A Historic Night for the Sacramento Kings
They officially broke the longest playoff drought in NBA history and their first-round draft pick just broke the rookie three-point record
Where to start? So, the last time the Sacramento Kings were in the playoffs was after the 2005–2006 season. As a long-time hometown fan of the team, I’d never imagine that the Kings wouldn’t be back in long after that. The previous record for seasons without a playoff appearance had been set by the Los Angeles Clippers at 15 seasons.
There was no way the Kings would be that bad for that long, I thought after their last appearance so long ago. They always seemed to make good moves and had previously made the playoffs quite a bit. After all, who can recall how the refs admitted to cheating the Kings out of an NBA Finals appearance when they played the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in 2002?
They were one of the best teams for a stretch there. Then, somehow, the wheels fell off. 16 seasons of nothing after their last playoff appearance. A change in ownership as the Maloofs ended up unloading the team after trying to move the team out of Sacramento, and multiple changes of player personnel, coaches, and front office staff. The team couldn’t seem to find the right groove.
That was until they fired Vlade Divac, hired Mike Brown as head coach, and made a late-season trade a year ago that brought MVP-caliber player, Domantas Sabonis, over to the team. Now, the Kings seem to finally have things figured out. They just got a 120–80 road win over the shorthanded Portland Trailblazers in a game that was never even close.
This officially clinched the playoff spot that has so eluded them for more than a decade and a half. Their record is now 46–30 and with six games to go, they seem to be locked into the third spot unless Memphis or Denver completely collapse to finish the season.
Their rookie, first-round selection Keegan Murray of Iowa, just broke Damian Lillard’s record for rookie three-pointers made as he has hit 188 three-pointers this season. The more impressive thing about Keegan Murray is that he’s shooting over 40% (40.7%) from the field while shooting more than 400 three-pointers.
This is very efficient and a tough task to accomplish. This season, only nine NBA players are doing this: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Buddy Hield, Michael Porter Jr., teammate Kevin Huerter, Darius Garland, Tyrese Haliburton, Trey Murphy, and Keegan Murray. he’s definitely in good company here. He should definitely be in the conversation for the top rookies of the 2022 NBA Draft although Paolo Banchero has probably already clinched that award.
This young player is still an emerging long-distance star, nonetheless. He also gets to enjoy instant winning success helping the Kings make it to the postseason in his first season in the league. I’m sure that will help him make the leap going forward as one of the premier long-distance shooters in the league. The Kings making the playoffs is exciting enough after such a long-suffering era for its fans but giving them something extra to celebrate in the same game is definitely a bonus. Light the beam!! Go, Kings!! And hopefully, just making the playoffs is just the beginning this year.
