The Sacramento Kings made a major addition to their roster this week with the signing of Russell Westbrook. Westbrook’s addition was met with mixed reviews from fans and media alike, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out on the court. But in any case, Westbrook immediately endeared himself to Kings fans with a post on social media harkening back to the team’s most recent successful season.
The Kings took the NBA by storm in 2022-23 when they made the playoffs as the No. 3 overall seed in the Western Conference, snapping a 17-year drought of missing the postseason. During that year, the Kings adopted a slogan after every win in, ‘light the beam.’ The Kings would shoot a purple light out from the arena after a win. Westbrook took to social media this week with a ‘light the beam’ reply to the Kings’ official account welcoming him to the team.
With Westbrook in the fold, the Kings are looking to snap two consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs. They have not been able to build off the momentum of the 2022-23 season, and Mike Brown was fired as head coach last December. The Kings eventually promoted interim coach Doug Christie once the 2024-25 season had ended.
Westbrook will be entering his 18th season in the NBA. He played for the Denver Nuggets last year, appearing in 75 games, including 32 starts, at a little over 27 minutes per game. He averaged 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.4 steals with splits of 44.9 percent shooting from the field, 32.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 66.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
During the Nuggets’ playoff run, Westbrook averaged 11.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists with splits of 39.1 percent shooting from the field, 31.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 70 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Whenever it’s all said and done, Westbrook has had a Hall of Fame worthy career. He is one of only three players, the other two being Oscar Robertson and Nikola Jokic, who have averaged a triple double for an entire season.
