For years, the Sacramento Kings have been the little brother in their Northern California basketball rivalry with the Golden State Warriors. To hear one Kings analyst tell it, that perception has not sat well with the team, especially in light of comments made by Draymond Green before the season.
“There was that podcast that Draymond Green was on, and he kind of mentioned like, ‘Hey, I can’t get up to play teams like the Kings,’ basically,” said NBC Sports analyst Kayte Christensen during an appearance on 95.7’s “The Morning Roast.”
“I remember talking to Harrison Barnes specifically about that in training camp, and he’s like, ‘Oh, yeah we’ve talked about it,’” said Christensen.
Christensen, a WNBA veteran herself, knows the effect a jab like Green’s can have on a pro basketball team.
“In that locker room, those types of comments don’t go away. Those are put on a bulletin board. Those are the things that are remembered, and yeah, you do get up for games like that in a different way,” said Christensen.
Christensen was referring to a quote from a 2022 clip of Lebron James’ show “The Shop,” in which Green described the difficulty he finds in motivating himself against inferior opponents.
“It’s the nights I show up, and we’re playing against the sorry motherf—kers,” said Green in the clip, prompting someone else to offer up the Kings as an example. “The Kings stink,” Draymond agreed. “… How am I supposed to get myself up, with this engine?”
In fairness, Green later mentioned that he expected the Kings to be better for the 2022-23 season.
He couldn’t have been more correct. As of Friday afternoon, the Kings were sitting in third place in the Western Conference at 48-32 (six games better than the Warriors) and had already clinched their first playoff appearance in 16 years.
The Warriors face the Kings in Sacramento in their penultimate game of the season Friday at 7 p.m. There is also a strong chance the teams could see each other again in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
