Kings announcers salty after Lakers' 'Game 7' celebration
10/28/2024 09:42 AM
On Saturday night, fans were treated to a classic California basketball matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers had started off the season on the right foot, winning their first two games, but the Kings were in control of their first matchup of the year as they led through three quarters. In the end, a hot spurt from LeBron James to begin the fourth quarter gave the Purple and Gold a lead they would not relinquish en route to a 131-127 win, sending the Kings to a 0-2 start to start the new campaign.
As is the case following every Lakers win at their home floor (currently named the Crypto.com Arena), streamers fell down from the rafters to give the arena a festive feel following a hard-earned victory. But the commentating crew for the Kings’ local broadcast on the night, the duo of Kyle Draper and Kayte Christensen-Hunter, took exception to this by saying that the Lakers were blowing the importance of this win out of proportion.
“They got the streamers coming down like the Dodgers won the pennant. You got to understand, this is Anthony Davis’ first win against Domantas Sabonis. And they’re going to celebrate out here,” Draper said.
“What is this? Game seven?” Christensen-Hunter interjected at one point during Draper’s diatribe.
The Kings announcers were mad as hell after the Lakers won
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) October 27, 2024
For those who haven’t been following the Lakers, this has been a tradition of theirs for over 20 years now, so it’s not like they just went out there and decided to celebrate extravagantly just because they won a close game against a division rival in the Kings. For the Lakers, raining down the streamers is simply part of the way they celebrate any win, whether it’s against the best or worst team in the association.
Alas, this is part of the beauty (and ugliness, depending on one’s perspective) of the homerism baked into local sports broadcasts. Both members of the Kings’ commentating duo are fans of the team, and they simply reflect how frustrating it was for them to let a very winnable game slip away from their fingertips, and at the hands of a timeless star who’s about to turn 40 in two months’ time at that.
Lakers’ streamers vs. Kings’ beam: take your pick
During the 2022-23 season, the Kings emerged as the darling of the association. Following a lengthy playoff drought thanks to a prolonged era of front-office incompetence, they flourished under the tutelage of Mike Brown, winning 48 games and the Pacific Division crown while entering the postseason as the three-seed. And they became even more famous by lighting a purple beam towards the sky from Golden 1 Center after every home victory.
Thus, it’s a bit confounding for the Kings’ announce team to be this critical of the way a team celebrates a victory. But again, it’s worth mentioning that they are simply appealing to the demographic of fans that is listening to them. Losing a game that your team was in control of for much of its duration can indeed cause some feelings of saltiness to bubble over.
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