How the best ever Sacramento Kings team missed the NBA Finals, then deteriorated
1,183,557
Published 2020-08-02
And then ... things happened. First came the notorious, controversial end to the 2002 Western Conference Finals against those Lakers. Then came an injury to Sacramento's star, Chris Webber. Then came some bad feelings, some bad moves, and eventually some really bad basketball.
This starts as the story of a perfectly built team running into misfortune when it should have been peaking. It becomes a story of that perfect creation crumbling into pieces, with no clear plan to rebuild. This one hurts.
Edited by Jiazhen Zhang
Motion graphics by Phil Pasternak
Written and produced by Seth Rosenthal
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All Comments (21)
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SB Nation: releases this video Tim Donaghy: “Ight imma head out”
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Who else is here after the Sacramento Kings clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2006?
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"This one hurts." As a Kings fan, you have no idea.
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Random fun fact: Rick Adelman’s daughter was my High School English teacher. We all had crushes on her 😂
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Kings haven’t made the playoffs since Lebron was Jayson Tatum age
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2004: The Timberwolves eliminate the Kings who were in the midst of a collapse... only to catch the bug and immediately start a collapse of their own
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It feels like Robert Horry has been a part of every episode in this series
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Probably the toughest one for me to watch so far. I LOVED this team and remember shouting out of my mind at the tv about the BS calls down the stretch. Only to find out years later we were all probably right about the officiating in that game....
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I grew up in Sacramento and was a middle schooler during this era. When I tell you the whole damn city was draped in purple, I mean it. I even went to the WCF in 02 and sat 3 rows back from the floor. Best moment in my life!
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I would like to think of an alternate universe where the Refs were fine in 2002 and C Webb didn’t get injured in 2003 and the Kings become a dynasty
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I like how the NBA makes you forget the 2002 Kings so we dont talk about the scandall
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It really took 17 years until the Sacramento Kings became relevant again... A long time coming...
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Here I am, a Kings fan, preparing myself to watch this video and be sad for the whole 15 minutes. Then I realized I've been sad over this team for the past 15 years.
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"This one hurts." You have no idea.
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Being a Kings fan and watching this really hurt, but actually witnessing this rise, fall, and now the embarrassing team we've become is heartbreaking. That championship would have meant so much.
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These guys made basketball fun to watch. The ball movement and unselfishness was otherworldly. Their defense was outstanding too. Too bad they ran into a lot of misfortunes.
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That 02 Kings team is still one of my favorite teams of all time. They were ahead of their time actually.
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Basketball is my favorite sport. I like the way they dribble up and down the court.
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As painful as re-living this history was, this video is absolutely fantastic and 100% spot on. Very well done. I grew up and lived through the entire history in this video as a die-hard fan. Seeing something so...accurate was very refreshing. We Kings fans just want to have some fun, man. That's all we want. sigh "Maybe next year."
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most beautiful passing game ever. bring this style back!!! 😢
