Kris Johnson

Kristaan Iman Johnson (born July 18, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, winning an NCAA championship his freshman year in 1995. Johnson played eight years professionally in multiple countries, winning the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Champions Cup in 2002 and being named the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP). He later worked as a basketball analyst for Fox Sports before starting his own sports website, JerseyChaser.com. Johnson played high school basketball for Crenshaw High School, where he was named Los Angeles City Section Player of the Year and won two consecutive California state basketball championships. He and his father, Marques—who played basketball professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college under legendary coach John Wooden at UCLA—are one of the few father–son combinations to either each be named Los Angeles City Section Player of the Year or to have both won an NCAA basketball championship. Early life Johnson was born in Los Angeles on July 18, 1975, to former NBA player Marques Johnson and health and beauty practitioner Sabrina Sheran. He changed schools often due to his father's changing locations during his professional basketball career. He estimated he attended 27 schools. In 1987, Johnson was instructed to watch his 15-month-old brother, Marques Jr., when his little brother later accidentally drowned in the pool of the family's home in Bel Air in Los Angeles. Johnson contemplated suicide. His parents decided to move Johnson to Atlanta with his mother to ease the pain. He ended up in juvenile court after a school incident and was later kicked out of the Clayton County school system. After repeated conflicts with his mother, Johnson returned to Los Angeles, and he did not speak to his mother for three years. Johnson gained weight and was taunted by kids. He played two years at Montclair Prep, where he lost between his freshman and sophomore years. He transferred his junior year from the private school of mostly whites to Crenshaw High School, a predominantly black public school. His father had told him that his best chance of playing for a big Division I college like UCLA was to attend a school like Crenshaw, where Marques had starred.