SACRAMENTO, California — Media day is the unofficial tipoff of the NBA season. Every player from every team comes in rested, optimistic, and eager for the season to begin.
After four hours inside the Sacramento Kings practice facility, talking to every player on the roster, head coach Mike Brown, and general manager Monte McNair, here are the biggest takeaways from Sacramento Kings' Media Day 2023.
Championship Expectations
Every team will say they have playoff or championship expectations coming into the NBA year, but for the Sacramento Kings, it's more than just lip service. Mike Brown, De'Aaron Fox and the rest of the Kings have set the bar at it's highest. They aren't content with improving on last season by just making it past the first round of the playoffs. They want it all, but time will tell if they are ready for that leap. Nonetheless, the team's belief in their ability is genuine.
"Our fans expectations are our reality. We expect to compete for a championship," said Brown.
EuroLeague MVP Shooting
One of the newest members of the Kings, Sasha Vezenkov, brings a reinforcement of talent to Sacramento's familiar roster. Before Monday, there was a lot of discussion around Vezenkov's shooting and how that fits perfectly with his new team.
Hearing his teammates talk about him, some would think one of the best shooters in the world just walked through the Kings' door. That's exactly what Fox thinks. The reigning EuroLeague MVP has apparently already broken the team shooting drill records, including making all but seven shots in a 150 three-pointer shooting drill.
Fellow sharpshooter Kevin Huerter said, "He comes in and doesn't miss. A couple of us have some work to do to catch up".
Playoff Transparency
The Kings know that they allowed their playoff series with the Golden State Warriors to slip away earlier this year. But instead of making excuses, they are owning their mistakes and, more importantly, learning from them.
Davion Mitchell spoke openly about how his shooting weakness was exploited by the Warriors and that he's been working on his shot all summer.
"You always learn from losing. If you win all the time, you ain't going to learn anything," said Mitchell.
The Kings Family
You'd need more than ten fingers to count the amount of times a Kings player used the word "family" to describe this Kings team and their dynamic.
It's quite the difference from the struggles and drama of the 16-season playoff drought that is still fresh in fans' minds. This group genuinely gets along as well as you could hope for. It doesn't mean they don't go at one another on the court, but it's always in the interest of getting better. And off the court, not only are the players spending time together, their families, and especially young children, are too. Keegan Murray has spent a lot of time with Fox this summer, and that includes baby Reign Fox. Murray has been seen holding and pushing his stroller this summer.
The family dynamic has also done wonders to help Vezenkov feel at home,
"To see how hard they work, and the good human beings they are, showed me that I made the right decision," Vezenkov said.
Training camp begins Tuesday for the Kings, who will be suiting up and playing before long. This Sunday, they will travel to Vancouver to open their preseason against the Toronto Raptors. The vibes are good, expectations are high, and it's only a matter of time before we see the season's first beam lighting up the Sacramento skyline.
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