be a mostly dark surface or region scattered with stars. During the day, the Sun can be seen in the sky, unless obscured by clouds. In the night sky (and to some extent during the day) the moon, planets and stars are visible in the sky. Some of the natural phenomena seen in the sky are clouds, rainbows, and aurorae. Lightning and precipitation can also be seen in the sky during storms. Birds, insects, aircraft, and kites are often considered to fly in the sky. As a result of human activities, smog during the day and light pollution during the night are often seen above large cities.

During the day[link]

A greater proportion of blue light scattered by the atmosphere relative to red light.

When seen from high altitudes, the gradient in the sky's color varies from pale to dark at elevations approaching the zenith

Except for light that comes directly from the sun, most of the light in the day sky is a result of scattering, which is dominated by a small-particle limit called Rayleigh Scattering. The scattering due to molecule sized particles (as in air) is greater in the forward and backward directions than it is in the lateral direction.^[5] Scattering is significant for light at all visible wavelengths, but it is stronger at the shorter (bluer) end of the visible spectrum, meaning that that the scattered light is more blue than its source, the sun. The remaining sunlight, having lost some of its short wavelength components, appears slightly less blue.

Scattering also occurs even more strongly in clouds. Individual water droplets exposed to white light will create a set of colored rings. If a cloud is thick enough, scattering from multiple water droplets will wash out the set of colored rings and create a washed out white color.^[6]

Orange clouds at sunset

The sky can turn a multitude of colors such as red, orange, purple and yellow (especially near sunset or sunrise) when the light must pass through a much longer path (or optical depth) through the atmosphere. Scattering effects also partially polarize light from the sky, most pronounced at an angle 90° from the sun. Scattered light from the horizon has traveled through as much as 38 times the atmosphere than has light from the zenith, causing it to lose blue components. The result is a blue gradient — vivid at the zenith, pale near the horizon.^[7] Because red light scatters as well if there is enough air in between the source and the observer, these longer wavelengths of light will also scatter significantly, making parts of the sky change color during a sunset. As the amount of atmosphere nears infinity, the scattered light appears more and more white.^[8]

The sun is not the only object that may appear less blue in atmosphere. Far away clouds or snowy mountaintops will seem yellow as well; that effect is not obvious on clear days, but very pronounced when clouds are covering the line of sight reducing the blue hue from scattered sunlight.^[8] At higher altitudes, the sky trends to darker colors, since scattering is reduced due to lower air density; an extreme example is the moon, where there is no atmosphere and no scattering, making the sky on the moon black even when the sun is visible.^[9]

Sky luminance distribution models have been recommended by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) for the design of daylighting schemes. Recent developments relate to “all sky models” for modelling sky luminance under weather conditions ranging from clear sky to overcast.^[10]

Dusk and dawn[link]

The intensity of the sky varies greatly over the day and the primary cause differs as well. When the sun is well above the horizon, direct scattering of sunlight (Rayleigh scattering) is the overwhelmingly dominant source of light. However, in twilight, the period of time between sunset and sunrise, the situation is more complicated, and a further differentiation is required. Some of the more common phenomenae that can be observed during this period are described below.

Green flashes and green rays are optical phenomena that occur shortly after sunset or before sunrise, when a green spot is visible, usually for no more than a second or two, above the sun, or it may resemble a green ray shooting up from the sunset point. Green flashes are a group of phenomena stemming from different causes,^[11] most of which occur when there is a temperature inversion (when temperatures increase with altitude rather than the normal decrease in temperature with altitude). Green flashes may be observed from any altitude (even from an aircraft). They usually are seen at an unobstructed horizon, such as over the ocean, but are possible over cloud tops and mountain tops as well. A green flash also may be observed in association with the Moon and bright planets at the horizon, including Venus and Jupiter.^[12][13]

