Kurtenbach: Sacramento brought cowbells, light beams, and an NBA
Finals-like atmosphere to Warriors-Kings Game 1
Golden State Warriors – Sacramento Kings: The battle of Northern
California got off to a noisy start in Saturday's Game 1.
>Micaela Birt wears regal head gear while cheering for her Sacramento
Kings as she enters Golden One Arena for Game 1 of the Western
Conference First Round playoffs against the Golden State Warriors,
Saturday, April 15, 2023. It is the first playoff game for the Kings
since 2006. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: April 15, 2023 at 6:51 p.m. | UPDATED: April 16, 2023 at
10:57 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/04/15/kurtenbach-sacramento-brought-cowbells-light-beams-and-an-nba-finals-like-atmosphere-to-warriors-kings-game-1/

SACRAMENTO — Have you ever heard the sound of 17 years of frustration
and anticipation being released?

It sounds like thousands of ringing cowbells.

Saturday’s Game 1 between the Warriors and Sacramento Kings was the
biggest sporting event in the capital city in a generation, and to be in
the vicinity of the Kings’ downtown arena was to be bombarded with that
fact — and the sound of those cowbells.

Given the short commute from the Bay, there was speculation that
Sacramento’s arena would become the Blue-and-Golden 1 Center.

The absurd cost of tickets listed on the secondary market — Front Office
Sports reported that prices were the highest for a non-Finals game in
league history — further suggested a Bay wave.

But that was not the reality.

If there was any blue in the crowd, it was just as likely to come from a
Kings fan in a 1980s-style throwback jersey.

That said, the atmosphere was NBA Finals-caliber. My Apple Watch
wouldn’t stop telling me I needed to exit the arena for my safety — it
was too loud. (The watch died from exhaustion in the second quarter.)

>Sacramento Kings fans line up for their first playoff game since 2006
at Golden One Arena for Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round
playoffs against the Golden State Warriors, Saturday, April 15, 2023.
(Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Cleveland and Houston, Memphis or San Antonio never came close to
creating the noise Kings fans made Saturday. In fact, Golden 1 Center
was so loud it was impossible to make out the individual sources.

That’s Boston-level noise.

Well, Boston-level noise before Steph Curry rendered an entire region mute.

We’ll see if that comes to pass in this series.

But in the meantime, a bit more respect to Kings fans: the ruckus
started early Saturday.

Kings fans filled the arena half an hour before the opening tip. Who
does that?

And who collectively — and awesomely — sings the National Anthem before
the game?

Fans that have waited since 2006 for a playoff game, that’s who.
(Especially when you paid more than $500 for tickets.)

In fact, the pregame noise in the arena was so loud it became an issue
for the ESPN broadcast crew that was trying to do an on-court hit.

>Golden State Warriors' Steph Curry surveys Golden One Arena with
assistant coach Bruce Frazier before Game 1 of the Western Conference
First Round playoffs against the Sacramento Kings, Saturday, April 15,
2023, in Sacramento, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

“It’s going to be awesome,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr predicted before
the game. “This has always been an amazing fan base. It’s always a great
vibe, even the last 16 years coming in here, when they haven’t have
great teams. There’s a love for basketball. A love for the Kings.”

Yes, Sacramento is a great basketball market — you have to be die-hard
if you’re going to support a team that was the NBA’s laughingstock for
the last decade-and-a-half. and Saturday, they had a party celebrating
themselves.

And good for them.

Following the Warriors for the last nine years, it is easy to develop a
cynicism toward the early rounds of the playoffs. The Warriors have been
in the postseason so often and have made such easy work of these series
since 2014-15, that they’re almost perfunctory — something that has to
be done on the path to the inevitable.

But Saturday’s game was anything but perfunctory for the Kings. It was
one that will stick with me for years to come, as will the hearing
damage from those damn cowbells and “Sac-ra-men-to” chants.

The atmosphere was charming. It was authentic. It was joyous. While it
was hardly a one-for-one comparison, it was reminiscent of the early
days of the Warriors’ dynasty at Oracle Arena, before success was expected.

It’s these kinds of environments that make the NBA playoffs the epitome
of sports entertainment.

>Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry gets a hug from Barry Bonds
before the start of Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round
playoffs against the Sacramento Kings, Saturday, April 15, 2023, at
Golden One Arena in Sacramento, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

The Warriors were happy to play the Kings because of the travel
implications — a bus is always better than a plane when it comes to
athletic recovery — but they might have underestimated how hostile the
arena 75 miles northeast of San Francisco would be.

This will not be a series where homecourt advantage is mitigated by
proximity. It will be a factor, which could be an issue for the
Warriors, who struggled on the road all season.

The Valley and the Bay might share fandom of the Niners and Giants, but
the lines are now clear when it comes to basketball.

“We don’t care about Northern California. We care about the Warriors,”
Kerr said. “We want to win for our fans and for us. If that doesn’t
happen, we’re not going to be there with pom poms, saying ‘Alright,
let’s go, Kings.’”

“There’s none of that geographic pride, that’s for sure.”

--
Dieter Kurtenbach | Sports Columnist
Sports columnist Dieter Kurtenbach analyzes the amazing and roasts the
absurd in the world of sports for the Bay Area News Group. He was
previously a national sports columnist for Fox Sports and a staff writer
at the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can also be heard on KNBR
(104.5-FM, 680-AM). He graduated from the University of Missouri in
Columbia, Mo., with a BA degree in journalism.