Kings-Warriors playoffs mean more than games. They’re playing for NorCal bragging rights

“Sacramento is not the Bay Area.”

That phrase has been uttered throughout Northern California to keep Sacramento – a growing metropolitan state government seat known for its rolling rivers, verdant Midtown streets and rich cultural history – hidden beneath the shadows of the San Francisco-Bay Area.

One of the many reasons why this NBA Playoffs matchup between the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors has become a must-watch series is because it symbolizes much more than basketball.

The battle taking place just off Interstate 80 has created a buzz statewide. The winner will ultimately represent Northern California in the quest for the coveted Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

“It’s just a great competitive environment,” said Kings analyst and former player Matt Barnes. “This is the first time these teams have ever met in the playoffs.”

Barnes knows Sacramento. He played for Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks, and the Kings. He knows the Bay Area, he played for Golden State, where he won a championship ring in 2017.

“And we’re only an hour and a half away from each other,” he said. “So I just think it’s just a great opportunity for fans and for players.”

Sacramento is down 3-2 in the series. Game 6 is at 5 p.m. tonight at the Chase Center in San Francisco where the Kings will try to avert elimination after Wednesday night’s 123-116 loss at Golden 1 Center.

That Sacramento is even here has been one of the main NBA storylines, after going 16 seasons without sniffing the playoffs. All eyes are on the Kings, representing a city that has been mocked and belittled for so long. After all in 2002, then-Lakers coach Phil Jackson mocked the Farm to Fork city as being a “cow town.” Kings fans subsequently turned those words into terms of endearment. Welcome to the din of cowbells Kings fans regularly bring to games.

Considering that history, this playoff battle represents the emergence of a region, a team, a lifestyle and culture ready for respect after being considered an afterthought for so many years.

Sacramento often has been overlooked or ridiculed, and not recognized for the contributions made in molding the Northern Californian lifestyle. With the Kings, all season long, fans have not felt national respect, even though the team was crowned Pacific Division champions for the first time since 2003. The Warriors, the reigning NBA champions that finished fourth in the division and sixth in the Western Conference, generally have been favored to win.

Under the theme of friendly competition, however Kings and Warriors fans up and down I-80 can appreciate how we’re linked. Let’s examine some of those sports, cultural and historical connections.

Team connections

Proximity alone has poured gasoline on an already lit playoff series between the Kings and Warriors. Added to the fuel are the number of team personnel, on each side, that were members of both organizations.

• Kings head coach Mike Brown was recently named the NBA’s coach of the year, the first unanimous winner in history. His previous stint before Sacramento was with Golden State as an assistant coach.

• Kings small forward Harrison Barnes was a Warriors first-round pick in 2012. He helped them win a championship in 2015. Next season, the team won an NBA-record 73 wins.

• Kings assistant coach Leandro Barbosa was Barnes’ teammate and played a key role coming off the bench during their “Strength in Numbers” era.

• Warriors guard Donte DiVincenzo played with the Kings during the 2022 season after being acquired in a four-team trade that sent Marvin Bagley III to the Detroit Pistons. He thought he found a home in Sacramento, but when the Kings declined to tender a $6.6 million qualifying offer last summer, DiVincenzo became an unrestricted free agent and signed with the Warriors.

• Before buying the Kings, owner Vivek Ranadivé, was a co-owner of the Warriors, partnering with Joe Lacob.

Past bonds

The I-80 connection isn’t new. Several players, both current and former, have shared stints with both organizations.

Mitch Richmond and Chris Webber did it. So did Matt Barnes. The Kings’ basketball analyst played for both the Kings and the Warriors, twice in his career. Each time being different from the next.

Barnes’ first stint with the Kings was short-lived. He played half of the 2004-05 season with Kings before being traded, along with Chris Webber, to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Barnes, a Sacramento native, would find his way back to Northern California in 2006 signing with the Warriors.

He was a key player that added toughness to the “We Believe” team that upset the Dallas Mavericks, a No. 1 seed in the 2007 NBA Playoffs.

“(The Warriors) always had a very loyal fan base,” Barnes said. “(Fans) showed up every single game, supported us, and yelled to the top of their lungs, even when the team wasn’t very good.”

“That’s why when we had that ‘We Believe’ team, arguably, (fans) almost blew the top off Oracle Arena.”

His second stint with the Kings came in the 2016-17 season. Barnes signed with the Kings that off-season, making his return to his hometown.

