Huerter admits he had early doubts about Kings’ start to the season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Kings are one of the hottest teams in the NBA, having gone 16 seasons without making the playoffs.
But despite their success in the 2022-23 NBA season, the Kings are guarding Kevin Hürter’s initial confidence in his new squad fluctuated at the start of the season.
“I think everyone is so hesitant [in Sacramento]in a way super excited for the playoffs because it’s just like that, now they don’t want to jinx themselves,” Hurter said on the Thursday episode.The Ryen Russillo Podcast.“
The 24-year-old explained that at the time traded by the Atlanta Hawks to the Kings last summer, players who had previously sided with Sacramento told him there was hope for change — and victories — under general manager Monte McNair and new coach Mike Brown.
The Kings’ hot start to the preseason made Huerter think the ex-Kings he spoke to might be right. They went 4-0 preseason, and three of those wins were 30-plus-point victories over the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. But then Sacramento started the regular season 4-0.
“I remember sitting in my backyard and scratching my head and thinking, ‘Damn, maybe we’re not that good,'” Hurter recalled. “I thought we were feeling really good pre-season and going into the season on such a high level, but [I thought], ,Is that for Sacramento? For some reason it’s just hard to win?’
“After that everything was completely reversed.”
After starting winless, the Kings won two of their next three and then went on to go on a seven-game winning streak. In the middle of this hot stretch, hurter coined the memorable nickname of the team in honor of Sacramento’s winning beam: The Beam Team.
Since then, the Kings haven’t looked back. As of Saturday morning, Sacramento sits second in the Western Conference, 42-27, and leads the NBA in both points and true hit percentage.
The NBA playoff drought in Sacramento is nearing its end, just under a year after the Kings finished with the league’s seventh-worst record.
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And while it may have taken some time to believe, Huerter and company have established themselves as a real threat in the West.
“You have to have confidence as a team, you have to see the results to believe in the results in a way,” said Huerter. “… Luckily we were able to find it and pick it up.”
Source : sports.yahoo.com