Sam Amick on the Sacramento Kings’ push for the playoffs
We’re going to go back and forth here basketball obviously is what we’re going to talk about with Samuel amch but at the same time I think it’s appropriate because Sam in addition to being uh on the Mount Rushmore of plugged in National NBA writers that we are uh so
So lucky to have each and every week uh in addition to being a senior writer with uh the athletic on a national level uh Sam lives in El Grove sorry Sam Sam originally is from Pleasanton Sam is a lifelong Giant fan uh but Sam also uh before he became Superstar Sam uh was
The beat writer I believe taking over for the late great Marty mcneel at the Sacramento B uh and and knows this community knows the relocation Saga incredibly well Sam also me a lifelong Giants fan uh I’m just honestly curious what this a News Now official what what
Are your thoughts on it as a baseball fan and as a Sacrament and as a former Bay Area guy first of all good morning guys um sorry good morning Sam no I just give me the meat and potatoes because I it’s been a hell of a morning you can tell by
My bed head on the YouTube here um what is uh what’s the so it’s done this morning yeah sorry so the the uh oh wait I got to be a capital J journalist like Sam as first reported by sack Down Sports yesterday the A’s I heard you had
Some tweets out there actually I C that part good job buddy thank you uh the A’s to Sacramento is official uh the Kings SL baseball slas themselves sent out a statement uh about 10 minutes ago uh they they will be here for at least three years starting next season with an
Option for a fourth and they made it very clear as we were just talking about multiple times in the statement and route to their permanent home in Las Vegas but for at least the next three years Sacramento will be a home to what some may say is Major League
Baseball yeah I mean mixed uh excuse me mixed reaction I think like a lot of people uh like you said I’ve got this personal profile of Bay Area and Sacramento being the two communities that I’ve been you know raised in so to speak um and also a guy that when I was
A kid baseball was my sport like you said the Giants I covered baseball for years I covered the Moneyball A’s a bit and the Giants and so I mean I’m happy for Sacramento from the standpoint of um listen taking advantage of a a business situation that ultimately it sounds like
It’s going to go to Vegas anyway um it’s it’s an addition to the community it’s a strong baseball area as you guys know excuse me um you know they’ve talked about trying to get an actual team for a very long time um so yeah I mean I I
Feel for the Oakland fans and and have for years um including our buddy you know neighbor John who as big an ace fan as as anybody um so I wonder how he’s going to feel honestly I wonder how he that’s the guy I’m curious about we had
Talked about it and unless his stance has changed I don’t uh and who knows it could have I I don’t think he was rushing off to get season tickets sure um I I don’t know if he has it in him to to stay away for three years um yeah the
Irony is as the guy and myself who grew up a Giants fan I’m sure is Hell going to go out there and and watch the A’s um so you know it’s it’s another I guess broadly speaking it’s another uh kind of feather in the cap for the city of Sacramento in terms of
Growth in terms of kind of getting its big boy pants on even more you know you save the Kings you you you provide a home for a team like the A’s that is looking for a solution so um yeah I mean that’s kind of how I see it but uh but
You know that’s all I got buddy yeah I was gonna say I know we’ll get into the NBA s but just I all of us all connected to this community in one way or another I think all have people that are a fans you kind of reference that as well I
Just wonder what your read is because on on the connections that I have I’ve literally heard splits I’m are like no I’m absolutely done with this team I don’t want to support Fischer I would not support him going to Sacramento to others like yeah at least I could see my
Team here I’d like to see him in Sacramento and it’s really weird I think the mixed emotions the way you started it is perfect I think that’s kind of the way it may go with the fan base yeah for sure I mean first of all that’s not
Gloss over the actual product itself so are they going to win any games are they going to be the Bad News Bears like they’ve been the last couple of years um now at minimum for people if you are a neutral party in Sacramento it’s obviously it opens up this exciting door
To go see the rest of Major League Baseball um really it’s sadly the way the Kings had been for a lot of the past 15 years before last year where even if you were out on the local team you could go see you know your favorite NBA
Players so that component uh is is new and and exciting for the city um and then yeah I think the mixed emotions stuff Jay makes sense partly just personality based partly um kind of just how you rooll in terms of the way you live your life so I don’t know uh we’ll
See I mean attendance will be really interesting um you know and I’m looking forward to seeing it talk to me uh a bit you know when we talk about uh the NBA goings on as we will uh switch over there uh Julius Randall season ending surgery I’m going to ask you one of
Those philosophical not you know reporter questions as I love to do but you know the Knicks really seem to have turned a corner and it happens to have happened without Julius Randall now uh there’s that old um post Hawk Ergo propter Hawk thing where it’s after it therefore because of it doesn’t
Necessarily mean what coincidence or correlation isn’t whatever now I’m getting over my skis um back in school brother right I know I thought I was smart so the in your mind the easy road to go here would be well Julius Randall might be available in the summer because they were actually
