Thursday, April 14th, 2011 at 1:08 pm  |  12 responses

Gallery: A Night of Mourning and Celebration

Images from last night’s emotional finale in Sacramento.

by Jonathan Santiago / @itsJONsantiago

The last night of the NBA regular season at Power Balance…scratch that…Arco Arena was not just any other night. With the Maloofs mulling over relocation, the building was filled with every emotion you could possibly think of: joy, frustration, agony, sadness, jubilation and more. The game itself pitted old rivals in a contest that culminated 26 years of Sacramento Kings basketball. It was only fitting that the home team came back from a 20-point deficit to push the defending champion Lakers to the brink of defeat for perhaps one final time inside the cowbell kingdom.

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  • http://pickandroll.tumblr.com/ airs

    damn, so sad to see. love pic 25 haha.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Eboy

    I don’t know how you couldn’t have enjoyed the way the early 2000′s Kings teams played. They were one robbed quarter away from being an NBA Finalist and brought “team” play to the forefront when the league was being viewed as a “selfish” group of greedy, over pampered stars. I remember the year they used AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” as their playoff opening…..pretty much sent chills up your spine. C-Webb. Vlade, Christie, Scott Pollard, Bibby (and J-Will before him)Bobby Jackson…these dudes played a beautiful brand of basketball that all but validated Sacramento as a fantastic place to have a basketball organization. Shout out to Mitch Richmond too….who was the Kings “Rock” for so long. Unless a miracle happens, thanks Sacramento, for the memories.

  • Ali

    @ Eboy, man you said it all! Thanks for the memories SacTown!

  • http://klatschendom.wordpress.com/ Speedy

    Cosign Eboy. This team was basketball for me.
    Fast and unselfish.
    They would not only have been finalists, they would have won the finals.

  • http://twitter.com/BeezKneezy LA Huey

    co-sign Eboy
    RIP Sacramento Kings

  • Tadinis

    Business is business, just relocate the team, no body cares anyway, f***k team history, true fans, no one will notice, that’s USA!!!

  • http://www.NFLranking.net NFLranking

    The Bavetta and Delaney jerseys say it all!

  • http://http//portlandfan1203.blogspot.com Karley

    EBOY well said. Sacramento your legacy will never be forgotten lets go Royals i can see the Royals being great with great fans.. Either way its been a good season and Sacramento wont be forgotten.

  • Jono

    Co-sign Eboy. Not to mention Peja splashing 3′s from all-over the place. Oh and Doug Christie’s wife trailing the team bus all-over the place.

  • http://www.double-technical.blogspot.com Zee!

    Very sad to see. First Seattle and now Sac. Damn. Thank you Kobe for sending them off properly. Classy move by the Kings coming out and talking to the fans after all was said and done. The Maloofs are gonna see what it feels like to no longer be the only show in town once they get to SoCal.

  • http://slamonline.com/ Tzvi Twersky

    This is great. Thanks, Jonathan.

  • Danny_W_UK

    I’m still loving Kenny Smith, Reggie Theus (playing), The Rock, Funderburke, Tyus Edney, Big Nasty. Too many good memories. Here’s hoping to David Stern crushing the move….

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