Domantas Sabonis in a recent interview for ESPN:
AS DOMANTAS SABONIS and Justin Holiday flew to Sacramento last February -- hours after being traded from the Indiana Pacers to the Kings in a blockbuster deal for Tyrese Haliburton -- they decided to scan social media for reaction to the trade.
"The comments," Sabonis says, laughing, "were horrible."
Oh my god, we are gonna get booed!" Sabonis recalls exclaiming.
"Dude," Holiday remembers saying, "they are gonna boo the crap out of us!"
WHEN SABONIS ARRIVED, Fox assured him fans would be welcoming.
"We never even talked about the trade," Fox says. "I told him how crazy our fans are -- how much they cheer our team."
Still, Sabonis was nervous about the crowd response before his home debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves. As he taped himself up the way he always did before games, Sabonis was surprised to see the rest of his teammates jog to the court without him; the Kings followed a different pregame routine, and hit the floor earlier than the Pacers had. Sabonis would come out alone, all eyes on him.
"I got a standing ovation -- screaming, cheering," Sabonis says. "I had goosebumps."
"I know what I bring as a player," he says. "The Kings wanted me. They wanted to build the team around Fox and me. The goal was to change the franchise. The comments didn't matter. What mattered was how much the Kings loved me."
Kings are currently the 3rd seed in the Western Conference with a 43-28 record. They will be in playoffs for the first time since 2006.
LIGHT THE BEAM
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