How did you become a Kings fan?

[Mitch Richmond]

Born and raised in Sacto, and have lived in both Sacto and the Bay Area ever since. I was also born and raised a 49er fan. When the A's came to Oakland, I became an A's fan, but when the designated hitter rule came to the American League, I switched to the Giants.

Never was a Warriors fan for some reason.

When the Kings came to Sacto, I became a fan by default. I'm basically a geographical fan, but I've never moved to someplace else so I don't know what that would be like. I'd probably keep my hometown loyalties just because the've been a part of me for so long. If the Kings moved, or the 49ers or Giants, I'd probably follow for a short time and then just let them go. The hometown pride thing is a big part of it for me.

Because I always hated the Rams (in LA) and the Dodgers, it came naturally to hate the Lakers every bit as much. It's a "NorCal finds SoCal disgusting" thing I grew up with.

I didn't follow the Kings all that closely early on because I lived in the Bay Area and there was just too much else going on in my life. However, when Webber came and we started something special, I had to be a part of it and bought season tickets. My daughter and I went to every home game, and even to a few away games.

Despite the end of that era, I can't get the Kings out of my system. Even with last years horrific record, the lowest of the low, I still watched every game.

Now, the hope starts anew.

Sounds like we have pretty similar stories man. At least on the whole Bay Area thing.

I grew up a die hard Kings fan. My dad purchased season tickets when I was 5 years old and me and him went to EVERY home game for 7 years in a row, until I was 12. Unfortunately, my dad lost his job the year of the lockout season, and we had to move to the bay area (San Jose) because that is where my dad's new employer was.

Obviously, after the lockout season is when we really started to get good. It was bittersweet that the year my family moved and we gave up our season tickets is the year they got good, but I was estatic to see my beloved Kings in the national spotlight and being a real powerhouse in the NBA. My dad and still made the trip to Sac for roughly 5-7 games a year throughout my high school years, and we would always go to the Kings vs Warriors games in Oakland.

I attended college in Pittsburgh, PA and still live out here now. My ONE condition upon moving out here was that I HAD to order NBA league pass to be able to watch every game. Although the start times are late (usually 10 or 1030pm) I still stay up and watch every game. In fact, the only games that I have missed in the last 6 years, I have been able to re-watch on my DVR.

I love everything about this franchise. I will die with a Mitch Richmond (my childhood hero) trading card in my casket. GO KINGS!!!

 

[dvirc218]

I lived in the USA for six years when I was young and my Dad was a fan of the kings so he took me to some games and then I became a Kings Fan! Still am!

 

[dbfish]

Grew up in the bay area. I followed the Warriors because first and formost I am a basketball fan. I remember Wilt, Rick Barry, Nate Thurmond. I moved to the foothills in the 70's so when the Kings moved here it was a no brainer to root for the local team. Since I was a Laker hater already it made it that much easier to root for the Kings although it was kind of strange that they didn't play in the Pacific division for a couple of years.

 

[Castasic]

Ive been a kings fan ever since I can remember. Ive been watching games with my dad all my life and i started going to games when i was like seven. I have never been a fan of any other team.

 

[est.1999]

I saw Jason Williams on inside stuff in '99 and I was hooked. Hence my username, est.1999

 

[pdxKingsFan]

It was bittersweet that the year my family moved and we gave up our season tickets is the year they got good, but I was estatic to see my beloved Kings in the national spotlight and being a real powerhouse in the NBA.

I feel ya. My mom gave up her share of season tickets at the same time. She was in denial all through the glory years that they were any good as a result.

 

[Reem]

divac', webber, jason williams etc... I was 11-12 years old or something like that... in those days in Israel we use to watch NBA Action, and Jason Williams was nearly always in the top 10 moves
because of the time differences and the fact that in those days we had only one sport channel (on the everyday normal guy cables) we rarly watched full NBA games, and if we watched like 2 times a week it could have been any team so we rarly watched full games of the Kings, but as a kid I tried to mimic every fake and pass by J.will so now when Omri is there it's kind of closing a circle for me..

 

[Warhawk]

We had this thread before, I think.

