‘It feels almost religious.’ Kings fans rally before the playoffs against the Golden State Warriors

The winning chant echoed through in front of the northwest entrance of the Golden 1 Center on Friday evening, and it wasn’t even hosting a game that night.

“Light the beam!”

The noise vibrated in your chest.

“Light the beam!”

Thousands attended a celebratory playoff rally hosted by the Sacramento Kings in Downtown Commons in anticipation of the seven-game playoff series against the Golden State Warriors that starts with Game 1 at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Justin Hu, 27, stayed in DoCo for several minutes after the rally. The noise had died down. The noise, he said, was something Sacramento missed.

“I used to come to the games with my dad when I was like 5, 6 years old,” Hu said. “It used to be super loud. ‘Feel the roar’ and everything died for a good 15 or so years.”

Owner Vivek Ranadivé, general manager Monte McNair, general manager, emcee Scott Freshour and Slamson appeared for the crowd celebrating in Kings colors – getting purple cinnamon-sprinkled churros or themed cocktails at the surrounding vendors.

A purple inflatable tube rose high above a sea of heads. Robert Wood, 29, of San Diego, decided to dress for the occasion.

“I am the beam,” Wood said.

Wood said he came to Sacramento “obviously” for the playoffs despite his residency in Southern California. He and his friend, Taylor Cummings, 29 of Sacramento have tickets for Game 2.

“I’ve been repping this, and I have a few other outfits that are going to be shown throughout the days here,” Wood said. “Option number two is underneath in case they don’t let me in with number one.”

Cummings was dressed in a purple rope and a crown. He surveyed the crowd and teared up.

“It feels almost religious,” Cummings said. “It just feels like a demon has been shaken off the shoulders of Sacramento. We’ve just been walking around with this heavy load on our backs and it’s finally gone.”

He said he was about 12 the last time the Kings went to the playoffs, and he’s happy to finally see them back in it.

“Half the people that are going to be at the game tomorrow, like, weren’t even alive,” he said. “I see all these little kids, and I’m like ‘Oh, my gosh. You’ve never known anything except for the saddest basketball team in America.’”

Playoff playground

The rally also marked the launch of the Kings’ “Playoffs’ Playground” presented by Kaiser Permanente in the Ali Youssefi Square on K Street. The playground will be open each game of the seven-game series until halftime, home or away, except for Game 4 on Sunday, April 23, when it will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to a Kings news release.

Friday night allowed fans to play basketball, buy merchandise, create an action figure of themselves in Kings gear, take a photo with the sixth man statue and record a video themselves lighting the beam.

In the past 26 years, the Sacramento community has more than emotionally supported the Kings. In 1997, the city loaned $74 million to keep the team in town. The city also fought relocation hard approximately 10 years ago, and thus the Golden 1 Center was born.

Now, with a 17-year playoff drought ending, long-time fans of the team are suggesting that since they stuck around, they are the most faithful type of fan out there.

“I’ve been watching these guys since I was 7 years old,” said Jeremy Pratt, 45.

Success has come in other forms, from landing the third seed in the playoffs to Mike Brown earning the National Basketball Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year achievement Thursday.

For the love of a coach

“I love Mike Brown,” Pratt said. “I think he should run for president of the United States at this point.”

Wood echoed Pratt’s sentiment.

“Mike Brown believes in everybody,“ Wood said. “He gives everybody a chance to prove themselves no matter where they come from. Anybody, anybody, anybody. He gives them a chance to prove they’re worth something.”

Wood said he thought players such as Trey Lyles and Alex Len produced during their minutes of play, a chance they would not have had if Brown were not coach.

“It seems like the players really respect him, and he has the experience,” said Aminah Flaggs, 29, about the team’s head coach.

Flaggs said that she moved to Sacramento from the Bay Area to buy a home, but she will not be rooting for the Warriors on Saturday.

“I’m a residential fan,” Flaggs said. “I think it’s an underdog story, more about proving themselves to the rest of the NBA.”