He takes care of all the Kings' men

His first Arco Arena experience took place in Section 107, long before Rob Pimental had the dream job and well into his time as a Sacramento Kings super fan.

"We were halfway up," Pimental remembers of that day watching his first Kings game with his father.

All of 12 years old, he's pretty sure, and growing more interested in the surrounding scene by the minute.

"I remember seeing the ball kids wiping up the sweat, I was like, I want to do that," said Pimental, who is now 31.

Equipment managers in pro sports are alike in many ways. Their jobs are mostly thankless, from lugging so much luggage from city to city to the never-ending duty of pampering players who would rather focus solely on the game at hand than worry if they packed enough socks and jocks for the road trip.

But the Kings' equipment manager is different, a locally born-and-bred product who made the jump from the stands to the seat at the end of the bench. He has spent his entire adult life surrounded by all things Kings.

He can tell you what Gerald Wallace loved to eat before games (King-size Snickers bars), how John Salmons likes his jersey so loose he wears the same size as Brad Miller (52), and how he doesn't miss packing the 40-inch box fan Lawrence Funderburke used as a sleep-aid of sorts on road trips. He's still learning the quirks and perks of working with Kings coach Reggie Theus, who was Pimental's first Kings idol as a kid.

"He probably has stories and knows things about these guys that if he told you he'd have to kill you," Theus said.

Which would never happen, of course, since that's no way to gain the trust of the players that's so vital to his position.

"Rob just takes a lot of stress off of our hands so you don't have to worry about your gear or your shoes," Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin said. "He gets your mind right before the game because you don't have to worry about that stuff."

It's been 14 years and counting for Pimental, in his 11th season serving as the team's equipment manager. And, really, he's not counting at all.

Nearly all of Pimental's time is spent surviving the days that could rival those of the team's coaching staff in terms of hours logged.

"I'll bet he works anywhere from 12 to 20 hours a day," said Theus, whose team starts a three-game road trip tonight in Memphis, Tenn. "He puts a lot of time in."

Pimental, a single man who graduated from Ponderosa High School and didn't attend college, leaves his house near Watt Ave. around 7 a.m. when the team has home games.

En route to prepare for that morning's 10 a.m. shootaround, he stops at the grocery store to purchase fresh fruit and bagels for the masses. Coaches, players and other staff will eventually partake. It is but one of his many efforts to please.

When the Kings played New Jersey on Jan. 22, he had the challenge of packing for a road trip while juggling a home game. The team boarded a plane for Los Angeles after its 128-94 victory, as it was scheduled to face the Clippers a night later before heading to Utah and Seattle.

In between fulfilling ticket requests for players and packing last-minute items into the 23 boxes of luggage for the team's charter plane, Pimental discussed the seemingly-endless list of goodies he's responsible for in this traveling hotel of sorts.

"We basically pack everything, from game uniforms to practice wear to extra everythings," said Pimental, who washes the team's jerseys and workout gear after every game and practice. "Soap. Shoe polish for coaches, stain removers, mending kits, shaving cream, mouthwash, toothpaste, soap, deodorant.

"We carry a projection screen with projector for videos before games. When I first started, we used to carry VCRs and use the TV in the locker room. … Anything you might need, we pack."

Pimental says he pestered his way into the job in the mid-1990s, sending letter after letter to then-Kings equipment manager Larry Heslin. Heslin relented, making Pimental a ballboy for the arena football team, the Sacramento Attack. He transitioned into a job as the equipment manager for the Sacramento Knights (indoor soccer). He then worked his way into a ballboy position with the Kings before becoming the team's assistant equipment manager. He now heads a three-man staff which includes assistant equipment managers Matt Cardenas and Shane Colquhoun.

The players he used to idolize have now become friends, with Pimental closest to Kings forward Kenny Thomas among the current bunch. He cited Chris Webber as his favorite among past Kings. Those relationships, Pimental said, are the perk he most enjoys.

"A lot of (players) won't admit it, but they know you do a lot for them," Pimental said. "They know they couldn't get through some days without you."

In 2006, more than any other year, he saw a different side to the highly paid athletes he spends so much time around.

In the span of one painful year, his twin brother, Jimmy, died of an infection after suffering from cerebral palsy and his older sister, Christy, continued to suffer physically while waiting for a kidney transplant. Already blind in one eye, Christy Pimental, now 33, had lost sensation in her feet and been relegated to crutches when her disease-related problems grew.

After five years on the waiting list at Kaiser Permanente, she finally received a kidney from the UC Davis Medical Center in November of 2006 and has since been on the mend.

"A lot of players stepped up, not only to be my friend but just to be (supportive) for me," Pimental said. "Everybody was great, from (Kings basketball president) Geoff (Petrie) to the guys on the team. It's like a big family. You're around these people more than you're around your own family."

One support system for another, in other words. And a long ways from Section 107.

"People joke with me, saying 'Oh, you're flying on a private jet, staying at five-star hotels,' " Pimental said. "But you're getting in at two in the morning, getting up at eight to do something, getting ready for a meeting, passing out practice gear.

"It's a great life. You get to do a lot of things normal people don't get to do, but it's not as easy as everybody thinks."

About the writer:

• Read Sam Amick's blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.