Return of the roar: Kings selling out Golden 1 Center as excitement builds in Sacramento
Kings coach Mike Brown has been in the NBA long enough to remember when Sacramento possessed one of the league’s fiercest homecourt advantages.
A rabid fan base clanged cowbells and set records for loudest indoor crowd noise with decibel levels reaching 126.0. Fans haven’t had much to cheer for over 16 consecutive losing seasons, but early success and some dramatic victories have brought on a return of the roar in Sacramento.
“It’s amazing,” Kings center Domantas Sabonis said following a 126-125 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday at Golden 1 Center. “The crowd is doing everything. They’re the ones that are giving us energy. The fans have been great all year, and it’s only getting better and better.”
The Kings will return to Sacramento to open a five-game homestand against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. The team has produced seven consecutive home sellouts dating back to a Nov. 30 game against the Indiana Pacers.
The Kings ranked 29th in the NBA in attendance last season, averaging 14,439 per game, 82.1% of Golden 1 Center’s capacity. This season, average attendance is up to 16,948, 96.2% of the building’s capacity.
The excitement, Brown said, is reminiscent of the glory days in Sacramento when Mike Bibby, Doug Christie, Bobby Jackson, Peja Stojakovic, Chris Webber and Vlade Divac led the Kings to the 2002 Western Conference finals.
“Well, I tell you, I said this earlier about our fans in this building — not just in the building, when you walk around town, whether it’s downtown or out in the suburbs,” Brown said. “People are excited and you can feel their passion and you can feel them wanting to walk around with their chest puffed out and saying, ‘Hey, this is our team. This is Sac Town. This is Sacramento.’
“And, so, to be able to feel that from a group of people that have a history of being terrific in the first place — I’m going back to when I used to come in here as an assistant coach back in the late 90s, early 2000s, I mean, it was phenomenal back then. And, so, to give these people something to cheer about again just reminds you how special it was back in the day because this place can be off the charts, and it’s all about the people of Sacramento that make it that way, and I’m just glad to be a part of what we’ve got going right now.”
Players, coaches and fans alike have rallied around the team’s new purple victory beam with chants of “Light the Beam” filling the arena, DoCo plaza, restaurants and sports bars throughout the city.
The Kings were fifth in the Western Conference going into Tuesday’s game against the Jazz, just four games behind the first-place Nuggets. The Kings are 11-7 at home this season. They are 11-4 in their last 15 home games.
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox believes the Kings can reestablish one of the best homecourt advantages in the NBA.
“We have a crowd that’s going to show up night in and night out,” Fox said. “It’s funny because the new guys, this is kind of their first glimpse of this, whereas I’ve been here for some years, so I’ve seen the good, the bad, but every night this year, it’s been fantastic for us, and, honestly, we want to have a better record at home than we do.
“Obviously, on the road, I think we’re .500, so if you can go .500 for the year on the road, that’s great, that’s a big positive. But for us, we have to be better at home, especially knowing the type of fans that we have. This should be one of the best homecourt advantages in, truthfully, all of sports.”
