‘You can’t get that at home’: Fans cheer on Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center watch party

Rosalio Ahumada
·5 min read
7

Janica Worrell and her family waited patiently in line Thursday with thousands of other Sacramento Kings fans as they counted down the seconds before ushers would let them into Golden 1 Center.

Their team was on the road in San Francisco, battling the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series. Worrell and other Kings fans were waiting to enter the downtown Sacramento arena to watch the game on TV.

The Sacramento fans attending Thursday’s watch party — hosted by the Kings organization — were just as loud and raucous as they would be at any home game. That’s exactly what Worrell and many other Kings fans wanted.

“It’s been so cool experiencing this with my family,” Worrell said moments before they entered the arena. “It’s just like the games; we’re just as excited.”

Sacramento Kings fans cheer their team at Golden 1 Center for the watch party for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday, April 20, 2023.
Sacramento Kings fans cheer their team at Golden 1 Center for the watch party for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

Kings fans were invited to watch Thursday night’s game from the stands on the large video screens at Golden 1 Center. Those who were able to reserve tickets for the watch party were treated to a playoff atmosphere, even though the Kings lost Game 3 to the Warriors, 114-97.

Worrell of Sacramento said she’s been waiting a long time for the Kings to return to the NBA playoffs. This was the first season that Worrell’s family, along with her brother and her father, were able to get season tickets for home games at Golden 1 Center.

After a memorable regular season, she said they couldn’t just watch the game at home. She, her husband, Dillon Worrell and their 9-year-old daughter, Jasmine, lined-up to enter the arena more than an hour before the doors opened at 6 p.m. and made sure they were among the first few thousand fans who received a cowbell with the Kings logo.

‘It’s just great seeing the city embrace the Kings,” Worrell said. “We usually bring our own cowbells to the game, but we left at home this time to get the one they’re gonna hand out. My hand gets callous from ringing the cowbell a lot.”

Sacramento fans who traveled to watch the Kings in the playoff road game were cautioned not to bring their noise cowbells into the opponent’s home court.

San Francisco’s Chase Center, the Warriors’ home arena, listed the noisy cowbells among the prohibited items not allowed inside, along with air horns, whistles, drums, plastic horns and other noise-making devices.

Sacramento Kings fans ring cowbells at Golden 1 Center at the sold-out Game 3 watch at Golden 1 Center on Thursday, April 30, 2023.
Sacramento Kings fans ring cowbells at Golden 1 Center at the sold-out Game 3 watch at Golden 1 Center on Thursday, April 30, 2023.

Golden 1 Center has a similar prohibited items list for noise-making devices banned from the arena. But the list specifically excludes “cowbells for Kings games only.” Kings fans’ use of the clanging instrument dates back to 2002, when then-Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson called Sacramento a “cow town” and said Kings fans were “semi-civilized” and “maybe redneck in some form or fashion.”

Even with the slow Kings’ start in this game, there were a lot of cowbells ringing Thursday night at the Golden 1 Center.

The Kings made about 17,000 free tickets available for Thursday’s Game 3 watch party, and they were all taken quickly. Tickets for Sunday’s Game 4 watch party at Golden 1 Center will be made available Friday. Fans can reserve up to two tickets apiece at nba.com/kings/playoffs.

Danny Beckham of Sacramento has been a Kings fan since the ’80s, and a season ticket holder since 2013. He said this season has been something special, considering the team’s recent playoff drought. It’s more emotional for him thinking about the bad times, including the times fans fought to keep the team in Sacramento, he said.

“I start talking about this, and I might start crying,” Beckham said. “We started from the bottom and now we’re here. It’s been a hell of a ride.”

Kings fans at the watch party offered food and drink specials, including 32-ounce buckets of popcorn for $5 and two churros for $10. During commercial breaks, fans were treated to music from DJ Joseph One on the turntables and performances by the Kings Dancers, the 916 Crew and the Sacramento Kings Drum Line. Even team mascot Slamson got into the action, standing on the court and tossing T-shirts to fans in their seats.

Ben Friedman of Sacramento said the Kings’ struggles in Thursday’s game wasn’t shaking his faith in the team. He was sure they will bounce back. He and his girlfriend, Karen Watling of Davis, wanted to be among the thousands of other loyal Kings fans at the watch party.

“You can’t get that at home,” Friedman said. “You can’t recreate the feeling of tens of thousands of people.”

Friedman later appeared on the large video screen during the “Great Hair Cam” segment during a commercial break in the third quarter as thousands of fans cheered his purple-dyed hair and facial hair in honor of the Kings.

Charles Lawrence Jr. of Sacramento said this season is reminiscent of the Kings playoff teams of the 2000s with players such as Mike Bibby and Chris Webber. He said this season’s Kings are creating the same kind of excitement among fans.

“I wanted to come here, enjoy the atmosphere and eat some good food,” Lawrence said about the watch party. “The Warriors are the old team, and the Kings are the new. It’s time for a change, and a change is coming.”