Sacramento, the city itself, is a bit of an oddity. The folks in and around the area take great pride in many seemingly small things. Sutter’s Fort was the start of the gold rush and every fourth grader must visit. Apple Hill is quite literally the greatest autumn experience one can have in the months of September and October. They’ll laugh at anyone who guesses San Francisco or Los Angeles as the capital of the state, and it is sacrilegious to talk about Sacramento in the same breath as the Bay Area. Add in the Railroad Museum, the weirdness that is the Old Sacramento Waterfront, Gunther’s vs Leatherby’s, and the pile of suitcases at the airport, and the small-town vibes pour out in a relatively large city. Sacramento enjoys celebrating itself in a very non-LA way.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the Sacramento Kings and their fans celebrate quite literally every single win, and every win is savored. Putting it into a non-Sacramento perspective, no other NBA team celebrates a regular season victory, and they certainly don’t shine an ultra-bright beam that can viewed from miles away to show the world. Why would they? Over the last 17 years, other teams have won plenty of regular season games, as well as some playoff battles. The concept of a nightly defensive player of the game would come across as lame and insincere to most other franchises. A regular season win is nothing exciting and nothing to celebrate for most.
And yet, even after making the playoffs last season, last night’s pummeling of the Utah Jazz felt no different than last season’s victories. Why, after a 48-win season, posting the third-best record in the Western Conference, winning the Pacific Division, and taking the Golden State Warriors to seven games in the playoffs, did a single regular season victory feel so validating?
Some of those feelings likely stem from the civic pride in the city itself. People in Sacramento are proud to be from the city and will let everyone know it. And for the first time in a couple of generations, the region’s one nationally recognized product, the Sacramento Kings, is worthy of that pride.
Another, more influential aspect, probably comes from the flood of offseason doubt heard from most NBA talking heads. The Kings were too healthy last season, their approach surprised everyone, they shot better than expected, Keegan Murray was more ready than people thought, a new coach always has that influence, Monte McNair didn’t make any major upgrades to the roster, the West had a down year with injuries, and so on and so forth. Kevin O’Connor already thinks the Kings need to upgrade over Domantas Sabonis. Hell, some pundits had the Kings missing the playoffs entirely and the Utah Jazz as one of the teams supplanting them in the Western Conference. After years of justifiable doubt and mockery directed toward the Sacramento Kings, the messages were similar after last season, despite the aforementioned 48 beam-certified wins. Very few national folks have yet to believe in the Kings.
But beyond those external influences, perhaps the greatest need for validation is internal for most fans. Many, myself included, spent the entirety of last season waiting for the other shoe to drop. The scars of seventeen years of misery and disappointment and bad players and bad coaches and bad management and bad ownership don’t exactly fade after 20 or 30 fun games. Even this past offseason, with the lack of roster bombshells and some struggles in the preseason, left the door open for another Charlie Brown football moment for this organization and this fan base.
And hell, all of those things could come to pass. The Kings could collapse, the locker room could fall apart, De’Aaron Fox could regress, injuries could happen, and the bench may be shallower than everyone believes. But those tragedies seem less and less likely to happen as the days pass and as the Sacramento Kings continue to prove themselves as a legitimate NBA product. The visions of the other shoe dropping continue to fade for most fans.
Yes, last night was just one regular season win, and the city of Sacramento will celebrate it as such – with beams and chains and GIFs and chanting and anything else our heart desires, because the simple joy of winning a basketball game certainly hasn’t lost its luster in Sacramento.
The State Capital thing is real for sure. I got in a rather hilarious disagreement with a woman at a bar in Minneapolis who ASSURED me the capital of Cali could not be Sacramento.
“There’s no way. It HAS to be SF or LA or even SD.”
“I totally get you, but it’s not.” 🤠
You should have told her that the Capital of California is C.
Do you even Farm to Fork lady? Pssh
Reminds me in Lady Bird when a guy asks the main character “where are you from?”
She says “Sacramento.”
“Where?”
“San Francisco.”
“Oh, okay!”
Yup. Greta knows. Unfortunately I feel like LA is slowly stealing her from us!