Better record-wise without him or or do you think that’s a bit of a mirage when it comes to the pieces of the next who the Kings play tonight um I think it’s a to be determined situation based on the rest of the market meaning uh they have
Been to Carl Anthony towns in the past one of their front office Executives is Gerson Rosas who uh you know came up with Carl and the timber known to be an advocate of that idea so point being you’re not just they’re not just getting off of Julius Randall um yeah like yeah
They won some games they just lost three in a row by the way um they also didn’t have OG anobi and haven’t for quite some time did I hear right he’s he might be out for the year I thought I heard that yesterday that they don’t expect him
Back OG yeah have you heard anything about that I haven’t I mean to this point he had been expected to return okay okay so was Julius Randall so yeah right right you know I’m disappointed just because I enjoy their team and at full strength they were literally like a top
Three team in the NBA for about three weeks and I was really curious to see what they could do this takes a lot of wi out of their sales but this summer a little bit like you hear chatter about the Lakers and how they’re going to go
Star hunting again and this Summer that the Knicks you know have their own version of that so to me Julius is heading you know out only if somebody of significance is coming in Sam a week ago we talked to you as we do every Thursday
At 8 and the Kings had lost the first of two to Dallas really got crushed in that game the second one much better game opportunity to win Kings lose so damaging lost there they also lose Malik monk in the game for at basically the rest of year we believe four to six
Weeks here um but since then you know a couple of wins here maybe restoring some belief here here we are the up and down Kings again but just your perspective on seeing them uh now life without Kevin herder and and Malik monk yeah up and
Down like you said and guys not to take over the host duties real quick but as you manage our visit here um can we make sure we keep a couple minutes for a brief Clipper segment because I know how much Dave loves talking about the Clippers yes had it baby let’s go
All right so I’m ready for you on that end they obviously just got waxed by the the Kings the other night so Kings up and down right when you think they blew it with the two losses to Dallas you know they they kind of get you thinking
Again as they head into this East Coast trip uh I you know I don’t know like listen everybody at the arena the other night looked at the Boston New York back toback it is a back toback right yes yeah you know and said all right well
Those are either two l’s are a one inone split um I mean the Celtics just lost twice to the Hawks I know they’re dominant um they also just secured the number one seed League wide uh and so that could shift rotations and does Joe Missoula down throttle a bit does that
Help the Kings Point being you know it’s not outside the realm of possibility uh and I’m being I’m having reasy biased because they looked really good against the Clippers the other night that they go um kick some butt on this trip and and you know get into that six spot
Somehow now they don’t have the tiebreaker against New Orleans obviously it’s undetermined against Phoenix I believe um and so it’s just absolutely nip and Tuck between those three and you know we’ll see what they can do but they’re they’re still in it and you know obviously trying to avoid that plan
Territory Sam am joining us from the athletic hold on let me let me put on my outfit here if we’re gonna do this real quick we’re gonna teasing us so we got to get there we got to get there okay so let me put on my clown wig here hey Sam
What’s going on with the uh Clippers buddy well the you know the radio listeners are gonna wish they were on YouTube today because they get point you with the clown hat and I actually also came prepared with props you ready for this yes we we somehow we sometimes get
Free stuff sent To Us by teams you know and it’s I don’t typically like taking free stuff but uh if you get my address and you send stuff that I will never wear yeah than on this radio show so I got I got my clippers hat here you know
Baby look at that okay let’s see we’re we’re on what about a 5sec delay oh there look at oh that’s the new looking hat the clips it’s actually smooth I if I could only find a Clippers fan I would give it to him um so I wrote about him
Today I just think um you know and listen it’s fine if the column that I wrote Today blows up on my face that happens sometimes I looked at their last two months and and your favorite player James Harden in particular Dave yeah and it’s like man I you know first line of
The story I just said you know are the Clippers already unofficially out as title contenders um since February 7th they have the 28th best in air quotes defensive rating in the NBA wolof um that’s definitely a wolf the James Harden stuff though is is wild um he just had back-to-back single
Scoring games yeah and just for context I I went down a rabbit hole looking at that particular stat and reality um this is a guy who love him or hate him is an all-time great scorer he went from 2015 to 2020 without ever having a single
Digit scoring game wow um in the last three seasons so I understand things have changed in terms of his you know profile and he’s been more of a playmaker but even with the last three years in Brooklyn in Philly he had four combined singled digigit scoring games
He has 10 this year for the Clippers and the other night when they’re playing the Kings you’re just looking at it going okay I understand that the responsibilities are different within the context of this Clippers team but they had no kawh Leonard like it was absolutely the kind of night where James
Being James like the old days would have been massive for them the part that I I knew Dave would love to hear is that if you talk about the officiating shift Midway through this season and the and the what has happened to the whistle and they just simply not uh they’re
