The Sacramento Kings Are The Team The NBA Needed

With just 17 games remaining, the Sacramento Kings are on the verge of ending their 16-season playoff drought and they have suddenly become one of the most likable franchises in the entire NBA.

“And with that win, the Sacramento Kings are going to the playoffs!”

When was the last time you heard this and saw the Sacramento Kings in the playoffs?

Well, the year was 2006. 

Nintendo had yet to release the Wii gaming console, iPhones did not exist yet, Stephen Curry was a freshman at Davidson and the Kings were led by Mike Bibby, Metta World Peace, a.k.a. Ron Artest, and Peja Stojakovic.

So much time has passed since the Kings were in the playoffs and while their fan base has been filled with despair over the years, a sense of joy and excitement has now rejuvenated everything that has to deal with the Sacramento Kings franchise, as these words seen above will almost definitely be shouted over broadcasts in Sacramento in the coming weeks.

Defeating the New York Knicks 122-117 on Thursday night, a nationally televised game on TNT, the Kings moved to 39-26 on the season, putting themselves one step closer to ending the 16-year playoff curse and almost securing their first 40-win season since that 2005-06 season.

They are currently tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for the 2-seed in the Western Conference and should the Kings wind up claiming the second-best record in the West, this would mark their highest playoff ranking since they were the top-seed in the conference during the 2001-02 season.

This franchise has made so many positive changes over the course of the last year and we should look no further than them hiring Mike Brown to become their head coach, as he is now the heavy front-runner for this season’s Coach of the Year award.

Coming over from the Golden State Warriors after their fourth championship in the last eight seasons, Brown brought a winning work ethic and most importantly a winning mentality with him to Sacramento. Instantly bonding with his young team and taking a page out of Warriors head coach Steve Kerr’s book and being more than just a “X’s and O’s” coach, Brown has helped turn the Sacramento Kings into a team nobody can root against.

From rock-bottom to being one of the best teams in the league this season, how could anyone possibly not applaud the success the Kings have had? Even if they are playing against your favorite team, it is still hard not to smile and cheer for this team!

Suddenly becoming “America’s Team” in the NBA, the Kings continue to captivate NBA fans worldwide and their passionate following continues to grow with each game.

“Kings fans are so passionate, so that's never changed. But the one difference I recognized is when I go to eat in Midtown and you just see a wall, a random wall somewhere and it has 'light the beam' on it,” Kings first-time All-Star guard De'Aaron Fox told Bleacher Report recently. “Or it's a picture of downtown with the beam coming out. That's when I really started to notice we're doing something special once you can literally walk anywhere and you just see a random beam on some random wall or on a random street.”

Fox has been instrumental in this organization's rise to success, as has All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis, who currently leads the league in double-doubles this season, recording a total of 53 double-doubles in 63 games. Sabonis has also recorded nine triple-doubles, two of which have come in the last two games, which ranks third in the league.

“All the guys come in and work hard,” Sabonis said in his postgame remarks following Thursday night’s victory over the Knicks. “They work hard on their game and my job is to get them open. We’ve been great all year at being consistent.”

Speaking of his teammates, De’Aaron Fox recorded 23 points in this win over New York with 15 of his 23 total points coming in the fourth quarter. This was Fox’s 23rd 10-point fourth quarter this season, tying Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo for the most in the league this season.

For years, the NBA has been dominated by a select few teams and it seemed like you needed to have a couple of superstar talents in order to compete for a championship.

Fox and Sabonis are both All-Star talents, but nobody really considers any member of the Kings’ roster a “superstar,” which is why they are such a likable team. They play the right way, nobody believed in them through the years and now with the spotlight being shined on them, they have not changed their attitudes whatsoever.

In fact, they have taken that spotlight and shined it out of their arena with the purple beam lighting up the sky coming out of the top of Golden 1 Center after every Kings’ victory this season!

.@SacramentoKings LIGHT THE BEAM ON TNT ‼️ pic.twitter.com/9fp6CHPZM9

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 10, 2023

The NBA needed a new “feel-good” story for fans to rally behind and they have that with this year’s Sacramento Kings. However, if you ask the Kings and the players, they don’t need anyone’s sympathy or fake applause.

They know what they are capable of doing and over the course of the 2022-23 NBA season, this group has continued to showcase that they have what it takes to make the playoffs and make some noise late in the year.

“This is much bigger than us,” Fox said in his postgame remarks. “I think people know about the Sacramento crowd, but obviously we play late games. People on the East Coast and Central time are usually asleep when we are playing. For them to be able to experience this on TNT tonight was huge for this fan base and for this organization. Once playoff time comes, obviously all arenas are loud, but I think this is just a special place to play.”

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