The Kings-Lakers beef had coaches insulting fans, suspicious refs, and… poison?

The Kings-Lakers beef had coaches insulting fans, suspicious refs, and… poison?

– [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. 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.

We don’t often do a team vs team beef, but with this one there were so many participants it only seemed right. When the Kings got good at the turn of the century and challenged the Lakers, you had stuff like Shaq declaring LA had supplanted Sacramento as California’s capital. You had Phil Jackson calling Kings fans rednecks. You had the refs allegedly choosing sides. You had a Sacramento hotel allegedly poisoning Kobe Bryant via cheeseburger. There was a lot going on, from a lot of angles.

Enjoy this beef, and you just have to trust me that it’s not poisoned.

Written and produced by: Clara Morris
Directed and edited bu: Charlotte Atkinson

Subscribe: http://goo.gl/Nbabae
Enter the Secret Base: http://www.sbnation.com/secret-base
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/secretbase
Follow us on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/secretbasesbn
Follow us on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@secretbasesbn?
Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/9pMHRV
Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/NvpZFF
Explore SB Nation: http://www.sbnation.com