Which NBA Players Were Born In The Sacramento Area?

While California has been the state that has produced more NBA players than any other, Sacramento has not exactly been a hotbed for talent. Most of the guys who make it to the league from the West Coast are from the Greater Los Angeles area, and Oakland produces a high number of players per capita.

Of the 10 NBA players who were born in Sacramento, only one has been an All-Star. Three of them  played just one season, and five of them retired before 1986. So in our quest to list the best players who were born in the area, we had to reach out to a few outlying cities and claim as Sacramento’s own.

For this list, we focused simply on players that were born in Sacramento, not guys who grew up or went to high school in the area. Sorry, Matt Barnes. Judging by our first entry, it may seem like we put them in order from best to worst. Instead, we’ve listed the players by the number of miles between Golden 1 Center and the towns they were born in.

We tried to keep it as close to Sacramento as possible, so we didn’t dip in to places like Merced (Ray Allen, Bruce Bowen) or reach in to anywhere that might be considered the Bay Area.

Kevin Johnson: 0 miles – Sacramento – 17.9 ppg

The most obvious and famous Sacramento baby is Kevin Johnson. Not only was he born in the city, but he attended Sacramento High School just outside of downtown and played at UC Berkeley during his collegiate career.

Johnson averaged nearly 18 points in his 12 years in the NBA, and was also a three time All-Star. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team three times, and was named the league’s most improved player in 1989. His number seven is retired by the Phoenix Suns.

Though he never played for the Kings, Johnson went on to become the face of Sacramento when he was elected mayor in 2008.

Bill Cartwright: 36 miles – Lodi – 13.2 ppg

Bill Cartwright is arguably an even more decorated player than Johnson, at least when it comes to winning. He started off his career in 1980 by making the All-Rookie First Team and securing what would be his only All-Star appearance. He bookended things by winning three NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls during their first three-peat.

Cartwright later became an assistant coach for the Bulls, and added three more rings to his collection during the second trifecta of championships.

Scott Brooks: 32 miles – French Camp – 4.9 ppg

French Camp is a small, unincorporated community on the southern outskirts of Stockton, California. It boasts a total population of roughly 3,300 and has just 3.1 square miles of land. But it is the birthplace of Scott Brooks, who is more well known for his post-playing career than his days on the court.

He played part of his collegiate career at San Juaquin Delta College in Stockton before averaging 4.9 points per game in his 10 NBA seasons. He would go to become an assistant coach in the NBA, including a one-year stint with the Kings. He became the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, and has been at the helm of the Washington Wizards since 2016.

Isaac “Ike” Austin: 57 miles – Gridley – 7.9 ppg

Gridley is another small town in Central Northern California, about 17 miles north of Yuba City. Isaac Austin was born there, and he went on to play eleven years of pro ball, nine of them in the NBA. He was drafted by the Jazz, but never played more than one year for any one team after his two year stint in Utah.

Austin averaged a respectable 7.9 points in his career, including a season in which he averaged 13.5 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Heat and Clippers. The season before, he won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.