- [Narrator] The Kings and the Lakers share a state,
but it's a big state.
And for most of their existence,
these teams were at different tiers of the NBA.
So they had no reason to beef,
until the turn of the century when everything changed.
(energetic music)
In the year 2000, after nearly two decades
of sub-500 seasons and one nice season,
the Kings looked good and cool and fun,
and they made the playoffs as the eighth seed.
Meanwhile, the Lakers led by Shaq, Kobe,
and their new coach, Phil Jackson had the best record
in the league and were expected to take the title with ease.
First and eighth seed met in round one
of the playoffs, that's normal.
The one seed won the first game by a lot, that's normal,
but actually this is where our beef begins,
because why should the Kings accept
their elimination as a foregone conclusion,
especially when they didn't like the refereeing?
All-Star Chris Webber, who only played 27 minutes,
due to foul trouble, felt the refs were
on the Lakers bandwagon.
King's coach Rick Adelman said Shaq received
favorable treatment from the refs,
and instead of being like, "Forget this round one team,"
Shaq took offense and called Adelman an idiot.
LA then won game two by 24 points.
Everyone thought the Kings were done and kind of annoying,
but that opinion was short-lived.
The next two games were in Sacramento,
and the Kings won both of them.
First by almost double digits and then by double digits.
That's a tied series,
that's the 67-win Lakers facing elimination.
How'd the Kings turn things around?
Well, if you ask the Lakers,
by getting away with fouling Shaq
and playing illegal defense.
Seems it was the Laker's turn to complain
about the officiating.
Though. if you ask Robert Horry,
it's different when the Lakers complain, less baby-ish.
LA also wasn't in love with the Sacramento crowd,
who provided a real home court advantage.
Before games, the King's hype squad lit Laker jerseys
on fire at half court.
Throughout the arena, fans rang cowbells
or just held up battery-powered cowbells
and let them make noise?
I don't totally understand the instrument,
but it was effective.
Jackson said that his players couldn't hear him
during timeouts,
and that's not all Jackson said.
He called the people of Sacramento, semi-civilized rednecks
and then insulted the idea of fan influence altogether.
Teams like Sacramento need hype.
The Lakers don't need hype.
Might need a little beef though, huh coach?
Coach the King's co-owner, Joe Maloof,
sort of accidentally fired back.
He thought he was speaking off the record
when he called Phil Jackson arrogant, weak,
and only successful because he coached teams
with superstars.
But the thing about teams with superstars, they tend to win.
Sacramento eliminated, NBA hierarchy restored,
and Phil Jackson no longer serving beef,
but rather the tasteless,
wilted greens of good effort, good game.
But what's that just under the greens,
nudge 'em with your fork?
Ah, the beef hasn't disappeared.
As the Lakers were winning the finals, it came out
that Jackson had compared Adelman to Hitler
to help motivate his players.
An offended Adelman wondered aloud, in the press,
how hard it must be to motivate the likes
of Shaq and Michael Jordan.
When the teams met in November of the 2001 season,
Jackson again went after Kings fans,
which is an odd thing for a reigning champion coach to do,
unless of course he's been baited by cowbells
and challenges to his legacy.
Come playoff time, the Lakers were the two seed,
and right behind him were the Kings,
who beat Phoenix to win their first post-season series
in 20 years, and they celebrated accordingly.
Or if you ask their round-two matchup,
they celebrated way too much for an opening round win,
and should be embarrassed.
Jackson tried to pull back the judgment saying,
"No, no, no, it's nice that Sacramento celebrated.
"Those goofy guys like to have fun and do drugs."
Jackson was trying to mitigate nothing,
this was a fake jovial comment.
Jackson knew Webber had recently been acquitted
of drug charges and Jason Williams had been suspended
for violating the team's drug policy that year.
Williams had a response for the coach.
Was goof more of an insult in the early 2000s?
Game one, round two, Lakers win by three points.
And once again, the losing team had something
to say about the officiating.
