There isn’t a better credit to your work than to be praised by the best in your branch.
The Sacramento Kings received another package of kind words stated by their state rivals, and the champs the Golden State Warriors.
“No disrespect to them, but the other team’s got to win some games before it can really be a rivalry,” said Draymond Green when one reporter asked him about the potential rivalry in the making between them and the Kings.
And then he continued.
“But I have no doubt in my mind, that that team is going to win a lot of games coming up pretty soon. They’re putting it together.”
You know when Draymond Green speaks it is often controversial, and many of his interviews drew a lot of attention. Though, this time we saw him in a totally different mood. He was honest.
The Kings lost to Warriors once again. Fourth time this season. And each game could have gone either way, but the more experienced Warriors somehow manage to pull themselves out from the hole.
The total margin in all four losses was 12 points in favor of the champs. Each time they had to sweat until the last second, just like this Thursday.
If Buddy Hield had a bit better situation, we could see the overtime.
Kevin Durant already spoke about the fact that Kings have a bright future, and that it slowly becomes the present as the season goes by. KD has a high opinion about this rival, and he doesn’t want to hide that.
He was straight to the bone after last night’s win.
“That’s the fourth game that we deserved to lose against this team,” Warriors forward told the reporters.
Kings are fighting to reach the playoff spot from the start of the season, and though many didn’t see them this high, here they are.
After twenty-something games, the majority of the experts were predicting their decline and fall. Again, they are still here. One and a half game behind that 8th spot, which opens the door to the heavens for their fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5t6s3NJDL4&t=8s
And their chances of reaching that place are quite solid. Clippers are making the team for the next season, and they traded their best players. Utah is looking a bit pale, without the chemistry from the last season. San Antonio is old. They are really without energy, and it seems that Gregg Popovich can’t make them any better than they are at the moment.
On the other side, the young Kings have plenty of energy, and a lot of room to improve.
That is exactly what Steph Curry mentioned during the press conference.
“They’re all learning experiences,” Curry said.
The two-time MVP was also remembering the time when his Warriors started to grow, and when they faced the Lakers during his first NBA season.
Back then, the Lakers were the champs, and GSW was just starting to indicate their potential. They couldn’t defeat Kobe and the boys, despite giving their best shot each time, and getting awfully close to them.
“They’re all learning experiences,” Curry said. “The top teams — for us I think it was the Lakers, my rookie year, that ’09-10 championship team that we wanted to get up for every game…we’d always play our best and it never worked in our favor.”
So, he does understand how the Kings feel right now.
Vlade Divac Sacramento’s general manager, was under huge pressure of the public and the fans when he decided to trade Boogie Cousins to New Orleans some two years ago. Divas was a laughing stock to the whole NBA, at the time, and nobody realized that the former center and the legend of this club has a long-term vision.
Now, nobody makes fun of Kings or Divac. They have become one of the fastest developing teams in the league, with enormous potential. Plus, everybody likes the way they play. Quick, attractive, with a nice ball movement, something pretty much like the Warriors.
Maybe that is why the champs like to praise the boys from the Sacramento because they see themselves when they started their journey to the top.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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