It was an early start time for this Kings event... 2:30pm on a Tuesday! Though it was early, and most people were still at work, a good sized group of Kings fans came out to support the team as the city council was set to vote on the new arena deal tonight. The Kings organization put forth a major effort with a whole schedule of events to fill the day.
The local media definitely got everything covered. There were local news trucks parked all around the block. This is definitely big news here in Sacramento - I saw plenty of television news reporters and cameramen out and about trying to get the scoop!
Kings social media had a presence right near the front stage. Today's hashtag for the event was #powerforward, so if you go to a social media site such as Instagram or Twitter and search for it, you'll see everybody's pictures and comments about today's event.
Of course Slamson had to be there! Here he is causing a bit of trouble for Kings PA Announcer Scott Moak. Slamson took Scott's shoe and gave it to a little girl near the front of the crowd. She was nice enough to return it to Scott in pretty fast manner.
Here's a bit of a closer look of Scott Moak sans his shoe. I've got to hand it to Scott though, he's got the purple thing going on all the way down to his socks... not that's Sacramento Kings pride right there! He also hung in there and spent a lot of time on stage without his shoe on.
It was awesome to see Isaiah Thomas visit on his own accord this afternoon. He flew in from his home state of Washington to come and support the Kings today. Besides the vote, the Kings' draft position would be decided.
Many Kings fans gathered at the nearby KBAR to watch the NBA draft order. Vivek was in attendance along with many other Kings staff and fans. Sadly, the Kings got the number eight pick. It was one position lower than they were expected to get. There was some rumors going around that the pick was already up for trade by the Kings, but we'll just have to wait and see on it.
The Kings Breakers came out to entertain the crowd. They definitely impressed with some awesome break dancing moves.
The Sacramento Kings dancers also came out to do a few performances for those in attendance. I always enjoy seeing the SKD in action and they didn't disappoint. I also had a great time catching up with some SKD members... it's great to hear what they've been up to since the season ended.
Again, I was humbled and honored to have some of my photos show up in a gallery on Kings.com. I appreciate that the Kings organization credited me on the site and I am always excited to have some photos on the main site. Go over them and check them out!