The Earth's shadow is the shadow that the Earth itself casts on its atmosphere, which is often visible from the surface of the Earth, as a dark band in the sky near the horizon. This atmospheric phenomenon can sometimes be seen twice a day, around the times of sunset and sunrise. When the weather conditions and the observer's viewing point permit a clear sight of the horizon, the shadow can be seen as a dark blue or greyish-blue band. Assuming the sky is clear, the Earth's shadow is visible in the opposite half of the sky to the sunset or sunrise, and is seen right above the horizon as a dark blue band. A related phenomenon is the "Belt of Venus" or "anti-twilight arch" (sometimes written as "antitwilight arch"), a pink band that is visible above the dark blue of the Earth's shadow, in the same part of the sky. There is no clear dividing line between the Earth's shadow and the Belt of Venus; one colored band shades into the other in the sky.^[14][15]

Twilight is divided into three segments according to how far the sun is below the horizon in segments of 6°. After sunset the civil twilight sets in, and ends when the sun drops more than 6° below the horizon. This is followed by the nautical twilight, when the sun reaches heights of -6° and -12°, after which comes the astronomical twilight defined as the period from -12° to -18°. When the sun drops more than 18° below the horizon the sky generally attains its minimum brightness.^[16]

Several sources can be identified as the source of the intrinsic brightness of the sky, namely airglow, indirect scattering of sunlight, scattering of starlight, and artificial light pollution.

During the night[link]

The Milky Way can be seen as a large band across the night sky, and is distorted into an arch in this 360° panorama.

The term night sky refers to the sky as seen at night. The term is usually associated with skygazing and astronomy, with reference to views of celestial bodies such as stars, the Moon, and planets that become visible on a clear night after the Sun has set. Natural light sources in a night sky include moonlight, starlight, and airglow, depending on location and timing. The fact that the sky is not completely dark at night can be easily observed. Were the sky (in the absence of moon and city lights) absolutely dark, one would not be able to see the silhouette of an object against the sky.

The night sky and studies of it have a historical place in both ancient and modern cultures. In the past, for instance, farmers have used the state of the night sky as a calendar to determine when to plant crops. The ancient belief in astrology is generally based on the belief that relationships between heavenly bodies influence or convey information about events on Earth. The scientific study of the night sky and bodies observed within it, meanwhile, takes place in the science of astronomy.

Within visible-light astronomy, the visibility of celestial objects in the night sky is affected by light pollution. The presence of the Moon in the night sky has historically hindered astronomical observation by increasing the amount of ambient lighting. With the advent of artificial light sources, however, light pollution has been a growing problem for viewing the night sky. Special filters and modifications to light fixtures can help to alleviate this problem, but for the best views, both professional and amateur optical astronomers seek viewing sites located far from major urban areas.

Use within weather forecasting[link]

Marestail shows moisture at high altitude, signalling the later arrival of wet weather.

Along with pressure tendency, the condition of the sky is one of the more important parameters used to forecast weather in mountainous areas. Thickening of cloud cover or the invasion of a higher cloud deck is indicative of rain in the near future. At night, high thin cirrostratus clouds can lead to halos around the moon, which indicates an approach of a warm front and its associated rain.^[17] Morning fog portends fair conditions and can be associated with a marine layer, an indication of a stable atmosphere.^[18] Rainy conditions are preceded by wind or clouds which prevent fog formation. The approach of a line of thunderstorms could indicate the approach of a cold front. Cloud-free skies are indicative of fair weather for the near future.^[19] The use of sky cover in weather prediction has led to various weather lore over the centuries.^[20]

Tropical cyclones[link]

Picture of the sky within the eye of a tropical cyclone

Within 36 hours of the passage of a tropical cyclone's center, the pressure begins to fall and a veil of white cirrus clouds approaches from the cyclone's direction. Within 24 hours of the closest approach to the center, low clouds begin to move in, also known as the bar of a tropical cyclone, as the barometric pressure begins to fall more rapidly and the winds begin to increase. Within 18 hours of the center's approach, squally weather is common, with sudden increases in wind accompanied by rain showers or thunderstorms. Within six hours of the center's arrival, rain becomes continuous. Within an hour of the center, the rain becomes very heavy and the highest winds within the tropical cyclone are experienced. When the center arrives with a strong tropical cyclone, weather conditions improve and the sun becomes visible as the eye moves overhead. Once the system departs, winds reverse and, along with the rain, suddenly increase. One day after the center's passage, the low overcast is replaced with a higher overcast, and the rain becomes intermittent. By 36 hours after the center's passage, the high overcast breaks and the pressure begins to level off.^[21]