Basically watched the NBA on occasion before 1985 and somewhat followed various teams (including Lakers, Chicago, and Celtics, mostly because the playoffs were fun to watch) but never was too "attached" to any of them. When the Kings moved to town, they were immediately the default hometown favorites and I have been a Kings fan ever since. Didn't have much $$$ or abiltiy to go see them at the time so I wasn't able to follow them well (went to a few games and read the Sacramento Bee articles, etc.); moved away for college and my first "real" job between 1996 and 1998. Following them was difficult logistically then and I didn't have much time with everything else going on. Moved back into the Sacramento area in 1998 and been able to go to games and such much more often. Of course that was fortunate timing on my part, but I was a fan since the day they moved to Sacramento.

 

[RaY Z]

Mitch Richmond... Starting in the 1994-1995 season, when he won the NBA All-Star Game MVP.

Plus my cousin in Seattle is a huge kings fan and in 1996, he took me to Game 2 of the First round of the 1996 playoffs against the Sonics. The kings actually won the GAME!! , and Mitch richmond was on FIRE!!!!

That pretty much made me fall further in love with the kings, and its been all downhill since.

Edit: It was actually this game!

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199604280SEA.html

 

[Big Cuz 15]

was a fan of penny hardaway way back. watched a few kings games here and there when brian grant was in town. i stopped watching it until my brother asked if i seen any kings games back in 99. i watched a few w/ jwill and it was over. i was hooked since.

 

[drboiffard]

J-Will and his elbow pass.

It was White Chocolate then. It's Spanish Chocolate now.

 

[Burrito06]

I've been a Kings Fan since I was about 5 years old. I'm 25 now and am proud to say that I have seen many of the greats in their Rookie Years. Shaq when he was with Orlando, A.I. in his first year in Philly, even Divac when he was with the Lakers. I remember Yogi and Duane "Hands of Stone" Causwell. I loved Spud Webb and my favorite player back then was Mitch "The Rock" Richmond. I guess you can say I've been a lifelong Kings Fan.

 

[Burrito06]

At least for me, I enjoy talking to the other die-hards who were around before the glory years about our terrible teams, the packed houses at arco, and the RISE to glory.

It's fun for me to reminisce/comiserate on the times of Olden Polyneice, Causwell, Billy Owens, Hurley, Tyus Edny, Walt Williams, Mitch, Michael "The Animal" Smith, Brian Grant, Tisdale, Spud, The L-Train, Sarunas Marculonas (spelling? haha), etc. Although they were all pretty awful, I still loved those teams. And I'm only 22.

Hell, I rememeber tellnig my parents I was "going to sleep" when I was 8 years old on school nights and listening to Napier call the games on my old walkman radio in my bed. I would listen to Sportsline when it was just Grant and "Wheels After Work" with Brian Wheeler (was that his name?). Also, let's not forget about the Sports Dudes!

I used to have the Tyus Edney height measuring poster hanging in my room. The one that Bel-Air used to give away.

 

[SacKings7]

When I was younger I used to have a favorite player and just used to go for the team that that player played on. I was a huge Glen Rice fan when he was on Charlotte, and then he got traded to the Lakers in 1999 . I started watching the Kings a year before that happened, which was 1998...the year we drafted Williams, signed Divac and traded for Webber. That team was just so fun to watch, and I knew they'd be something special. So while I technically still rooted for Charlotte over the Kings for 1 year, I'm a fan since 1998. I guess I just missed out on the rough years

 

[origkds]

I lived in Jackson, CA from 1980 to 2000. Moved to the Central Coast but I still have a warm spot in my heart for Sacramento. Was mildly interested in the Kings from the beginning but really became an avid fan from the early Richmond years onward.

 

[ParniValjak]

I started following the Kings in the Spud Webb era (1994) because of Spud Webb. I could never understand how someone so tiny could jump that high

But all my christmases had come at once when one of my favourite countrymen Vlade Divac singed with the Kings. I have followed Vlade his entire career but when he came to the Kings it was a case of my favourite player coming to the team that I followed. My love for the Kings reached its peak during the Valde's stay in Sacramento.

 

[AriesMar27]

When the team moved here, LaSalle Thompson bought his house two doors down from my house. I was hooked. A real life pro ball player lived in my hood! I was only 7 but I still understood. And he was hella cool too, got some passes for us to go in the tunnel after games to meet players (Kareem, Magic, Jordan, Barkley, Terry Cummigs.....), he had Kings players over at his house from time to time. Pressley bought the house after Tank was traded. I liked the Lakers but the Kings were my team. I lost respect for the Lakers when they got Van Exel. Fromt thbat point on it was nothing but Kings.

i knew hella would catch on again.... lol... i remember when i was a 6 i met magic johnson, i walked up and asked him if he was a better player than everyone else and he said, yeah... it blew my mind. he was cool as hell and he just knew that he was better than everyone else.

i never hated the lakers, never will but i was never a fan of phil jackson. when he left and rudy t was coach i actually liked them, then phil came back and i dont like them again. i always like shaq, fisher, fox, horry, shaw... they were good players. ive met fisher a few times, he's hella cool, looks like a body builder in person, dude is big.

i became a kings fan the minute that jason williams was drafted. between jwill, webber and divac(who is my 2nd favorite laker of all-time) i was set for life as a kings fan...

