Francisco García already is looking for the positives in his situation.
And cumbersome cast and depressing diagnosis be darned, the Kings' veteran swingman, who will miss at least four months because of his right forearm and wrist injury, already has found a few.
He'll have a chance to be ambidextrous, of course, saying his eventual return just might be as a switch shooter of sorts. He plans to follow the path of Kings assistant Mario Elie as well, as the former player once known as "Super Mario" won a championship with San Antonio in 1999 after suffering a similar injury three years earlier while playing with Houston.
"I think that'll rub off on me," García said with a smile at the team's practice facility Tuesday night during his first interview since the incident Friday. "I'll win a couple championships here in Sacramento. That's the positive thing I'll take from it."
Yet most of this season was taken from García when the exercise ball on which he lay while lifting two 90-pound dumbbells exploded. The accident, García said, is as surreal now as it was when it happened.
"Just a regular day, lifting weights," he said. "I was out there, on the PhysioBall. We've got an understanding that the exercise was good. We'd been doing that, and it exploded on me. … I didn't have time to react or anything. It's crazy, man. I keep reflecting in my head. It's crazy."
García said he hopes to travel occasionally with the team and maintain a strong connection.
"I want to be here as much as I can, be on the road as much as I can," he said. "I just want to be there with them, as a teammate, as a friend, as a leader. I think they really need me out there, even if I'm not playing."
Maloof sells out friend – Kevin Kaplan planned to stay behind the scenes of the Kings' "Operation Sellout" effort to pack Arco Arena for the team's first two home games.
But not long after the news conference to discuss the program began Tuesday at Arco Arena, co-owner Gavin Maloof turned the spotlight on his longtime friend, who was standing in the back of the room. Maloof said the Las Vegas-based sports marketing consultant has led similar efforts with 12 other college and pro teams that resulted in sellout crowds.
And when Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson asked the Maloofs how he could help their struggling ticket situation in the short term, they introduced him to Kaplan.
"He's sold close to 250,000 tickets (combined)," Maloof said. "It works. It's a 100 percent guarantee, or so he tells me. Not to put any pressure on him, but I believe that it will work."
The Kings, who will host Memphis on Nov. 2 and Atlanta on Nov. 4 to start their home schedule, had just three sellouts last season and were last in the league in attendance.
Shooting the lights out – The Kings were among the many affected by the storms Tuesday, as their late-afternoon practice was halted for 30 minutes when the power went out in the practice facility.
After a brief chalk-talk session in their locker room, which was lit by backup power, the Kings eventually returned to the floor.
Read the Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/kingsblog.
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