Use within transportation[link]

A Barn Swallow in flight

Flight is the process by which an object moves, through or beyond the sky (as in the case of spaceflight), by generating aerodynamic lift, propulsive thrust, aerostatically using buoyancy, or by ballistic movement, without any direct mechanical support from the ground. The engineering aspects of flight are studied in aerospace engineering which is subdivided into aeronautics, which is the study of vehicles that travel through the air, and astronautics, the study of vehicles that travel through space, and in ballistics, the study of the flight of projectiles. While human beings have been capable of flight via hot air balloons since 1783,^[22] other species have used flight for significantly longer. Animals, such as birds, bats, and insects are capable of flight. Spores and seeds from plants use flight, via use of the wind, as a method of propagating their species.^[23]

Significance in mythology[link]

Jupiter, Ancient Roman sky deity

This section requires expansion.

Many mythologies have deities especially associated with the sky. The Egyptian god Horus was the god of the Sky. Zeus was the god of the sky and thunder in Greek mythology. The Roman god Jupiter was the god of sky and thunder. Many cultures have drawn constellations between stars in the sky, using them in association with legends and mythology about their deities.

See also[link]

• Cyanometer

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sky

• Day sky images
• Night Sky images
• Sky photo gallery
• Why is the sky blue?

Kevin Maurice Johnson
55th Mayor of Sacramento
Incumbent
Assumed office December 2, 2008
Preceded by	Heather Fargo
Personal details
Born	(1966-03-04) March 4, 1966 (age 46) Sacramento, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Michelle Rhee[1][2]
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley
Profession	Basketball player, Politician

Kevin Maurice Johnson (born March 4, 1966) is the current mayor of Sacramento, the capital city of the U.S. state of California. He is Sacramento's first African American mayor.^[3] Prior to entering politics, Johnson was a professional basketball player in the NBA, playing point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns. As a player, he was a three-time NBA All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection who holds many records for the Phoenix Suns franchise.^[4] At University of California, Berkeley, Johnson had been a two-time All-Pac-10 Conference player who was also an honorable-mention All-American by the Associated Press sportswriters.^[5][6] Johnson was a 2000 graduate of the Harvard Divinity School Summer Leadership Institute, a program that prepares students for work in faith-based urban economic revitalization. He also has a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley that he completed after his initial retirement from the NBA.

Early life[link]

Johnson, the son of Georgia West and Lawrence Johnson, was born March 4, 1966 in Sacramento. After Johnson's father drowned in an accident in the Sacramento River, he was raised by his grandparents, the Peat family. He attended Sacramento High School, where he starred in both baseball and basketball and led the state of California in scoring (32.5 ppg) during his senior year.

Basketball career[link]

University of California[link]

Johnson accepted a scholarship to play basketball for the University of California, Berkeley. Playing all four seasons, Johnson ended his college basketball career in 1987 as the school's all-time leader in assists, steals, and scoring (since eclipsed by Lamond Murray and Jerome Randle). He was also the first player in the Pac-10 Conference to post a triple-double in statistics, and he was named to the Pac-10's all-conference First Team in both his junior and senior seasons, averaging 17.2 points and 5.0 assists in his final basketball season. His number 11 is retired.

