SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — Prior to tip-off to their game Sunday night, the Sacramento Kings held a moment of silence for those who were affected by the mass shooting in downtown Sacramento.
The Kings hosted the Golden State Warriors at the Golden 1 Center — a few blocks away from the shooting that claimed the lives of six people and left 12 others wounded.
Hours before the game, coaches from both teams addressed the tragedy during their pregame media availability.
“It’s an incredible tragedy,” Kings interim coach Alvin Gentry told reporters pregame. “I hope it doesn’t put a black eye on our city because I think it’s a great place to be and a great place to live. It’s unfortunate that something like that can still happen nowadays in an environment where everybody is really out having fun and having a good time.”
I hope this is not something that our city is remembered for because it’s a great place with a lot of great people that live here. It affects everybody in the locker room and when you talk about people losing their lives in a situation where they’re just going out to have fun, it’s tough on everybody. Obviously, we wish the families and everybody well and we’ll continue to have everybody in our prayers, but it’s just really, really a tragedy and a very unfortunate thing.
Sacramento Kings interim coach Alvin Gentry
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who has been a gun control advocate throughout his professional career, gave a lengthy response about the mass shooting.
“Everybody with the Warriors, we all share in your city’s grief,” Kerr told reporters pregame. “There’s not a whole lot you can do or say, but we’re all crushed today as we try to prepare for this game. So it’s just devastating news.”
“We’ll have a moment of silence before the game, and I’ll be honest, I think it’s the right thing to do, but I’ll be honest, it’s probably the ninth or 10th moment of silence that I will have,” Kerr continued. “I have experience as coach of the Warriors when we mourn the losses of people who have died in mass shootings.”
Kerr has long been outspoken about gun violence after his father was shot and killed in a terrorist attack in 1984 in Beirut. When addressing the media before Sunday’s game, Kerr called out those in power regarding the country’s gun laws.
I don’t think moments of silence are going to do anything, but at some point, our government has to decide, are we going to have some common sense gun laws? It’s not going to solve everything, but it will save lives.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr
“If our government had any guts, if people put others in front of their own career paths, in front of their own re-election campaigns, in front of their own propaganda to manipulate people, it’s right there in front of us,” Kerr said. “This happens in churches, it happens in schools. It happens right in Sacramento.”
Kings forward Harrison Barnes, who tweeted his condolences to the victims, addressed the mass shooting in his post game conference Sunday night.
“Obviously, thoughts and prayers to the victims’ families that were killed, those who were injured and in my time in Sacramento, I have never witnessed anything like that before,” Barnes said. “When I was talking with the team or just talking with people around the arena throughout the day, it just sends a ripple effect through the community seeing something like that.”
The Kings (29-50) lost to the Warriors (50-29) 109-90 Sunday night, which eliminated Sacramento from the playoffs for a record 16th-straight season.
Sacramento plays in its final home game of the season Tuesday when they host the New Orleans Pelicans at 7 p.m.
The Kings conclude the 2021-22 season with back-to-back road games against the Los Angeles Clippers (April 9) and the Phoenix Suns (April 10).
Sacramento police arrested 26-year-old Dandrae Martin as a “related suspect” in Sunday’s mass shooting. Martin is facing felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and being a convicted person carrying a loaded firearm.
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said the investigation is ongoing and officials anticipate making more arrests in the case.
Martin is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday afternoon.