 

[Kingsguy881]

i knew hella would catch on again.... lol... i remember when i was a 6 i met magic johnson, i walked up and asked him if he was a better player than everyone else and he said, yeah... it blew my mind. he was cool as hell and he just knew that he was better than everyone else.

i never hated the lakers, never will but i was never a fan of phil jackson. when he left and rudy t was coach i actually liked them, then phil came back and i dont like them again. i always like shaq, fisher, fox, horry, shaw... they were good players. ive met fisher a few times, he's hella cool, looks like a body builder in person, dude is big.

i became a kings fan the minute that jason williams was drafted. between jwill, webber and divac(who is my 2nd favorite laker of all-time) i was set for life as a kings fan...

Michael Cooper was the coolest guy from that squad, if memory serves me correctly. Magic was the most impressive, he was just a really happy fun guy. There really wasn't any way to hate those guys, they were lovable and fun to watch. once Magic announced his retirement, my laker love retired with him. Never could come back during his comeback, either.

 

[AriesMar27]

Michael Cooper was the coolest guy from that squad, if memory serves me correctly. Magic was the most impressive, he was just a really happy fun guy. There really wasn't any way to hate those guys, they were lovable and fun to watch. once Magic announced his retirement, my laker love retired with him. Never could come back during his comeback, either.

cooper is cool people, he jokes around and is really approachable. you can just walk right up to him and start talking to him. ive done it before. i was like, n***a you are tall as hell, he turned around and it was cooper. he smiled and was like, yeah, im pretty tall. i finished smoking my black and mild and walked away....

magic was dope though, he was like, im really, really good... i tripped out, i had never seen anyone that bold before. i couldnt fathom a player today besides kobe or lebron who could just say that they are better than everyone and mean it. magic meant it, it was funny as hell.

 

[Larry89]

 

[juicij36]

The YR was 1999 or 2000.
& my beloved Orlando Magic (Penny, Shaq, J.T., Nick Anderson, 3-D, etc.) were dead and gone had been for a while.
Basketball had become just a "playing" sport for me on the WKends; not so much TV @ that time.

A friend of mine was a die-hard Laker/Kobe fan & said to me on campus 1 day, "L.A. will be the Champions within the next 2 seasons."
I disagreed, mostly in jealousy because he had a team to love & I didn't.
So, I placed a bet (I forget how much) that L.A. wouldn't win a Championship within the next 2 seasons. I pulled for every team L.A. played in each round just so I could win the bet & prove my friend wrong.

Well, then came the WCF (POR vs. L.A. game 7) and what do ya' know, L.A. went on to win it all & my friend had bragging rights, & didn't hold back.
Eventually 2001-2002 came & L.A. advanced to the WCF. No different than any other round, I was pulling against L.A. as ussual. AND THAT'S WHEN IT HAPPENED...

I was watching this team called the Kings play L.A. and I literally fell in love with the passes, cuts, 3-point shooting, tempo of the offense. I had never watched a Kings game before that series. Of course I knew who Webber and Bibby (AZ) were, & a few others on the team, but that's about it.

They style of play, the excitement brought basketball BACK FOR ME. I never missed a Magic game back in the day. Never. And yes I was a Laker fan as a little kid (Magic, Worthy, Cooper, etc.), so watching that series had my eyes WIDE open to this new phenominon of basketball. Each game was SO important, so much talk in between games during that series. The competition level was ridiculous. The fans. Everything.
I hadn't watched basketball like that in YRS.

That's how I fell in love w/SAC. It wasn't just the offense tho, it was the players (Christie, Webber, Bibby, Divac, etc.). I found my self @ work longing for more basketball to watch; Kings basketball.

Later came 3 or 4 Webber/Bibby jerseys in multiple colors, League Pass, Kings bed spread, pillows, shams, trash can, clock, mouse pad, banner, #1 Kings fan foam finger, framed posters, etc. (don't make me get my camera to prove it).