Johnson briefly played for California's baseball team, as well,^[7] and the Oakland Athletics drafted him in 1986 to play professional baseball as a shortstop. In the summer of 1986 between his junior and senior years in college, the twenty-year old Johnson played a couple games with Oakland's minor-league team in Modesto, California, but after seeing that a journey through the sparsely funded minor leagues would be arduous and riskier than his basketball prospects, Johnson never looked back to baseball. Instead, following a stellar senior season of college basketball, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected him seventh in the 1987 NBA Draft, surprising many observers, including the TBS broadcasters.^[8]

Phoenix Suns[link]

Originally drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers to challenge the incumbent point guard Mark Price of Georgia Tech for the starting spot, Johnson found himself on the bench as Price's backup during the 1987-88 NBA season because Price significantly improved during training camp and convincingly won the starting job. On February 28, 1988, Johnson (along with his teammates Mark West and Tyrone Corbin) was traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for the forward Larry Nance, Mike Sanders and a future draft pick. Phoenix also received a draft pick in the trade – one that was used the next season to select the future stalwart swingman Dan Majerle. Adjusting rapidly 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, when he averaged 15.1 points, 10.6 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and an 86.4 free-throw percentage.

The next year in his first full season with Phoenix, Johnson blossomed 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 to win the NBA's Most Improved Player Award. Indeed, Johnson joined Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas as the only players in NBA history to average at least 20.0 points and 12.0 assists in a season, a fact that holds to this day. The 1988–89 campaign, in which the perennially losing Suns reversed their fortunes and rocketed from 28 wins to 55 (second-most in the West), constituted the first of three straight seasons in which Johnson averaged at least 20 points and 10 assists, joining Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas as the only players in league history to accomplish that feat for three consecutive seasons. From 1989 to 1991 he received berths on the All-NBA Second Team, earning Third Team honors in 1992 and Second Team honors again in 1994. Johnson also was selected to the NBA All-Star Team in 1990, 1991, and 1994 and made the playoffs every year of his career after his rookie season. In the 1991 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, Johnson wore no. 41 instead of his familiar #7. NBC announcers Bob Costas and Mike Fratello speculated it was to honor teammate Mark West, who was not picked to participate in the 40th All-Star Game, despite his valuable contributions on the boards and in the trenches for the Suns on a nightly basis.

Kevin Johnson started the 1991 All-Star Game alongside Magic Johnson in the Western Conference back-court and in anticipation of the game, the Sporting News asked whether Kevin Johnson may have surpassed Magic as the best player on the court. The previous spring in the 1990 Western Conference Semifinals, Kevin Johnson led the Suns past Magic's league-best, 63-win Lakers by a tally of four games to one, winning twice in Los Angeles. While Magic (the NBA's MVP for the third time in four years) averaged 43.0 points and 8.5 assists in the last two games of the series in a desperate attempt to salvage the Lakers' season (actually scoring 43 points in both contests), Johnson responded by averaging 33.5 points and 12.0 assists as the Suns won both games. In the fourth quarter of Game Five at the Great Western Forum, with the Lakers staring at their earliest playoff exist in nine years, Magic scored 7 points (3-5 FG, 1-2 FT) with 2 assists, 3 turnovers, and 0 steals, while Kevin Johnson poured in 14 points (5-8 FG, 4-4 FT) with 3 assists, 0 turnovers, and 2 steals. With 3:55 remaining, the Lakers still led 95-90, but from that point forward, Johnson scored 8 points (2-2 FG, 4-4 FT) with 1 assist, no turnovers, and 1 steal, while Magic mustered zero points (0-2 FG [including an air ball], 0-1 FT), 0 assists, 0 steals, and 1 turnover). The Suns won, leading Hall of Fame center and NBC commentator Bill Walton to remark during Game Seven of the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals (Houston at Phoenix), "Kevin Johnson, who, who 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." Thus, for the only time in a season where Magic played at least 40 games, his Lakers failed to reach the Western Conference Finals, while Johnson's Suns advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season.