She’s also a New York City resident now. She and her partner were at a Knicks playoff game this past playoffs, and Greg made a joke on Twitter “Greta is at a Knicks playoff game but not a Kings playoff game??”
NOOOOOOOO Greta!
Good on Greg for calling her out! Hasan Minhaj is the realest Kings fan in Hollywood fo sho.
Us Kings fans shooting our beams over the bow of the Warriors in the Bay Area. We are gunning for them.
Celebrate every win? I’m not there yet. I’m still celebrating every good play.
Enhance… enhance… enhance…
Did you know Malik means “Sick Ass Poster Dunk” in Arabic?
I did not know that…….how fascinating. When you look History straight in the mouth you can’t help but notice that almost every great thing originated from Egypt.
Almost. Jason Williams is from Belle, West Virginia.
I remember when the Stockton/Malone Jazz were so much fun, they seemingly had fans pop up all over the country, as they were on tv every weekend. This Kings team is so much fun, maybe that can happen here.
On a more serious note….
“Sacramento; close to SF and Tahoe, but it’s too much of a pain-in-the-ass to go there.”
You left out our greatest amenity, the American River Parkway, but I’m showing my extreme bias because I seem to spend half of my life out there burning calories due to my cake problem.
Man,
I’ve heard the Stockton/Malone Jazz called a lot of things: systematic, tough, workmanlike, reliable, bruising — but “fun” is one I don’t think I ever heard.
My go-to was
“The best thing about growing up in Sacramento is that it’s right in the middle of everything. The worst thing is that it’s right in the middle of everything”
Good read, Tim, thank you.
Every win should be celebrated, even if not like winning a championship. It’s important to take joy where you can find it.
Don’t get me started on Kevin O’Vereatersanonymous.
Who guards Curry during the first minutes of the 1st and 3rd quarter?
Beautifully written Tim. With each passing year I appreciate every W even more, and now I look forward to the beam just as much. The respect from the rest of the world will take a few more beams, but if we light up the sky enough, that too will come.
Last year was a fantasy season in many ways – the team kept winning, and then they won some more. They were going to falter when the New Year begins – they won more and they had not one but two All-Stars.
They were going to collapse after the All-Star break. They won more. The Suns were going to overtake them. Or the Warriors. Or the Clippers. The Kings won the Pacific Division and secured the 3rd seed (almost 2nd – credit to the Ja-less Griz for persevering).
Coach of the Year – Unanimous! Executive of the Year – Wow! Two on the All-NBA squad. Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year. Record for most 3’s made by a rookie. Amazing!
Who are these guys? Not any Sacramento Kings team in recent memory.
As for the Sacramento being the Kings of Slights – the team has had one good- actually, one very good regular season. But it is one season. With a first round playoff exit.
I can’t fault the national fan or the national pundit media if they shrug and say “let’s see”. On the other hand. 22 National TV games. Up from a begrudging one (they had to, after all). Their eyes are open. They are asking to see more. Sacramento shouldn’t expect to replace the attraction of Los Angeles Lakers, or Golden State Warriors or Boston Celtics or even the New York Knicks – it is TV money that fuels the national engine. Gotta stay realistic.
The respect for the Sacramento Kings is building, and when it arrives, well earned and ready to rest on the laurels of consistent winning – it will taste even sweeter.
LIGHT THE BEAM!
Yeah the 1 to 22 National games is hilarious and awesome at the same time. Even Charles Barkley last year was calling for us more and that was after ONE primetime game.
Love the write up.
Sacramento proud down in Phoenix!
Look at all those witnesses to a murder!
I gotta give credit to Dunn. A lot of guys would have just let Fox run to the hoop after getting picked, but he went after Fox, and then pivoted to challenge Monk.
Not really clear on why he was permitted to shove Monk afterwards. Refs must have thought that it was Fox that got shoved.
The refs were too dumbfounded by the savageness of the slam that they couldn’t remember where they put their noise makers.
Monk, bless his heart, put his face into Dunn’s and taunted him a bit. Dunn was within his rights to push him back a bit. The refs swallowed the whistle rather than dish out a double tech.
Badge Legend