Kings Report – Kicking Off 2025

NBA basketball is back! The Sacramento Kings’ season kicks off on Wednesday, October 22, at 7 PM in Phoenix against the Suns.

We left off last year with 40 wins out of 82 games, followed by a disappointing loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the Play-In Tournament. The Kings wasted no time firing General Manager Monty McNair at the close of the season, but the core of the roster remains largely the same. Kings legend and fan favorite Doug Christie returns as head coach, and we’ll see the return of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, and Keon Ellis.

And despite what everyone told me about how there was “no way” our most important player, Domantas Sabonis, would be back this year, Sabonis is back. We won’t be watching him this week, however, after he suffered a hamstring injury in a preseason game. Doctors say the Grade 1 strain will keep him out for at least the first two games, possibly more.

The Kings also locked up fourth-year power forward Keegan Murray with a five-year contract extension, though he’ll join Sabonis on the sidelines while he recovers from thumb surgery, which is expected to sideline him for a few weeks.

The biggest change this year is the addition of All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook. The 36-year-old has been in the league for 17 years and holds the record for the most career triple-doubles. While he’s been an All-Star nine times and was named league MVP in 2017, he’s bounced around six teams in the last six years and has yet to win a championship. New Kings GM Scott Perry said, “Russell embodies the identity we’re striving for in Sacramento. His résumé speaks for itself, and I’m excited to work with someone so accomplished and fully committed to competing and winning.”

I’m glad someone’s optimistic. I was scrolling through Instagram the other day and heard the commentators on The Ringer call this roster “the Hindenburg of NBA teams,” predicting a complete disaster of a season. While you can’t get much worse than being compared to a literal explosion, Kings fans are right at home in the underdog role. Even before our glorious season three years ago (that I keep hoping we can move on from), Kings fans have been loyal to a fault—and I fully expect the home opener on Friday, October 24, against the Utah Jazz (which I’ll be attending!) to be loud, proud, and full of hope. The Kings will continue week one at home against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, October 26, before traveling to OKC to take on the Thunder on Tuesday, October 28, and to Chicago for the second night of a back-to-back against the Bulls on Wednesday, October 29. I’m so excited to be back, bringing my small town the big-city basketball news, and I hope you’ll have as much fun following along this season as I do.