Hey, the Sacramento Kings are … good?
YES! As of publishing this post, they’re in the top-three in the Western Conference, a complete surprise given their play in recent years.
De’Aaron Fox looks like he’s headed toward a career year. Kevin Huerter can’t miss from distance. Damontas Sabonis is still a star.
And it’s all brought together with this statement: LIGHT THE BEAM!
Maybe you’ve seen that around Twitter and wondered what the deal was. Maybe you’ve seen the memes around it and laughed (and if you haven’t, you will!).
Fear not! We’ve got the explanation and everything about lighting the beam below:
The origin story
It began with Kings owner Vivek Ranadive. From NBC Sports Bay Area:
The Kings’ victory beam, powered by four purple lasers that sit atop Golden 1 Center’s grand entrance and light up the sky above the downtown Sacramento skyline after every team win, was unveiled earlier this season, and has taken on a life of its own with fans.
“I just like the notion that this just goes into outer space,” Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé said in a Thursday interview with NBC Sports California. “It goes farther than the human eye can see. As a tech guy, having four lasers beaming into outer space is kind of cool.
“I want aliens to see it,” Ranadivé jokingly added. “I want it to go so far out that everyone can see it.” …
The beam is the brainchild of Kings president of business operations John Rinehart, and was inspired by the Los Angeles Angels’ “Big A” sign in the parking lot of Angel Stadium in Anaheim. After every Angels win, the halo at the top of the “Big A” lights up to let people passing by know that their favorite baseball team was victorious that night.
Here's what it looks like
The cool thing is players can hit a big button to turn on the beam of light.
The meme is everywhere now
Including with players:
LIGHT THE BEAM! 🟣🔦
— De'Aaron Fox (@swipathefox) November 12, 2022
KINGS WIN. pic.twitter.com/OjZ7pUDx3M
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 16, 2022
LIGHT THE MF PURPLE BEAM pic.twitter.com/cX1FtY5hEj
— KingsMuse (@kings_muse) November 12, 2022
Kings win seventh straight game 👑
LIGHT. THE. BEAM 🔦
(via @HeuristicLineup)pic.twitter.com/qmTiNqPeS8
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 23, 2022
LIGHT THE BEAM 🟣 pic.twitter.com/HV2O7CEeZB
— 𝙅𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙖𝙧𝙣 (@SwipaZorro) November 18, 2022
Sacramento Kings workers when they have to light the beam for the 7th straight game. pic.twitter.com/LdULZ2dlIT
— Cameron Salerno (@cameronsalerno1) November 23, 2022
LIGHT THE BEAM #BeamTeam pic.twitter.com/K4Qty0H4Lr
— KingsMuse (@kings_muse) November 23, 2022
It's also a fan chant
Last month, the Sacramento Kings began lighting a giant purple beam of light into the sky from Golden 1 Center after every win — home or away.
They just won 6 games in a row for the first time in 18 years, and fans are chanting to "LIGHT THE BEAM."pic.twitter.com/6HCvbWMbtB
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 21, 2022
LIGHT-THE-BEAM chants pic.twitter.com/vAh3hUO38z
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 21, 2022
LOVE THIS!