The Kings waived him halfway through the season and weeks later would come his second stint with the Warriors. Then he became an NBA champion.

Now covering the Kings as a TV analyst, Barnes has witnessed firsthand just how loud the Sacramento fans can get.

“It’s pretty much the same loud, crazy fan base that they’ve always had,” Barnes said.

“For Game 1 and Game 2, it got so loud at some points that we couldn’t even hear ourselves talking on the broadcast and it wasn’t even during the game, which is great,” he said. “Normally during the game it is super loud, but before the game we couldn’t even hear ourselves.”

Fans can easily travel from one city to another.

Although cowbells aren’t allowed at Chase Center, Sacramento fans can take advantage of the drive.

Despite the connection between the teams and their fans, Barnes said this isn’t a rivalry between the teams. He said it could grow into a rivalry if both teams continue to trend upward, but it would take consistent meetings in the playoffs.

Being from Northern California, he understands the urge for fans to call it a rivalry. It’s just the spirit of basketball season.

Music industry ties

How about the spirit of the soundtrack that accompanies those fans?

Historically, the proximity has allowed artists from all over the region to connect with each other. Sacramento has been influential in curating West Coast hip hop, contributing as a launch pad for the Bay Area in many aspects.

Sacramento had already seen some success in the music industry going back decades, with the rise of the Timex Social Club in the ’80s and then Club Nouveau, both founded by Jay King.

Club Nouveau won a Grammy in 1987 for Best R&B song with their upbeat, go-go version of Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me.”

Meanwhile on the I-80 rock side of the musical spectrum, while Bay Area music fans get tears in their collective eyes hearing Journey’s hit song “Lights,” Sacramento listeners, particularly those over age 40, get similar sentimental feelings when Tesla’s “Love Song” comes on the radio.

Sacramento’s presence in hip-hop began to rise in the early 1990s – performers included Justin Morrer rapping under the name Homicide, Kevin Mann (better known as Brotha Lynch Hung), Shawn Thomas, who went by C-Bo, and Anerae Brown better known by his stage name X-Raided.

C-Bo and X-Raided were among the first rappers to be convicted due to their lyrics; now a law exists protecting California artists’ use of creative expressions.

These artists helped make a name for themselves and Sacramento through their success. They’ve gone on to create music with West Coast legends such as E-40, Snoop Dogg, 2pac, Spice 1, and more.

“I am big on wanting to acknowledge the Bay Area’s contribution to Sac culture but also to acknowledge our contribution to theirs, which they don’t always like to admit,” X-Raided said. “We just didn’t get a lot of credit for our ingredients that (Sacramento) put in the mix.”

The Sacramento and San Francisco-Bay Area connection has allowed artists to discover up-and-coming artists.

C-Bo formed a Bay Area rap group Mob Figaz in 1997, featuring Husalah, Rydah J. Klyde, and The Jacka from Pittsburg; Fed-X from Richmond; and AP.9 from Oakland.

Vallejo rapper and Bay Area legend, Andre Hicks, better known as Mac Dre, moved to Arden Arcade in 1998. The next year he re-established his Romp Records to Thizz Entertainment, which is now run by Hicks’ mother, Wanda Salvatto, after he was killed in 2004.

It’s common for Bay Area artists to visit Sacramento to perform, and for Sacramento artists go to the Bay Area.

“When you’re from Sacramento you look to your left and right and say ‘I’ve done as much as I can do as an artist and I’m trying to graduate.’ ” X-Raided said. “You have to be thinking ‘I’m going to San Francisco (or the Bay) or L.A.’ We’ve seen that recently with Mozzy, CML (Lavish D), and DB (Boutabag).”

Although the term “hyphy” was first coined by Oakland rapper Keak da Sneak, Mac Dre is credited by many to be the pioneer of the hyphy movement in hip-hop that spread across the Northern California region.

Under the revamped label, Mac Dre introduced classic anthems such as “Thizzle Dance,” “Get Stupid,” and “Feelin’ Myself.”

This is why you can go to any bar or club in Sacramento that plays hip-hop and almost guarantee that one of these songs will play, if not all three.

He’s beloved in Sacramento not just for creating thizz in the city but also for songs such as “From Sac 2 tha Boonies” and lyrics in his song “Hotta Den Steam,” in which he raps:

“Not a Celtic or a Laker, I’m a King. Catch me on Florin with a mouth full of bling, in something clean, doing my thing.”