The 1992–93 Suns, led by Johnson and new teammate Charles Barkley, posted an NBA-best 62–20 record. (Unfortunately, Johnson suffered an undiagnosed hernia in that year's preseason when he attempted to lift hefty [arguably obese] teammate Oliver Miller off the floor, accounting for most of his 33 missed games that regular season and most of the 109 regular season games that he missed over the four seasons from 1993 to 1996. However, he only missed one playoff game in his career. By January 1996, Johnson was playing with two undiagnosed hernias. When, in the fall fo 1996, the Suns determined that he was indeed suffering from a hernia and needed to undergo surgery, doctors discovered the original, "hidden" hernia that had secretly been plaguing him for years. After missing the first 11 games of the 1996-97 season due to the surgery, Johnson did not miss another game to injury all year long.) Narrowly escaping first round elimination versus the Los Angeles Lakers, the 1993 Suns managed to make it to the NBA Finals, where they fell to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in a four games to two game series. 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. In 1995, the injury-prone Johnson was again slowed by injuries but returned to form for the post-season, averaging 24.8 points, 9.3 assists, a 57.3 field goal percentage, and a 50.0 three-point field goal percentage in 10 games, including a 46-point, 10-assist effort in a 115–114 Game 7 loss of the Western Conference Semifinals to the eventual champion Houston Rockets. In Game 4 of the previous year's series with eventual champion Houston, in front of a capacity crowd in Phoenix, Johnson completed a remarkable dunk, driving from the baseline, over 7'0" Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon. 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[link]

In addition to his NBA efforts with the Suns, Johnson also lent his talents to the US national team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship, reuniting with old teammate and rival Mark Price to win the gold medal. Johnson led Dream Team II in both total assists and assists average (3.9 per game) while shooting .471 (16–34) from the field, including .500 (16-32) on two-point field goal attempts.^[9]

Retirement and comeback[link]

Johnson retired after the 1997–98 season, but returned briefly during the 1999–2000 campaign to replace the injured Jason Kidd 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.

Accomplishments and legacy[link]

• In Johnson's first seven full seasons in Phoenix from 1989-1995, the Suns won the most regular season games in the NBA (394, an average of 56, never fewer than 53, and the only team to win at least 50 in each of those years) and the second-most playoff games (46, trailing only the Chicago Bulls).
• One of only three players in NBA history (Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson) to have averaged at least 20 points and 12 assists in a season.
• One of only three players in NBA history (Oscar Robertson and Thomas) to have averaged at least 20 points and 10 assists in three consecutive seasons.
• One of only four players in NBA history (Robertson, Thomas, and Magic Johnson) to have averaged at least 20 points and 10 assists per game in three different seasons.
• One of six players in NBA history (Magic Johnson, John Stockton, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, and Chris Paul) to have averaged at least 15 points and 10 assists per game over the course of a season while shooting at least .500 from the field.
• Along with Magic Johnson, is one of only two players in NBA history to have twice averaged at least 20 points and 10 assists per game over the course of a season while shooting at least .500 from the field. The only other player to produce 20/10/.500 over the course of a single season is Paul.
• Johnson was the first player in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 10 assists, a .500 field goal percentage, and 2 steals in a season (in 1990–91); he has since been joined in that regard by Paul (in 2008–09).
• Johnson is one of only two players in NBA history (Magic Johnson is the other) to average at least 20 points and 12 assists in a season while shooting at least .500 from the field.
• The only team to defeat both Magic Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers and John Stockton's Utah Jazz in the same postseason was Kevin Johnson's Phoenix Suns in 1990.
• Johnson twice led the NBA in total playoff assists (1990 and 1993).
• On March 7, 2001, the Suns inducted Johnson into their Ring of Honor and retired his uniform No. 7 during halftime of a game Phoenix played against the Sacramento Kings, Johnson's hometown team.
• NBA record holder for minutes in a finals game, playing 62 minutes in 1993 vs. the Chicago Bulls.
• Three time NBA All-Star.
• Phoenix Suns' all time leader in free throws made and free throws attempted.
• Mayor Johnson received the Silver Anniversary Award for recognition of his myriad athletic and professional accomplishments from the NCAA in Januaury 2012.^[10]

The Kevin Johnson Corporation[link]

As president and CEO of The Kevin Johnson Corporation, Johnson oversees the operations of several subsidiary organizations specializing in real estate development and management, sports management, and business acquisition. A key component of The Kevin Johnson Corporation includes appearances and public speaking engagements for corporations, academic institutions, and community organizations. Johnson founded the St. Hope Academy in 1989 and served as its CEO until January 2008. St. HOPE is a nonprofit community development corporation whose mission is to revitalize communities through public education, civic leadership, economic development and the arts.

