Celebrity list at Kings-Warriors Game 1 plenty of ex-Kings, 50 Cent, Barry Bonds, Gov. Newsom
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The biggest Kings game in 17 years led to fans young and old squeezing into Golden 1 Center, a scene that included some familiar faces on Saturday night for Game 1 of this best-of-seven series, won by the Kings 126-123.
Former beloved Kings players, as well as San Francisco Giants and all-time home-run king Barry Bonds, drew the most cheers. And there was rapper 50 Cent, a Kings regular this revival season, who also drew an applause. Also attending but not introduced on the Golden 1 screen was Gov. Gavin Newsom, the former Mayor of San Francisco who has spent a lot of time in the state capital.
The former Kings players on hand included Harold Pressley, a member of the early Kings teams in Sacramento of the late 1980s. He never competed in a Kings playoff game and has made Sacramento his home since his playing days.
Jason Thompson, the steady forward who yanked down rebounds from 2008 to 2015 and logged more Kings games than anyone in the Sacramento era, was here. He never had the joy of a winning Kings season let alone a playoff berth. Another big man from yesteryear was Brad Miller, who went from shy Kings center to a man of the people. He wore a “Light the Beam” shirt.
Jason Williams drew a load of applause, appreciated for being the flashy and fun guard for the 1999 Kings team that launched their eight-year playoff run. At mid-court, Williams was seated next to perhaps the most beloved Kings player of them all in Vlade Divac, the captain of the glory-day Kings of the early 2000s (who was later booed for having rotten luck as the club’s general manager).
If Divac wasn’t the all-time favorite from those days, then it might’ve been Bobby Jackson, the energizer guard who once spilled into the front row of the Arco Arena stands, leading a female fan to plant a big kiss on his forehead. Jackson is now the coach of the Kings’ G League team in Stockton.
With a large gold chain that included a “50” attached to it, 50 Cent is a stark contrast from the celebrity list of the Kings of the 1990s and 2000s, which included actor Peter Falk. And it didn’t take Lt. Columbo of 1970s TV fame to recognize a good time then.
Bonds has attended several Kings games this season. Last August, he joined Kings owner Vivek Ranadive at a Sacramento River Cats game in West Sacramento when it was announced that the Kings had purchased the Triple-A baseball team.
This story was originally published April 15, 2023 at 7:43 PM.