Basically legislating out a lot of the foul hunting um James not shockingly has been pretty significantly impacted by that uh this is a guy that has averaged around 8.3 free throw attempts per game for his entire career and I think the span was about that’s going back to the
All-star break he’s averaging about 2.7 I’ve got it right in front of me three point 3.7 just this last month alone and then lower the month before and my favorite stat to pull out these days is James Harden has more free throws made than field goals made in his career
Which is astounding anyone called a free throw Merchant now or throughout history I went and looked none of them none of them do that and James Harden Sam to just underscore your point against the Kings Four attempts the Hornets four attempts Philly two attempts uh Philly
Again two attempts from the line he had one against Atlanta in 36 minutes that that is you if you didn’t know any better you’d say James Harden is mentally checked out yeah it’s not a good look I mean I’m always a little reticent to come away you know I I see a
Team for a day or two sometimes and I don’t want to have big picture takeaways as if I’m there every single day but you hear stuff um and and the other night man it was The Vibes were a little strange you know uh Paul George was asked about what you know the Clippers
Could do to get James going again on the scoring side and he wasn’t like irritated I don’t want to misconvey uh you know the way Paul was but his answer was literally I’m not a coach I’m not the coach next question um and then even tyou had a
Passing comment about you know I suppose I could have run more ISO for him and it’s a little bit like yeah you think like if you met James Harden right um so yeah and they just they’re 13 and 133 in that two Monon stretch um and it
Was also weird you talk about how low their bar is right now um they they can’t they acted like they played well against the Kings you know um which I thought was a little odd it was it was like feelings I think have been hurt a
Little bit this is my own two censor analysis but like tyou called him soft about a week ago you know you had kind of back and forth questions you know because James Harden talked about identity tyo says our our identity is we’re soft so um yeah they’re not in a
Good place and and that you know they had that stretch a couple months back where they were one of the best teams in the league so it’s it’s pretty wild how it’s gone off the track so quick yeah I like how you said that samon where you can’t like make full season judgment
When you know seeing a team you know once or twice or kind of popping in during the season but that pop in I thought was revealing the other day I I I don’t know I just had no other way to put it but looked like the Kings took
Their spirit the play I recited was look the the kings were were kind of crushing them it’s end of the third Kings got a great basket I think it was about 2.4 to go inbound to Paul George and no attempt I mean again likelihood of him making a
Halfcourt shot or advancing it to someone makes a three to beat the buzzer small but it was like yeah I’m not even going to try I’m just G to hold the ball and end the quarter and it just it just looked like there was Zero fight all
Their more of their shots were taken by zubot on a team that has harden and Westbrook and Paul George it it just everything seemed out of whack at least on the one night to see them here well and quick backdrop not to make you know hijack your show with clippers talk but
Like the backdrop absolutely fascinates me I mean Steve bomber as you guys know has more money than God far more money than than anybody in the league and and so he has fought so hard to separate his team’s identity and his organization from the Lakers and here they are on the
Doorstep of getting their own new Arena this summer in Englewood it’s a very exciting time but if this team is terrible it’s going to make his offseason really really hard because he already locked up kawii Leonard Paul George and that extension situation gets more interesting by the week and the
Month because we thought that would get done and it hasn’t and now you look out there and you know does he have interest in going to a place like Philly who knows um and then the Harden thing you know what do you do with James Harden he
He plans on being with the clippers for a long time and he wanted he thought he deserved a max deal in Philly and you know with this kind of performance you know how do those conversations go if if they don’t get anywhere in the playoffs real quick
Want to ask you uh about what’s going on in Charlotte Steve Clifford announcing he’ll step down at the end of the year uh and and find a front office role and and I I referred to it yesterday as the Alvin Gentry which happened in in Sacramento still time on the contract
And Alvin is still part and a valued part uh of the organization sounds like Steve’s doing the same thing Clifford was one of the finalists uh for the Kings job just a couple years ago so any in on what’s what’s going on there especially considering between the miles
Bridges off Court thing and and and Lonzo or Lamela balls injuries I don’t know how much I can pin on Clifford no I think it’s more a case of um of a guy shifting and I just looked it up here you know you type very heavily wow heavy that is a heavy type
Uh funny funny Side Story I got caught one time I didn’t really get caught it wasn’t true but I was doing a trivia thing online and uh cheating cheating Sam Amic I wasn’t actually cheating but that was the accusation right yes I’m not online
Yeah so he what I was looking up is that see you know Cliff is 62 years old it I think it’s just a matter of like just you know they’re they’re going to try to reinvigorate it with some new younger energy um and by the way Jordi Fernandez
