For the first time in NBA history, two Northern California basketball teams are meeting in the postseason: the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors. Fans of each team are excited. But since the Kings have not made it to the playoffs for almost two decades, one of their fans is expressing his enthusiasm about his hometown team’s arrival to the big dance. William Harris, a resident at SQ, is from Sacramento. Of his 27 years incarcerated, two have been at SQ. Since his incarceration, he has not seen his home team make it to the postseason.
Timothy Hicks: How’s it going, man? I’m just going to jump right in it. How long have you been a Kings fan?
William Harris: It’s all good. Excited about my team. I been a Kings fan for as long as I can remember. For about 37 years.
TH: I know that Warriors fans are just as excited as you are. But, I can imagine how the excitement must be for you, though, being that your team has not been to the dance in decades. Tell me some of the things you can remember about your team.
WH: I’m a huge fan. I remember when I was a kid and when I went to the Reggie Theus basketball camp. I remember seeing the old starters come on the court: Reggie Theus, Lasale Thomson, Odis Thorpe, Larry Drew and Eddie Johnson.
TH: Your team finally joined in on the dance floor at the post season this year. The Warriors been holding down the league for almost a decade now themselves. Four rings in the last eight years. How do you explain what’s going on now?
WH: It’s all in the coach we got now. The Warriors’ and Cleveland Cavaliers’ old assistant coach, Mike Brown, is leading the team now. He turned that team around.
His experience in the league makes the difference. That’s the one thing that the Kings have today that they didn’t have before.
TH: Can you compare the Kings of today to the Warriors of today?
WH: It’s hard to compare the Kings to the Warriors. Unfortunately, I have not seen them play yet. But I can say that the Warriors have a different pedigree. They got Klay Thompson, Curry, Green, Jordan Poole and they just got Wiggins and GP II back, too. But I’m definitely going for the Kings, though, regardless.
TH: Who do you know that is on the Kings that can give the Warriors a hard time?
WH: We got Harrison Barnes, De’Aaron Fox, Domantis Sabonis, Keegan Murry, Malik Monk and Lyles off the bench.
TH: The Warriors have never lost in the playoffs when all players were healthy under Steve Kerr. You mentioned Harrison Barnes, from the old Warriors, good three-point shooter. But Klay just elevated his game and became one of the top-five three-point shooters in the league. The Warriors have shooters.
Update: The Sacramento Kings were defeated by the Warriors in their series 4-3.