Shaq then fired back, though is this part an insult
or just an innocent observation about butt size?
It doesn't matter too much 'cause the Lakers went on
to sweep the Kings.
But the '01-'02 season looked like a new dawn
in Sacramento with Mike Bibby at point,
the Kings finished with the best record
in the league and everybody loved 'em.
But they did have an Achilles heel,
who they had to face in the Western Conference finals.
The Kings lost game one.
Here they were best they'd ever been,
home court advantage, and they still couldn't beat LA.
What was it gonna take?
Sabotage?
Maybe, definitely if you ask a certain segment
of Lakers fans.
They believe the Kings, or rather their fans, poisoned Kobe Bryant.
Now, that's never actually been proven.
Here's what we know.
The night before game two, Kobe Bryant ordered room service
in his Sacramento hotel, a cheeseburger
and a slice of cheesecake, delicious.
At 4:30 A.M. he called the Lakers trainer,
who found the star vomiting and diarrheaing
and curled up like a shrimp in his room.
Kobe played the next day
after receiving three liters of IV fluid.
His numbers dipped, the Lakers lost.
Of the 1200 room service meals that were served
that same night, nobody else got food poisoning.
Those are the facts.
The conclusions you draw are up to you.
And if you need some help coming to conclusions,
here are some popular theories.
One, the mob poisoned Kobe,
because they wanted a title for New Jersey.
Two, Kobe wasn't actually that sick,
he just wanted attention and/or to psych out Sacramento,
a lot of Kings believed this one.
Three, the hotel poisoned him
because Sacramento fans are insane and criminal.
This one was popular in LA.
It's not clear if
Kings fans believed the hotel poisoned Kobe,
but they seemed to like the idea
that the hotel poisoned Kobe.
Cheeseburger orders skyrocketed,
and a local food critic came to sample the dish.
The Lakers downplayed the idea that Kobe was
purposely poisoned, but that doesn't mean
they didn't have complaints about game two.
Referring to the officiating,
O'Neal said the only way Sacramento could win
was to cheat, though he spoke in code.
Adelman noted that blaming the refs isn't very becoming
of two-time champions.
But after game four, when the Lakers evened up the series
on a thrilling Robert Horry buzzer-beater,
Adelman himself, had some complaints about the refs.
Hey, Adelman's not a two-time champ.
Game five was another close one,
but this time it was the King's last second shot
that sealed the victory, and the Lakers
who had issues with the officiating.
But hold onto your hat, here comes game six.
Game six of the 2002 Western Conference finals is known
as one of the worst-called games in NBA history,
to the extent that many believe the game was rigged,
a theory which was bolstered
by disgraced ref Tim Donaghy saying it was rigged.
Now, that's never been proven.
Here's what we know.
The Lakers shot a lot more free throws than Sacramento.
Both of the King's centers fouled out.
Chris Webber had five fouls.
To understand the impact of these numbers,
let's look at some of the calls in the context
of the game and people's facial expressions.
With a little over three minutes left,
Sacramento was up 92-90, Webber drove, and offensive foul.
Doesn't look like much,
even the broadcasters didn't like it.
- [TV Announcer] And this is a terrible call.
- [Narrator] And that is the face of a man
who's having a trip to the finals stolen from him.
About 10 seconds later, King's starting center
Vlade Divac fouled out, for grabbing the ball
after someone else fouled Horry?
Look at Adelman's reaction.
This could be a Renaissance painting
that rivals the Mona Lisa.
You can see the helplessness seeping in
to overtake frustration and anger.
With 12 seconds left, Sacramento down one,
Bibby takes an elbow to the face from Kobe, no call.
Broadcasters again, disagree with the refs-
- [TV Announcer] Gonna come, oh, an elbow.
- [TV Announcer] Yes, an elbow.
- [Narrator] And Bibby's face shows
he certainly was not flopping.
And yes, it was Sacramento's turn, as the losers,
to complain about the referees,
but nobody faulted them for it.
