A few weeks after Deadspin reported detailed allegations that then-Suns PG Kevin Johnson had molested and paid off a Phoenix teenager nearly two decades ago, Johnson announced Wednesday he’d not be running for a 3rd term as Mayor of Sacramento, CA. From the Sacramento Bee’s Ryan Lillis :
The mayor said he “leaves this job humbled by the opportunity that this community has given me.”
Johnson said resurfaced allegations of sexual misconduct against him had nothing to do with this decision, saying he has “never made a life decision” based on those allegations.
“When it was time to run in the first place (in 2008), I would have never run if those allegations were something that concerned me,” he said.
He said he took a “pilgrimage” to Phoenix on Sunday by himself and spent the day Monday praying and walking around the city where he was an NBA star.
“I got the clarity I needed,” he said.
In another account of today’s press conference, Johnson seems to suggest he’s somehow a victim of teachers union harassment, while an associate tells the New York Times’ Adam Nagourney, “This is Sacramento. We have drunk legislators being arrested all the time. People are like, ‘Whatever.’”