James Johnson doesn't exactly miss Sacramento, but he says that is because of how poorly he played in his stint with the Kings.
James Johnson's time in Sacramento wasn't exactly memorable aside from his game-winning shot against the New York Knicks.
Averaging the fewest minutes per game of his career (16.3) during the 2012-13 season, the forward never found his rhythm or a role with the Kings, and that bothered him. Prior to the Toronto Raptors' matchup against the Kings on Tuesday, Josh Lewenberg, Toronto Raptors beat reporter for The Sports Network, reported that Johnson has tried to forget about his time in Sacramento.
James Johnson does not look back fondly on his brief time in Sacramento. "I try to forget about it The old James Johnson dont exist no more"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) December 2, 2014James Johnson: "The only thing that Sacramento has that has anything to do with me or that holds any value to me is my son was born here"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) December 2, 2014Kings fans booed him throughout the game on Tuesday. After the Raptors defeated the Kings 117-109, Sactown Royalty caught up with Johnson. He said the comments were mainly about himself and his immaturity while he was in Sacramento, not about the city.
"I just think it was tough for me to play here, and I don't put all the onus on Sacramento either, it had a lot to do with myself being immature," said Johnson, who scored 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds Tuesday. "I was playing bad, I had a bad year that year, I own up to it. I did what I had to do to get back. I had my son here, like I said, that was a plus that came out of Sacramento, and out of everything else it was just my own play and how I took every game."
Johnson averaged 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in his 54 games with the Kings. He is currently averaging 7.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists for the Raptors.
One incident in particular happened during Johnson's stint in Sacramento that hasn't sat well with Kings fans: He apparently wore a Seattle Supersonics hat in the Kings locker room shortly after it was announced that the team could possibly move there.
So what was the deal? Well, he says it was strictly fashion.
"Matched my shoes, it had nothing to do with that. Anybody can wear a Bulls hat, anybody can wear an Oakland hat or whatever hat to match their outfit, but I had on a Seattle hat, it matched my shoes. I wasn't thinking. Like I said, immature stuff that no longer exists in my game or my behavior," Johnson said. "I could care less about where the Sacramento Kings are … They're playing well, they have a good franchise, the new owner, new everything, so I'm happy for Sacramento and I don't have no grudges against Sacramento or nothing in that manner."
It was certainly terrible timing for the green on green in Sacramento considering the city was fighting tooth and nail to keep its team at the time.
The Kings play the Raptors again in Toronto on Jan. 28.