The national press agreed.
What the fuck?
Game seven was a bust for the Kings.
They played nervous, hesitant.
The Lakers won in overtime.
And while the Lakers had the opportunity
to be gracious in winning, they chose not that.
Shaq mooned fans as the Laker bus left Arco Arena.
Meanwhile, in the immediate aftermath,
the Kings were too crushed to fight.
Adelman refused to call the Lakers the superior team,
that's as close as he got to beefing in that moment,
but give it some time.
As the Lakers competed in the finals yet again,
the Kings talked.
They were still angry about the refereeing,
who could blame 'em?
And Adelman actually brought up a newish complaint.
Shaq responded before game two of the finals
with a rap written just for Rick Adelman.
At least he didn't moon him.
Shaq then had a fantastic game two,
look at his free throw shooting.
He celebrated by rubbing it in Adelman's face.
It seems like just quietly accepting
his ring A few games later, would've sufficed as a response.
But you must remember, we're eating beef.
And it's not like the end
of the season marked the end of the war.
The Kings were expected to challenge the Lakers
for Western Conference supremacy for seasons to come.
Let's take a look at the next season that came,
the '02-'03 season.
On Media Day, Shaq denied the idea
that the Kings were a threat
in the most aggressive way possible?
Oh no, never mind, he got way more aggressive
as the preseason went on.
Not a chess player, I guess.
At the end of October, the teams met
in the last preseason game on the schedule.
Just before the game, O'Neal provided analysis
of the King's game seven loss.
Chris was scared to shoot,
and Vlade was so scared he fouled-out on purpose.
And two minutes and seven seconds into that preseason game,
the punching began.
Well, I guess first there was Rick Fox's elbow,
then a palming, then Doug Christie punching.
Fox and Christie were ejected,
Christie jogs off the floor to the tunnel.
But where's Rick Fox?
He is sprinting around the back hallway
to meet Christie in the tunnel.
The whole Sacramento team piles in,
Shaq in street clothes due to injury,
joins the brawl, and I mean brawl,
This woman swinging her purse is Doug Christie's wife.
The broadcaster said a chair was thrown,
but there's too much chaos.
I don't think the camera caught that one.
- [TV Announcer] Chairs are being thrown.
- [Narrator] This scene right here is the culmination
of three years of intense, real competition.
Fox was suspended for six games, Christi for two games,
but nobody else got in trouble.
Oh, and the fight solved nothing.
Fox blamed the Kings for the whole incident
and continued to fan the flames beneath the beef.
The next time these teams saw each other was Christmas Day.
The matchup would've been more exciting
if the Lakers weren't having a weird, low energy,
worst-in-years start.
The Kings, however, were looking strong
and expected to be back in the Western Conference finals.
Rick Fox wouldn't shake anybody's hand before the game,
but the beef was on its way out.
Both teams were eliminated in the second round
that year, by teams that weren't each other.
And in that second round, Webber hurt his knee
and he and the Kings were never the same.
The Lakers saw the finals again in 2004, but didn't win 'em,
and then Shaq moved on.
Nearly a decade later,
Shaq actually bought a minority share of the Kings in 2013.
He apologized for some of his comments
and the fans forgave him.
He's just so charming.
But while direct hostilities might not be ongoing,
a lot of people still feel the heat of this beef,
like the King's players from 2000 to 2002,
particularly those involved
in that 2002 Western Conference finals, game six.
In 2020, Doug Christie was still presenting evidence
that the Kings were the superior team.
And while the fans might forgive Shaq,
that doesn't mean they concede his team was better.
For three years in a row,
the Kings and Lakers didn't just meet
in the postseason, they battled.
That's gonna cause some beef.
But when you mix in the personalities involved,
you get tainted beef.
Perhaps literally, perhaps figuratively.
But either way, the 2002 Sacramento Kings
and the fans of the franchise from then on,
got left with a rotten cut of beef,
the size of California, instead of a ring.
(one-chord music outro)