In 2003, St. HOPE formed St. HOPE Public Schools, a pre-K-12 independent charter school system that provides education to nearly 2,000 students in seven small schools.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Election for Mayor's Office of Sacramento[link]

On March 5, 2008, Johnson announced he would run for mayor of Sacramento, his hometown, challenging incumbent Heather Fargo.^[15] Election day was June 3, 2008. Since no candidate received a majority of the vote in the nonpartisan election, there was a runoff.

Johnson garnered the endorsement of the Sacramento Police Officers Association (SPOA),^[16] the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange,^[17][18] the Chamber of Commerce, Realtors' Association and Labor Council, among others.^[19] Johnson was also endorsed by Sacramento City Council members Steve Cohn (Vice Mayor) and Sandy Sheedy, and by former Sacramento Mayor Jimmie Yee.^[11]

On June 4, 2008, Kevin Johnson, who led by 8 percentage points, forced a runoff election for mayor versus the 2-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.^[20] The candidates needed more than 50% to win the election.^[21] Third place finisher Leonard Padilla endorsed Mayor Fargo on June 4, 2008.^[22] Johnson, by late May, loaned his campaign $500,000 and raised $490,000, while Fargo raised $340,000 despite having started fundraising in 2005.^[23]

2008 primary election for mayor of Sacramento[link]

Johnson and Fargo had a runoff election in November, won by Johnson.^[25]

2008 runoff election for mayor of Sacramento[link]

Controversy[link]

Sexual assault and harassment allegations[link]

During the summer of 1995, a 16-year-old girl alleged that Johnson had groped her. Johnson apologized to the girl when he was confronted by her with the accusation during a phone conversation recorded by Phoenix police. However he also stated that "what you're saying happened, I'm not entirely agreeing happened."^[27] The Sacramento Bee stated that they had received a copy of a proposed settlement agreement, under which Johnson would have paid the girl's family $230,000.^[28] 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.^[29]

High School investigation[link]

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. The allegations were investigated by local police, but no charges were filed, and the alleged victim recanted her story.^[30][31] On April 29, 2008, a group of female civic leaders including former Sacramento Mayor Ann Rudin, Sacramento Municipal Utility District board member Genevieve Shiroma, and former State Senator Deborah Ortiz demanded the release of the police report on the matter.^[32] 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."^[33] 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."^[31] The Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness said on May 30, 2008, that Johnson’s actions, though ill-advised, were not illegal.^[34]

St. HOPE Academy's alleged misuse of AmeriCorps funds[link]

On April 9, 2009, Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced that St. HOPE Academy had agreed to pay $423,836.50 over ten years in settlement of allegations that it did not appropriately spend AmeriCorps grants and education awards and did not adequately document spending of grants.^[35] 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.^[35] 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.^[35] In settlement, St. HOPE Academy acknowledged not adequately documenting a portion of its AmeriCorps grant expenditures, and the Corporation for National and Community Service 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.^[35]

Personal life[link]

Johnson married Michelle Rhee, the former Chancellor of the District of Columbia School System, on September 3, 2011, in front of 40 people at a Tennessee mountain resort.^[2] They had originally planned to get married the year before,^[36] but decided to postpone it in the wake of a large amount of media attention to their nuptials.^[37]

See also[link]

• List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff assists leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
• List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game
• List of National Basketball Association players with most steals in a game

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sacramento Mayor's Office
• Official Kevin Johnson for Mayor Website
• Interview with Kevin Johnson on PMAKid.com

NBA[link]

• Official NBA stats
• NBA.com Historical Player Info
• Phoenix Suns Legends
• Kevin Johnson at Basketball-Reference.com