For die hard Kings fans, this season has been an unmitigated disaster. We went from breaking out as NBA darlings - a loyal and diehard fan base that saved the team and was rewarded with a great product - to worse than a joke. Personally, I started to doubt whether keeping the team was even worth it. I love the game of basketball, and the Kings were a big part of that love affair. It was painful to start feeling the doubt that maybe it was all for nothing, and that Sacramento would end up paying for an albatross of an arena to support a dysfunctional franchise that could do nothing but alienate the fan base.
Being from the Sacramento area and being a Kings fan is a strange experience. One of the most odd things about Kings fans is that they exist at all. Walk around Sacramento for a day and ask around about the Kings, and you will find a significant amount of indifference from people who forgot the Kings still exist, annoyance that the city paid for a shiny new arena for some spoiled millionaires,and condescension from born-and-bred locals who decided to adopt the Warriors or (*shudder*) Lakers as "their" team. Walk around San Francisco asking about the Giants, or talk about the Lakers in LA, and you're nearly certain to have a different experience - nearly everyone wants to rep the teams, even the most die-hard sports apathetics feel compelled to voice nominal interest in and support for those teams.
Of course, why this is might be a little complicated. The Sacramento Kings are a very young team, having been in town for less than 30 years. I would bet that 95% of season ticket holders are older than the team, and a good majority were full-grown adults when the team was born. Sports fandom has a lot to do with family, friends, and tradition, and it's understandable that long-standing Lakers or Warriors fans would hold to that fandom, and even pass it on to their children, despite the young upstart coming to town.
So there's something unique about being a Kings fan, and it represents something different to all of us. What is special to me is that the Kings represent where I am from, which no other team truly does. The vast region from the Central Valley to foothill towns and the Sierra Crest and Lake Tahoe is strong, independent, and full of people who take deep pride in their communities - with LA and the Bay Area taking the big stages of California, it's easy to try to jump away to where there you live next to famous movies stars, musicians, tech geniuses turned overnight billionaires, and landmarks known the world over. To me, the Kings represent a certain amount of pride and solidarity, something that makes being a Kings feel like something special.
The Demarcus quote I reference in the title of this post is a big part of why I love him. He is an all star who could get a massive contract from any team in the league, who could chase the path of international superstardom on a massive stage. I firmly believe that he'll get there no matter what - he's just that good - but his quote says that he's someone loyal, who takes pride in his personal past and history, and understands what it means to rep a small town or (in his case) a small state that's too often forgotten or, when discussed, seen as nothing more than a butt of jokes, with residents who try to flee at the first chance they get and adopt a new city while forgetting their roots. People move away from their home towns for a variety of different opportunities and reasons, but where you call home and where your heart is says a lot about someone.
I love the Karl hire for a similar reason - when he talks about his respect for Sacramento and the fanbase, you know where he's coming from. It's a genuine respect for who we are and what we do, born out of decades of traveling around to every city in the league, past and present.
Where we are now feels like something special. We have an all-time great coach and star player who are set to accomplish something truly special and historic, and it feels that much more exciting to know that they're guys who understand what it means to be from a place like Sacramento, who know our passion and love for this team and what it represents. We have the foundation for a truly great team - not this year, of course, but for the better part of the next decade, when we can come together on the Capitol Mall, not as die-hard fans of a maligned and dysfunctional small market franchise, nor as the little brother hard-luck team of California, but as fans of the Sacramento Kings, a team that truly belongs to us, and a team that will represent us well - with loyalty, respect, a beautiful new arena, and a squad that is going to lodge quite a few wins over the next couple of years. I'm excited to be proud of being a fan of the Kings, and even more excited to see what comes next.
Do you know where Sacramento is?
Being from the Sacramento area and being a Kings fan is a strange experience. One of the most odd things about Kings fans is that they exist at all. Walk around Sacramento for a day and ask around about the Kings, and you will find a significant amount of indifference from people who forgot the Kings still exist, annoyance that the city paid for a shiny new arena for some spoiled millionaires,and condescension from born-and-bred locals who decided to adopt the Warriors or (*shudder*) Lakers as "their" team. Walk around San Francisco asking about the Giants, or talk about the Lakers in LA, and you're nearly certain to have a different experience - nearly everyone wants to rep the teams, even the most die-hard sports apathetics feel compelled to voice nominal interest in and support for those teams.
Of course, why this is might be a little complicated. The Sacramento Kings are a very young team, having been in town for less than 30 years. I would bet that 95% of season ticket holders are older than the team, and a good majority were full-grown adults when the team was born. Sports fandom has a lot to do with family, friends, and tradition, and it's understandable that long-standing Lakers or Warriors fans would hold to that fandom, and even pass it on to their children, despite the young upstart coming to town.
So there's something unique about being a Kings fan, and it represents something different to all of us. What is special to me is that the Kings represent where I am from, which no other team truly does. The vast region from the Central Valley to foothill towns and the Sierra Crest and Lake Tahoe is strong, independent, and full of people who take deep pride in their communities - with LA and the Bay Area taking the big stages of California, it's easy to try to jump away to where there you live next to famous movies stars, musicians, tech geniuses turned overnight billionaires, and landmarks known the world over. To me, the Kings represent a certain amount of pride and solidarity, something that makes being a Kings feel like something special.
The Demarcus quote I reference in the title of this post is a big part of why I love him. He is an all star who could get a massive contract from any team in the league, who could chase the path of international superstardom on a massive stage. I firmly believe that he'll get there no matter what - he's just that good - but his quote says that he's someone loyal, who takes pride in his personal past and history, and understands what it means to rep a small town or (in his case) a small state that's too often forgotten or, when discussed, seen as nothing more than a butt of jokes, with residents who try to flee at the first chance they get and adopt a new city while forgetting their roots. People move away from their home towns for a variety of different opportunities and reasons, but where you call home and where your heart is says a lot about someone.
I love the Karl hire for a similar reason - when he talks about his respect for Sacramento and the fanbase, you know where he's coming from. It's a genuine respect for who we are and what we do, born out of decades of traveling around to every city in the league, past and present.
Where we are now feels like something special. We have an all-time great coach and star player who are set to accomplish something truly special and historic, and it feels that much more exciting to know that they're guys who understand what it means to be from a place like Sacramento, who know our passion and love for this team and what it represents. We have the foundation for a truly great team - not this year, of course, but for the better part of the next decade, when we can come together on the Capitol Mall, not as die-hard fans of a maligned and dysfunctional small market franchise, nor as the little brother hard-luck team of California, but as fans of the Sacramento Kings, a team that truly belongs to us, and a team that will represent us well - with loyalty, respect, a beautiful new arena, and a squad that is going to lodge quite a few wins over the next couple of years. I'm excited to be proud of being a fan of the Kings, and even more excited to see what comes next.
Do you know where Sacramento is?