King’s assistant has been tied to that Dave are you talking to me because you’re oh I’m sorry you know what I just realized I was trying to cheating I yeah I was I was trying to tell Chris a note for a segment here uh in what we call
Our ifb I didn’t realize you got that feed so my apologies no I didn’t get the feed I just saw you uh oh oh oh sorry yeah I was I was talking to Chris quietly go please continue I’m new to this you know no all good I I don’t think there’s any
Controversy there other than you know they just made a change in the front office I mean Mitch kbek stepping aside Jeff Peterson taking over um you know it’s just a time of change in Charlotte and like I was mentioning Jordy uh Fernandez from the Kings uh their one of
Their lead assistant coaches and a guy who’s been a candidate already in multiple places for head coaching jobs you know and runs the Canadian team very good reputation uh you know sounds like he going to get a crack at it there if he has interest so you know we’ll see
What they uh what they do but I don’t think it’s a a huge uh story we’re we’re just we’re running all the hits today man Clippers Charlotte like you want to talk about a you know a triaa squad the g-league we already did a AAA Squad we
Did the A’s hey you know what that’s a great way to to land the plane here Sam I again I don’t I’m not asking you for uh inside info it’s already out but just just want to acknowledge how about Lindsay uh how about yarding the uh g-league sa Stockton Kings coach of the
Year it’s it’s I’ve been saying tongue and cheek every time we talk about it you know and I know you’ll get this too we’ve all been told that that women can’t coach guys and that that will never work and it’s never going to happen so you now have the g-league
Coach of the year she is beloved by everybody who’s around her and again I know you don’t have a solid answer but gosh Sam aren’t we just isn’t it just imminent at this point almost bordering on way well is way overdue uh that we are going to get our
First NBA female coach head coach yes I mean first of all congrats to Lindsay uh I don’t I mean I’ve met her you know several times I don’t know her very well personally but me it’s one of those people you just don’t hear anything bad
About y um you know and and it was kind of fun the other night to see her get her flowers at the game when they they put the camera on her and and acknowledged it on the Jumbotron it is H it’s a big deal um that program seems to
Be going pretty well and and listen not to go down the dark path but they obviously had just an incredible situation mid I didn’t even think about that Sam that’s the first you know what no you’re you’re referring to the horrible story about the ex Stockton
King I mean we’re talking about a murder charge all the press that came with that Sam I I’m so glad you brought that up I that’s a it’s not a charge is a murder you know yeah excuse me you’re you’re yes correct and and honestly just I’m
I’m on your point I’ll give you back the mic here but you’re so right that you talk about all the normal challenges and then having to guide your team to success when one of your players literally killed somebody and I’m I’m being dead serious with what I’m saying
Here that that is that is a phenomenal Point you’re making in something I had not even thought of yet wow yeah yeah so I mean to your original point I don’t know where we are when it comes to a woman being a head coach in the NBA just
Because you know we thought Becky Hammond was going to be that person yeah obviously crushed it in Vegas ever since leaving the Spurs um you know Lindsay you know absolutely should be in these conversations to to get NBA jobs I don’t know what her path looks like um I would
Actually love and shoot now you got me you know sparking story ideas I would enjoy talking to her about just what have you learned about that simple Act of coaching men and have you run run into those tough moments where um you know you you’ve got to find a way to to
Be the leader and and get past this energy that uh that that you know Pro male athletes tend to bring on a daily basis so um you know great for her good program and uh and good stuff for sure that Sam Amic the voice of the athletic
As I like to call him yes by the way I’m gonna see one of your colleagues next weekend at a wedding who’s that uh Shams uh whose wedding uh gonna share that are you well it’s a friend of ours would it be weird if it was Shams and you [Laughter]
Weren’t I don’t think you’d mind but just in case I want to respect the you and I both know him he is a uh let’s how would I say this he is uh he is the manager of a former uh Sacramento Kings star here in town okay you know what I’m
Talking about uh no it’s early in the I’ll I’ll text you yeah you got bedad uh Sam from the athletic though yeah I mean I I have sh’s number you want me to call him for you and say hi I want you to I want you to come over be his table yeah
I believe we are gonna be at the same table so I’m gonna the whole time be like do we have Sam on every week but I think you’re better oh no no no no that idea no here’s what I’m GNA do I’m be like hey
Man yeah I go way back with Sam how long have you guys had beef he is always talking garbage about you just always running you down dude I think you’re good I don’t think you’re a suck up to a AG what what is he talking okay so yeah
I may or may not do that see how you roll good stuff Sam as always thanks brother say hi to the family talk to you soon likewise thanks guys
It’s been a wild week of sports for the city of Sacramento.
The Athletic’s Sam Amick joined The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross on Thursday morning to share his thoughts on the news that the Oakland A’s will be moving to Sutter Health Park in 2025, dive into the NBA Playoff race, contemplate where the Kings could finish in the standings, and more.
Plus: What has happened to the Los Angeles Clippers?
Thank you for watching. Don’t forget to hit the thumbs up and subscribe!
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