The Sacramento Kings currently sit in fifth place in the NBA Western Conference and have won six games in a row for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
The secret to their uncharacteristically hot start just might be a laser beam.
After every Kings win this season, home or away, the team lights its Victory Beam — a purple beam of light that shoots up from the top of Golden 1 Center and, quite literally, into space.
The beam was introduced on Sept. 16 — known as 916 Day in Sacramento — and was first lit on Oct. 29 after the Kings’ victory over the Miami Heat.
It is powered by four lasers capable of producing 1,000 watts of RGB laser power, making it the brightest full color laser equipment in the world. The beam stays on until midnight — and the club had to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use it.
Kings co-owner and chairman Vivek Ranadivé wanted a unique experience for fans to accompany wins for his franchise.
- Randivés’ friend David Kelley suggested the franchise needed something that would mark a Kings game as something that’s “going to be unique, it’s going to be special, and you look forward to it.”
- Team president of business operations John Rinehart was inspired by the Los Angeles Angels “victory halo” and wanted something to show passing by fans that their team was victorious that day.
“We toyed with different ideas,” Randivé told NBC Sports California. “Do we light up the Capitol building? Do we light up [Tower Bridge]? What do we do? But we really wanted it emanating from our building.”
Fans, media, and players (who have started calling themselves the Beam Team) alike have all fallen in love with the beam, which has subsequently helped the perennially struggling franchise build momentum as it looks to end a 16-season playoff drought — the longest in NBA history and longest active in the four major American sports.
“It’s become almost like a beacon of hope for everyone,” Randivé says.
