Sacramento Kings fans have stuck with the team through years of less-than-stellar basketball, ownership changes and arena drama.
But now, they have something to cheer for: This past weekend, the Kings played in their first NBA playoffs game in 16 years — and won — against NorCal rivals and defending champions, the Golden State Warriors. The game was held at the Golden 1 Center and fans finally got to feel the excitement of post-season basketball in Sacramento again.
“When you're able to share a moment like this with everybody in your city, it literally means everything,” Kings fan Zach Hurd, 21, told CapRadio at a watch party Saturday night. “It's a dream come true just to see my team be in the playoffs because it's literally been my whole entire lifetime.”
The teams will face off again in game two of the seven-game series on Monday night in Sacramento at 7 p.m. Fans are invited to a free watch party outside the Golden 1 Center, dubbed “Section 916,” on L Street between 5th and 6th streets. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
CapRadio’s Vicki Gonzalez spoke with Kings TV color analyst Kayte Christensen and Kings public address announcer Scott Moak about what this season means for the fans, the city and their journey with the team through thick and thin.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
On the emotion fans are feeling from the Kings making the playoffs
Christensen: [The emotion] comes from 16 seasons of a lot of ups and downs, and just feeling how badly the city wants to rally behind this team to see their success, to be a part of it, to feel [like] a part of their success.
And I think that's something that the Kings organization does so incredibly well. They embrace this community, the fan base — it's inclusive. And I think that it was kind of like finally for this city, finally for this fan base, they get to enjoy some well-deserved happiness and something to be proud of.
Moak: There was a lot of pent-up emotion and energy and sadness and nervousness — all of it wound into [the] Kings fan collective … Over the course of the season, I felt like people weren't fully committed to embracing that this was a playoff team.
It was like everyone was still super nervous. We're Kings fans. We've been here before … it was like the ultimate waiting for the shoe-to-drop moment for all of us collectively. … You'd see Kings fans, and they'd be like … "This is so great, but I'm still nervous,"… and it's wild because this team is good like they are really good.
Yet people still [had] this apprehension … [until that] finish line was crossed, in terms of getting to the playoffs, and it was just that, "Oh my gosh, I can celebrate this."
On what caused a turn-around in the team and franchise
Christensen: I think the interesting thing is everyone wants to point to this year [as the cause for the change,] but I think it was a couple of years ago. I think the hiring of Monte McNair — who I think hands down, deserves to be executive of the year in the NBA — He came into a really volatile situation where there'd been a ton of turnover — from the head coach and the coaching staff [to] the front office staff — and his job was to stabilize.
[This] was also during the pandemic, so there were some other things added in that made it more difficult to do his job. But the difference between him and past front office executives, general managers, and so on and so forth was that his approach to it was very patient and methodical. He didn't feel the pressure of needing to make massive moves. He started making small collective moves that have really paid off this season and last season.
On what defines a Sacramento Kings fan
Moak: I would say relentless and forgiving to a fault. Probably more patient than anything you could ever imagine.
I mean, there's few fans that could go through that many years of playoff drought and still be with it … [but] when the team struggled, and the wins were hard to come by, fans still kept coming.
You would see 15, 16,000 people showing up to these games when the Kings were on their seventh win and ninth win halfway through the season. Then you take a look at some other games on the road against winning teams, and these arenas are packed.
Like what is happening here in Sacramento that we have this love affair with this team that has, for many years, kind of let us down? It doesn't matter; we're still in it.
… I know the [Sacramento] soccer team uses [the word] "indomitable" [to describe their team]. I think that's a word that really characterizes this fan base extremely well and for sure, this team this season. It's been a wild ride for sure these 21 years. I'm so happy for fans.
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