Gregg Popovich is arguably the NBA’s culture king in terms of how to run a franchise, Kawhi Leonard saga side. He has led San Antonio to 22 consecutive winning seasons and five championships all while establishing an environment for players to come and become better athletes and people.
When one thinks about the Sacramento Kings, winning isn’t the first thought that comes to mind. You may find them impressive, but not in a positive way. The Kings haven’t had a winning season since 2006. That’s 12 years of being unable to figure it out, going through multiple rebuilds with no success. Their 12-year hiatus from the playoffs is the largest absence in the league.
During those 12 years, the team’s first-round lottery picks just didn’t pan out. With selections like Spencer Hawes, Jason Thompson, Thomas Robinson, Ben McLemore and Nik Stauskas, you can get an understanding of why things never worked out in Sacramento.
Sacramento’s current ‘change’ in culture could come from many things. Vlade Divac was hired as Vice President of Basketball and Franchise Operations in 2014 but after an initial rocky start, he seems to have started to get it figured out. They also hired Peja Stojakovic as assistant general manager earlier this year and head coach Dave Joerger and his staff joined the team in 2016. And the rise of 2017 first-round pick De’Aaron Fox along with a returning Harry Giles, a potential breakout star in Bogdan Bogdanovic and a new and improved Willie Cauley-Stein has the Kings fans feeling good.
The team seems to have made a turn for the positive this year. The Kings now sit at 8-6 so far in the young 2018-19 NBA season. They’ve beat formidable teams in the league such as the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and most recently, the San Antonio Spurs.
On Monday night, after the Spurs loss to the Kings. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was impressed by Sacramento. “The culture is changing and it’s changing drastically,” Popovich told ESPN’s Marc J. Spears.
“I’m really impressed. The culture is changing and it’s changing drastically,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich on the Kings.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) November 13, 2018
Right now, the Kings have their highest offensive rating at 108.7 since their 2004-05 season which was 110.5. The majority of this could be credited to second-year De’Aaron Fox’s improvement. Averaging 18.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists. Buddy Hield and Willie Cauley-Stein have also seen a surge in their numbers this season. Hield averaging career-highs with 18.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists, and Cauley-Stein starting to look like the player the Kings hoped he would become, pushing career-highs with 16.5 points and 8.6 rebounds.
On top of all of that, it looks like the Kings are actually having fun. They’re above .500, don’t have a major drama going on and their young guys seem to all get along.
The Kings hopefully have found a way to win games, and for the first time in many years, have found an identity. Finally building something worth watching for the great fans of Sacramento. If the Kings can keep it up, we have yet to see, but for now, Sacramento has put the league on notice.
