Some facts are irrefutable. Take the fact that I’m typing on a keyboard, and you, in response, are reading these words (thanks for doing that, by the way). Nobody denies such claims, because, well, there’s no benefit to arguing with a bulletproof truth. In stating such a rock-solid fact, the world stabilizes
Some truths of the world can be compared to the complexion of a slice of Swiss cheese. Facts that are largely true, save for a few rare exceptions. For example, gravity will always draw items to the ground. That is, of course, unless that thing is filled with helium, or is copping some Air Jordans (it’s gotta be the shoes!). Here’s my favorite Swiss cheese truth: The Sacramento Kings are always terrible at basketball.
We all hold the Mike Bibby, Chris Webber, Vlade Divac Kings of the early 2000s in high regard, of course, but aside from some minor blips on the chart, Sacramento has been one of the most consistently awful organizations in all of professional basketball.
We all celebrated when De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis dragged their organization from its prolonged postseason drought (I support the Seattle Mariners. Believe that I can empathize). We all roared with glee as the fanbase chanted “Light the beam!“ But when the Kings committed organizational suicide by dealing De’Aaron Fox for the distinguished honor of reconstructing the failed DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine-era Chicago Bulls (a team which has also suffered a relatively humiliating history outside of the Jordan years. Must be the shoes), we all just laughed.
The Kings will do what the Kings have done. Time is a circle; welcome back to the beginning.
Predicting Sacramento to miss the playoffs wasn’t difficult, but with the amount of veterans they loaded onto the depth chart, it’s clear that the front office had no intention of leading the tank race back in October. But here we are in the middle of March, and a purple emblem stands in the top 3 of Tankathon.com.
Look, I’ve been incredibly critical during this article, and I haven’t even mentioned the Utah Jazz yet, who are technically supposed to be the subject of this preview, but I have a little bit of sugar to spread on top of Sacramento’s dumpster stack. The Kings are winning basketball games these days — that’s right, basketball’s fraudulent royalty has descended from their throne atop the Great Tank Race and are now slumming it with the commoners.
Winners in 5 of their last 10 games, SacTown may be doing irreparable damage to their lottery odds, but Russell Westbrook (Utah Jazz legend) posted a triple-double in their recent win over the Clippers. They still carry a 17-51 record, which is the worst mark in the Western Conference.
Enter, stage left: The second-worst record in the Western Conference, the Utah Jazz. Utah (20-47) is still 3.5 games ahead of their adversary, but stands with a great deal of lottery gold to gobble should they fall to the home Kings on Sunday night. But keep this in mind: Utah beat Sacramento by nearly 30 points in their last meeting.
But the Jazz are positively hobbled, now without Keyonte George, Kyle Filipowski, Jusuf NurkicLauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., Walker Kessler, John Konchar, and even Ace Bailey, who left the last game on concussion protocol after taking a gnarly elbow to the face.
Sacramento, though similarly hobbled, will essentially face off against the SLC Stars on Sunday.
The Kings are led by proud veterans unwilling to let losing become their identity. Utah is wheeling out whoever can play without losing the function of a vital appendage. With a sudden shot of momentum, this game is Sacramento’s to lose, which is why they are favored despite boasting an inferior record.
How to watch Utah Jazz vs Sacramento Kings
Date: Sunday, March 15, 2026
Time: 8:00 PM MT
Location: Golden One Center, Sacramento, California
Channel: Jazz+, KJZZ
Odds: SAC -2.5
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