Shahbaz Khan

It looked like history was repeating itself Tuesday night in Sacramento, as the Kings saw a 10-point lead turn into a four-point deficit with just over 5 minutes left to play in the third quarter.  

Then the Kings did something they’ve struggled with much of this season – they outplayed their opponents in the third frame. 

Sacramento used a 15-5 run to take a lead they would never relinquish, en route to a 117-111 win over the Thunder, snapping a three-game losing streak in the process.  

“For us, I think it’s about playing 48 minutes,” Harrison Barnes said after the win. “We talked about it in the scrimmage yesterday, and just seeing some of those things come out in the game, it’s like, look you have to play all 48.  

“We had some slippage. We had some moments there where things could have went the other way. But we were able to get this win. Like I said, it’s about tomorrow, coming out with the same focus and same intention about what we’re doing.”  

Buddy Hield, who finished with 21 off the bench, scored seven points during the run, including a clutch bucket with 5.8 left in the quarter that helped Sacramento take an 87-81 advantage into the final frame.  

The Kings didn’t turn the ball over at all during the 5-minute run and held the Thunder to just 1-of-9 shooting in that span. 

“When we were able to go on our big runs it was it was built off of us getting stops defensively and getting out and running,” Tyrese Haliburton said. “And you guys know, Alvin (Gentry) always preaches transition basketball and y'all know that me and De’Aaron (Fox) and everybody else loves transition basketball. So that's what we have to be, you know, more times than not I thought we did a good job tonight.” 

Haliburton led the way for Sacramento, finishing with 24 points and 10 assist while becoming the first Kings player since Rajon Rondo (2015-16) with seven consecutive games with 7-plus assists. The second-year guard also added two blocks in the win, to give him 28 on the season, tied for third-most among guards.  

Harrison Barnes contributed 17 points, with all five of his makes coming from 3-point range, big man Damian Jones added a career-high 14 boards while Fox chipped in 12 points and eight assists in his second game back after a five-game stint in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. 

In addition to the solid offensive output, the Kings can thank their 57-45 rebounding advantage and near season-low 10 turnovers for their ability to prevent another one from slipping away in the third quarter.  

“It's just about figuring out ways to win. Honestly, I do not care how it happens, I just want to win,” Haliburton said. “I don't care if we mess up every time defensively and shoot 70% In the fourth and win the game – like, we won. And obviously, we're going to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to fix things. But you know, for right now, like in the moment right now, like I'm just glad to win.” 

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Kings use dominant third-quarter run to earn 117-111 win over Thunder, snap three-game skid

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On select days, your vote counts twice. Set a reminder and remember to vote!

Saturday, December 25Friday, January 7Thursday, January 13Monday, January 17Thursday, January 20

The NBA All-Star starters will be announced on Thursday, January 27 during TNT NBA Tip-Off presented by CarMax.

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NBA All-Star Voting is Now Open!

Tyrese Haliburton is quietly having the best month of his young career 

The second-year guard entered rarified air in Sacramento’s Dec. 22 game against the Clippers, becoming the first Kings player since Larry Drew in 1982 to record four-straight games of 20-points, 10-assists.  

He has already put up six double-doubles in the month of December – surpassing his total from all of last season – and has helped the Kings stay alive in the Western Conference’s ultra-competitive playoff race.  

The team is currently 5-6 this month, and you can see Haliburton’s fingerprints on all five wins.  

During Sacramento’s three-game winning streak in early December, Haliburton tallied two double-doubles and twice tied his season-high for threes (5) in victories against the Clippers and Magic.  

In the team’s 14-point win over the Wizards, who looked like one of the East’s best teams early in the season, Haliburton nearly put up his first career triple double, filling up the stat sheet for eight points, nine assists, eight rebounds, a season-high three blocks and three steals. 

The Kings were then struck by the injury bug as well as a rash of players entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols. And while the squad only managed to win one of their next three games, Haliburton stepped up even more in the absence of stalwarts like De’Aaron Fox and Richaun Holmes. 

He is having what is easily his most impressive stretch of his career, averaging 23.5 points and 11.3 assists over the last four games. For reference, in Haliburton’s five double-doubles his rookie season, he didn’t score over 20 points in any of them. 

More impressive has been his shooting from long range. After hitting just 38 percent of his threes the first two months of the season, he’s shot 45.2 percent from deep in December, including an absurd 50 percent over the team’s last three games. 

That type of success doesn’t go unnoticed. And opponents are starting to game plan for the 6-foot-5 guard, like the Warriors, who deployed a Box-and-1 defense against the Kings in their Dec. 20 matchup. 

“I think a lot of is it’s the ultimate credit to Ty, to run a box-and-1 against him. I mean, the kid is growing before our very eyes every single night.” Acting interim head coach Doug Christie said.  

“Even the hard [isolation], making sure that (Gary) Payton was on him many times – he was physical with him. But Ty played a fantastic game.” 

If Haliburton, who has logged over 37 minutes in each of the last four games, can continue to play as well as he has in December when Fox and key reserves like Davion Mitchell and Terence Davis return to the lineup, this team has the potential to quickly erase the 3.5 game gap currently separating the West’s 12th seed and 6th seeds.  