A little different for me now of course w/this Kings team, but there still my #1 team.
I still go to the games when they come to ORL decked out in Kings apparel.

 

[Kingsguy881]

cooper is cool people, he jokes around and is really approachable. you can just walk right up to him and start talking to him. ive done it before. i was like, n***a you are tall as hell, he turned around and it was cooper. he smiled and was like, yeah, im pretty tall. i finished smoking my black and mild and walked away....

magic was dope though, he was like, im really, really good... i tripped out, i had never seen anyone that bold before. i couldnt fathom a player today besides kobe or lebron who could just say that they are better than everyone and mean it. magic meant it, it was funny as hell.

Lol, black and meezy. The cream one's are the best, lol. I think I might get one of those on the way home, spark one up for my dawg TYREKE EVANS!!!!!

 

[Merdiesel]

I became a Kings fan around 1990-1991. I was 5 and we had recently moved from San Francisco to Vacaville. My dad took me to my first game around then and I have been in love with this team ever since. We had season tickets throughout most of the 90's, and rooted for some pretty bad teams. My first Kings jersey was a Bobby Hurley jersey.

 

[Merdiesel]

I have that framed. The sickest SI cover of all time.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Became an instant fan upon Kings arrival in Sacramento summer of 1985. Attending lots of games at the Arco old barn before "new one" was built a couple years later. Went to plenty of games through that 80's-90's period. Suffered all the losing but enjoyed unique atmosphere inside loud Arco and by 1998 encouraged by first signs of a rebuild with real hope.

One cool memory in that regard happened while sitting at Shott's Bar inside Hawaiian King Condo Hotel, Waikiki, ten years ago this month. Kings were on the sports bar screen and all the sudden people hanging out there (mix of locals and tourists) were commenting about Sacramento as an up and coming, very exciting team. Peja was on fire in that particular game with comments of WOW! Who is that guy? WOW! What a great home crowd, etc.

Been quite a ride as a loyal Kings fan and hopefully it will now continue straight through to an NBA CHAMPIONSHIP OR BUST!

 

[deekay2o9]

I became a Kings fan after watching the Kings Jazz series in 1999. I remember Jason Williams and his wild passes along with clutch threes. It was a wild series. It was the start of something special.

 

[Bibby10AZ]

the day mike bibby got traded to sac-town since then i just cant stop watchin them

 

[Emma]

I was at that same game. It was during the Bulls' 72 win season and I remember thinking you could see the difference in attitude toward the situation; Mitch was taking every minute of the game seriously fighting just to keep the Kings in the game for an improbable upset. The Bulls though were acting like the game itself was just a formality before they would be awarded their customary win, so they might as well have some fun while they waited for it to get over with.

I've hoped ever since that I could cheer for a Kings team that was that confident.

96 was actually a pretty decent year. That was the year we won 2 games against Seattle and Gary Payton in one of those 5 game first rounds right?

 

[Aenadin]

Grade school days Grade 2 and sooo.. I wasn't digging basketball much as i am now. I was so into the bulls... then . wait for the record will i be pelted and stoned for saying that I kind of was endeared to the WARRIORS...... after the bulls fascination.. fast forward it to HS i forgot basketball in the middle years.. 2nd yr I saw the playoffs Kings with their black unis.. im like Who are THOSE GUYS they look fun... Dad went Thats the mavs and thats the kings.... The Sacramento kings... The name itself struck me like... like wow kings! Loved and watched them since 2002 to present my friends are astonished like Ur still a king!? but they are struggling blah blah

got my heart crushed with that horry shot..

felt disappointed when webber went down,

thrilled when peja had that 24.2 ppg 6.3rpg 1.3 spg 4th mvp voting 2nd all nba team season

and frustrated when webb wasnt able to nail that 3pt shot against the twolves..

and yes not to mention the natts, the theuses and the koolaid muss serves.

kings fans are one of the most loyal, and probably intelligent fans i have known glad to be one and representing the purple!

 

[AriesMar27]

Lol, black and meezy. The cream one's are the best, lol. I think I might get one of those on the way home, spark one up for my dawg TYREKE EVANS!!!!!

This is hella off topic but cream is the best, wine is 2nd, then apple and everything else is whatever.... I like the wood tip ones too.

Back to the topic, the King's are cool. I made my little cousin a King's fan, her last name is Evans.