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The Sacramento Kings fanbase is one of the most tortured (sports) bunch there is; for the greater part of 17 years, the Kings have blown opportunities to draft blue-chip prospects atop the draft, mismanaged a few assets, and generally operated as arguably the most incompetent franchise in the NBA. However, thanks to the All-Star duo of Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox, the Kings are on track to break the postseason drought – and break it in style.
As a result of the floundering Memphis Grizzlies' loss to the surging Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, the Kings have now overtaken them as the current number two seed in the Western Conference standings. Both teams now have a 38-26 record, although the Kings own the tiebreaker by virtue of having the better conference record. (Sacramento owns a 26-14 record against the West, compared to 20-19 for the Grizzlies despite Ja Morant's assertions that he's fine on that side of the map.)
Therefore, the Kings managed to achieve something that the franchise has not done in around 19 years and 11 months – to sit at second place in the Western Conference. Per Jake Shapiro of Denver Sports, it was on April 12, 2004 when the Kings last sat in this position. During that time, the likes of Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic, and (now assistant coach with Sacramento) Doug Christie were still the ones leading the way.
The Nuggets have led the west since Dec 20, are now trailed by the Kings. The Grizzlies had been No. 2 since Jan. 1.
The last time Sacramento was No. 2 in the west at ANY point in a season even for just A DAY was Apr 12, 2004. They lost to the Nuggets, here's the box score. pic.twitter.com/PqZpVwfxf4
— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) March 8, 2023
It's amazing that in what's shaping up to be the Kings' first postseason berth since 2006, they won't only squeak into the postseason party by the skin of their teeth. They are on track do so in convincing fashion, managing to separate themselves from a stacked West playoff picture that boasts the likes of Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, and Kawhi Leonard.
There is plenty of credit to go along; general manager Monte McNair made some shrewd offseason acquisitions, drafting Keegan Murray, signing Malik Monk, and trading for Kevin Huerter. They also decided to hire veteran head coach Mike Brown, a coach who has instilled a winning culture for the beloved Beam Team. Kings fans will now be hoping that this iteration of the team will go even further in the postseason than that 2004 team did. (The 2004 squad lost in the second round.)