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Tyrese Haliburton is establishing himself as one of the NBA's most promising young guards

Since the Kings moved to Sacramento in 1985, the purple and black have selected 90 players in the NBA Draft, with 59 of those playing at least one game in a Kings uniform. Those 59 players have totaled nearly 10,000 games played with the squad.

Former Kings big man Jason Thompson tops the list of games played by former Draft picks, racking up 541 appearances during his Sacramento tenure.

Peja Stojakovic tallied 518 games played with Sactown which was the second-highest total among the previous selections.

Throughout the Sacramento era, the Kings have selected 33 guards, 40 forwards, and 17 centers.

Sacramento has held the No. 1 overall pick once, selecting Pervis Ellison in 1989. Despite being the first pick, Ellison played only one season with the Kings, totaling 34 games for the franchise.

Sactown has been slotted in the top-5 seven times, while No. 7 is the most common selection for Sacramento; the team has held that position six times since 1985.

The Kings held the No. 2 overall selection only once in franchise history (2018).

The Kings will be selecting at the No. 9 - the first time since 1984 - and No. 39 in the NBA Draft this upcoming Thursday. This will mark the 22nd time in franchise history the team will a top-10 pick in the NBA Draft.

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Kings Draft: By the Numbers

Dr. Harry Edwards is a world-renowned sociologist, author, professor and civil rights activist.

Dr. Edwards is an advocate for African-American athletes and a major influencer in sports and diversity development. Over the last four decades, he's been a staff consultant for the San Francisco 49ers and the Golden State Warriors. Dr. Edwards was also involved in efforts to develop and hire minority talent for front-office positions in Major League Baseball.

On Monday, Dr. Edwards spoke with players and the coaching staff for the Sacramento Kings for a wide-ranging discussion. Tuesday, Dr. Edwards will speak with all team members in the organization to conclude Black History Month.

Dr. Edwards attended San Jose State University and became the first black student-athlete since the early 1950s to graduate from the university within the time frame of his athletic eligibility, according to the California State University website.

Dr. Edwards earned a PhD from Cornell and is currently a sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where his writing and research focuses on “developments at the interface of sport, race and society, particularly as pertains to the experiences of African-Americans."

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Dr. Harry Edwards Visits Kings for Black History Month Discussion

The Sacramento Kings announced today that Joe Dumars has been named Chief Strategy Officer. In this new role, he will continue to report to the owner and chairman, and help drive strategy across the organization’s entire portfolio of activities, including business, basketball, new ventures, entertainment and real estate. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Joe’s business acumen along with his deep experience in the league will serve as a valuable resource across the organization,” said Kings Owner and Chairman Vivek Ranadivé. “He has achieved proven results in the corporate world on top of many notable accolades as a player and basketball executive, and I am excited to have him serve in this position.”

“I want to thank Vivek for this opportunity and look forward to supporting both sides of the business as we work together to build the successful future that this franchise and community deserves,” said Dumars.

In June 2019, Dumars joined the Kings as Special Advisor to the General Manager, most recently serving as Interim Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations.

He has over 30 years of NBA experience both as a player and front office executive in addition to an extensive executive business background. Prior to joining the Kings, Dumars served as president of the Basketball Division for Independent Sports &amp; Entertainment (ISE), a full-service sports agency representing more than 300 players from the NBA, NFL and MLB. Dumars was also the founder and CEO of automotive supply company Detroit Technologies Inc. for 10 years (1996-06), helping the company grow to more than $120 million in revenues. He is also the founder and owner of the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse, a multi-purpose, indoor sports complex and entertainment facility with two locations in Detroit.

The Hall of Fame guard served as president of basketball operations for the Detroit Pistons for 13 seasons (2000-14). In 2004, he became the first African American executive to lead an organization to an NBA title. He also guided the team to six straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances, two Eastern Conference Championships and was named NBA Executive of the Year in 2003. In 2010, Sports Illustrated named Dumars one of the Top 10 sports executives of the past decade. 

During his 14-year NBA career, Dumars won two titles, was named NBA Finals MVP, appeared in six All-Star games and was named All-Defensive First Team four times. He was also a member of the 1994 gold-medal USA Basketball World Championships team. Dumars was the first recipient of the NBA Sportsmanship Award (1995-96), which was subsequently named the Joe Dumars Trophy. 

Dumars holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from McNeese State University.

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Kings Name Joe Dumars Chief Strategy Officer

The Sacramento Kings Social Producer discusses her career path, mentors and advocacy for black women in the sports &amp; entertainment industry in an interview conducted by Kings Director of Human Resources and Diversity &amp; Inclusion Kyle Ellington.

KE: What do you enjoy most about your job covering content for the Team?

TM: What I enjoy most about my job is the people I work with. Everyone is super creative and fun to work with. It’s such a positive work environment where we can all share content ideas. A close second is covering games – I love the atmosphere of Golden 1 Center!

TM: My career path is a little different than the average person working in sports. I went to the University of Maryland and in college, I received my degree in Government and Politics. I didn’t get serious about getting internships until my Junior year, and that’s because a friend of mine made me feel bad for not having any!

