The Kings came out of the woods last season with an exceptional run in the regular season to finish in 3rd place in the Western Conference. An unexpected performance that allowed the Californian franchise to access the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
Sacramento will thus approach next season with a new status, and Domantas Sabonis hopes it will be accompanied by more national television coverage since the Kings only aired once on the national network during the 2022-23 regular season.
“This nationally televised game is the most exciting, and it would be great to represent the city of Sacramento in the eyes of all of America as much as possible”, did he declare. “It’s not just for the players. It’s for the city, for the fans, it’s for everyone. Everyone feeds on our wins and that would be the most special thing, if we could play more games on the national network so that everyone can enjoy this new era”.
The NBA unveiled the new schedule, and therefore the TV schedule, on Thursday, and the Kings will be on television 11 times. Either the same number of times as Spurs, and that’s a lot better. But the road is long to reach the 20 retransmissions reached by six franchises (Warriors, Lakers, Suns, Celtics, Nuggets and Knicks)
More exposure = more pressure
One thing is certain, the Kings love TV, for their only broadcast last season, and they had signed an XXL success (153-121) against Brooklyn!
“We played very well that night. It was against Brooklyn when they had all their good players. We had won and people had gone crazy, shouting “The Kings! The Kings! “. It’s a bit of a shame for the fans, because that’s what we’ve been doing all year.”
With or without more media exposure, “Sabas” knows, however, that the Kings’ mission will get tougher at the start of the school year since his training will now evolve openly after the surprise of last season.
“We know it will be the most difficult year so far”he confirmed. “Last year, there was no expectation around us. We finished among the top three seeds in the West. The other teams are going to want to run into us. It won’t be easy, we have to be stronger mentally, ignore all the noise and just be ourselves. To improve in defense, to add things in attack so that the teams cannot scout us. It’s going to be very fun.”
| Domantas Sabonis | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2016-17 | OKAY | 81 | 20 | 39.9 | 32.1 | 65.7 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 5.9 |
| 2017-18 | IND | 74 | 25 | 51.4 | 35.1 | 75.0 | 2.2 | 5.5 | 7.7 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 11.6 |
| 2018-19 | IND | 74 | 25 | 59.0 | 52.9 | 71.5 | 2.5 | 6.8 | 9.3 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 14.1 |
| 2019-20 | IND | 62 | 35 | 54.0 | 25.4 | 72.3 | 3.1 | 9.4 | 12.4 | 5.0 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 18.5 |
| 2020-21 | IND | 62 | 36 | 53.5 | 32.1 | 73.2 | 2.4 | 9.6 | 12.0 | 6.7 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 20.3 |
| 2021-22 * | All Teams | 62 | 35 | 57.3 | 31.2 | 74.1 | 3.2 | 8.9 | 12.1 | 5.2 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 18.9 |
| 2021-22 * | IND | 47 | 35 | 58.0 | 32.4 | 74.0 | 3.3 | 8.8 | 12.1 | 5.0 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 18.9 |
| 2021-22 * | BAG | 15 | 34 | 55.4 | 23.5 | 74.3 | 3.1 | 9.3 | 12.3 | 5.8 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 0.3 | 18.9 |
| 2022-23 | BAG | 79 | 35 | 61.5 | 37.3 | 74.2 | 3.2 | 9.1 | 12.3 | 7.3 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 19.1 |
| Total | 494 | 29 | 54.8 | 32.6 | 73.1 | 2.4 | 7.3 | 9.7 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 15.1 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def= defensive rebound; Tot = Total bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; Points = Points.
