It was finally time.

Diehard Sacramento Kings fan Kevin Fippin wanted to propose to his long-time girlfriend Lydia Nicolaisen. So before he popped the question on New Year’s Eve, he recruited the services of a Sacramento Kings fan favorite.

Congratulations to Kevin and the soon to be Mrs. Lydia Fippin!

H/T Jason Wise

Tyreke Evans is a hardcore Pittsburgh Steelers fan.  So, when the steel curtain fell to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos in overtime of yesterday’s AFC Wild Card Game, the Sacramento Kings guard wasn’t very pleased.  We shared the quote from Evans last night, now here’s the video.

Charles Barkley hosted Saturday Night Live and participated in SNL’s Inside the NBA skit. And with the Kings making national headlines last week because of an alleged feud between DeMarcus Cousins and former head Coach Paul Westphal, Lorne Michaels and company decided to have a little fun at the big man’s expense.

Negative publicity is better than no publicity, right?

H/T: The Big Lead

As part of their initiation into the NBA, Sacramento Kings first-year guard Jimmer Fredette and fellow rookie Adrian Oliver clean up after their teammates following practice.

The water bottles, they say if you don’t pick them up, the rookies have to pay $100 for every bottle thats on the floor.  So I was going around and picking them because I don’t want to have to pay $100.

- Jimmer

You’ve probably seen LeBron James (twice actually) and more recently, Chris Paul handle their business against the younger generation.  Now watch as Kings center Hassan Whiteside goes to work on kids at a student rally yesterday at Jesuit High School.

One additional note:  A student in the video asks Whiteside what’s been the toughest challenge he’s faced in his career so far, and no surprise, he says the knee injury that kept him out his rookie year.  Out of everyone who played in the Goon Squad Classic two weeks ago, the general consensus among those in attendance was that Tyreke Evans looked the most impressive.  But considering the left knee issues Whiteside battled all season, I was pretty impressed by the Kings center, who said before the game he had just been cleared to start playing a few weeks ago.  Granted the GSC was just an exhibition, however Whiteside looked explosive and moved fluidly throughout the game.  When I asked who impressed him most after the game, Donté Greene co-signed:

Hassan looked real good.  Hassan Whiteside didn’t get a chance to play last year, injury-prone.  So it was good to see him out there getting dunks and doing his thing.

The team over at Yay Area’s Finest put together an amazing mixtape of all the highlights from the Goon Squad Classic.  Tremendous tip of the hat to them for their work.

If you didn’t catch last week’s game, here a few Kings rookie highlights from Jimmer’s All-Stars.

Isaiah Thomas

Tyler Honeycutt

Jimmer Fredette

A tip of the hat to Lockout Hoops for sharing.

DeMarcus Cousins looked solid if not great yesterday, starting for DC’s Goodman League team in their promo match-up against LA’s Drew League all-stars.  JaVale McGee was no match for Cousins’ power as the Kings’ young big man dunked all over him in consecutive possessions.  With the NBA locked in a serious labor battle, games like this might be the only hoops we see for a while.

 

And here is a closer view of the drop step by NBA playbook’s Sebastian Pruiti.

Footage from Washington D.C.’s Goodman League this past weekend showcases a one-on-one battle between the Kings Donté Greene and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant.

Via The Mars Reel:

In this clip above Kevin Durant and Donte Greene exchange buckets in a crowd-pleasing manner creating an explosion of Oohs and Aahs throughout the Spingharn HS gymnasium. Who do you think won the battle? Donte or Kd?

Reminder: The Goodman League vs. Drew League showdown is this Saturday.

(H/T TBJ)

From the rally at Arden Fair Mall. Not really in focus, but I think you get the picture.  And yes, this really happened.