From that moment, until I graduated, I had an internship every semester. At the time, I wanted to pursue a career in television, so I interned at CBS, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, iHeartMedia and a Production company. That led me to my job at Showtime in New York, where I worked for 2 years before coming to the Kings.

When I accepted the job with the Kings I was initially a Production Manager. My plan was to stay here for 1 year to get more experience in production, and then move to L.A. or back to New York to pursue television development. Things didn’t quite go that way. I was fortunate to be able to move to the Digital department where I have grown tremendously. It has now been two years, and I couldn’t be happier here!

KE: Where do you want to be in your career in 5 years?

TM: To be completely honest, I’m not sure exactly where I want my career to be. Maybe a manager or a director by that time.

KE: What advice would you give to people who are pursuing their career dreams?

TM: I would say work hard and network. It’s not the fanciest advice, but it rings true for me. LinkedIn is very important. The reason why I got my job at Showtime and at the Kings is because someone reached out to me first on LinkedIn.

Even while pursuing jobs, I would send messages to people on LinkedIn asking for informational interviews, asking people out for coffee to talk about their career paths – that way if a job opportunity came up, they would think of me. It has got my foot in the door for numerous interviews and if you keep that connection, they can then help you in the future as well.

I’ve learned that most people do want to help others get a foot in the door. You may hear a lot of “no’s” but all you need is one “yes!”

KE: How would you describe your role with the Sacramento Kings?

TM: Kyle Ramos, who works in the Digital department, said I am the “Swiss Army Knife” of the department, and that’s probably true. I have a hand in a lot of different places within our department.

While I do a lot of different things, the majority of my time is spent with the Sacramento and Stockton Kings. I help with home and away Kings games, whether that’s social or locker room interviews, road trips, blogs for Kings.com and more.

I also handle a majority of the Stockton content that gets produced and output on the channel. That also includes games, fun videos, engagement images and also writing for StocktonKings.com.

KE: Who would you say have been your biggest role models?

TM: My biggest role models have been Gabrielle Simpson, Marica Chacona and my mother.

Gabrielle Simpson is an amazing woman, who I met while doing my internship at CBS in New York. I was so amazed by her. She was a black woman who was the manager at a major broadcasting studio. After my time at CBS, I kept in touch with her as she advanced in her career and she continued to help me advance in mine.

Marica was my previous boss at Showtime. She could do it all, and she provided constant encouragement, listened, and helped me reach goals that I never thought I could achieve. I was thankful to have her as a boss.

My mom constantly supports me in anything I want to do. She always believes in me and I definitely would not be where I am without her.

KE: What advice would you give to any fellow African American Women who are striving to succeed in the sports and entertainment industry?

TM: The advice I would give is: work hard and know your worth. There definitely will be people that think you can’t do something because of your color or gender, but know not to believe them.

Reach out to other women of color where you can get support from. I have that with my sorority sisters (Alpha Kappa Alpha), my friend group and my mentors. You are not alone in this industry and if you work hard and network you can truly do anything.

KE: What’s your favorite memory from your tenure with the Kings?

TM: My favorite memory with the Kings is going to India with the team. It was such an eye-opening experience seeing another country and culture. The people and the kids were all so amazing and I did things that I never could have imagined being able to do at a job. I am fortunate to be able to say that I made history with the NBA and the Sacramento Kings.

KE: What’s one book, movie, show, play or podcast you’d recommend, and why?

TM: I would recommend “The Read” with Kid Fury and Crissle. It’s a general podcast about gossip stories of the week, Listener Letters, and then they “Read” someone or something at the end. I like it because it’s funny, inclusive, they’ve started a mental health segment and they are very relatable to me. Be warned, it’s NSFW!

KE: What’s something you practice outside of work that enriches your life, and why?

TM: It’s not practice really, but I try my best to keep up with television. At my previous job that’s what I lived and breathed, and while I can’t keep up like I used to, I love TV and still try and watch the most I can. Even with shows I don’t watch, I still read TV reviews on AVClub or Vanity Fair, see what’s happening on Deadline just to still feel a part of it.

KE: When you look back at the end of your career, how will you measure success?

TM: I more measure success if I’m happy and healthy. I don’t know where my career will lead, but I don’t like looking too far ahead. Just living my best life day-by-day.

KE: Why did you join the Diversity &amp; Inclusion Council?

TM: I joined this council because diversity and inclusion is an important issue to me. Being an African American woman, there’s truly not a lot of people in this industry or my previous one that looked like me.

I would love to make it a priority to have someone advocating for people of color in this industry and getting more of those people in the door and giving them a chance.

I also feel this is a great chance for people to learn about my culture and for me to learn from theirs. It helps the team get a different point of view – one they may have never considered.

Diversity and Inclusion are very important to a successful workplace and I can only hope to have a hand in that to create a fun, inclusive work environment!

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Q&A with Tracee Jay

Think your baby has what it takes? We’re looking for the fastest youngsters in the Sacramento area to join us at Golden 1 Center for another thrilling Kaiser Permanente Baby Race! It takes place when the Kings host the Boston Celtics on Sunday, November 17.