SACRAMENTO – It took Zach LaVine all of 67 seconds of his introductory Kings press conference to mention the word “playoffs.”
He dropped it several more times during the 15 minutes he spoke to media Wednesday afternoon in Sacramento for the first time.
The two-time NBA All-Star, whom the Chicago Bulls traded to the Kings in a three-team deal that sent De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs, was clear about where his head is as he embarks on a new journey.
Winning.
LaVine joins his third NBA team in 11 seasons. He has been to the NBA playoffs once and won just one playoff game in his career. As talented and competitive as he is, that fact has weighed on him over the years. But he understands every player is dealt different cards, and at the end of the day, it provides him with even more motivation to give it his all.
“I mean, everybody has to play the cards that they're dealt: the situation that you were in, the team that you played for,” LaVine said. “I always put my best foot forward and tried to do everything I can to help the team win. Now, are you always going to be able to? No, but for me, in my 11th year now, to be in a playoff series, you want to try to compete and challenge yourself to get there.
“I think that's more the reason of it's, it's competitiveness. You want to go out there and compete for a championship. You want to go out there and compete and be in big-time games and be in position to do that. I think that's just the competitiveness that each player has.”
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With his final and only postseason appearance being 33 months ago, he’s ready to change that – and he’s excited to do it in Sacramento.
The Kings brace for the second half of the 2024-25 NBA season closing one chapter and opening another. The loss of Fox makes their stride to the Western Conference playoffs more challenging, but LaVine is fully prepared to step in and handle the pressure that comes with Sacramento’s win-now mentality, although he won’t refer to it as that.
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“I think that's what is expected of you,” LaVine said. “Somebody in my position, you come here and you try to improve the team. That's what these guys brought me here for. For me personally, I've been to one playoff series. I've spent eight years in Chicago. I've won a lot of individual accolades, but as a team, I'm looking forward to going out here and trying to help these guys and then helping me as well get to that next step.
“I'm more than excited for the challenge. I don't think it's pressure.”
The challenge has been more than accepted by LaVine, who confirmed he’ll make his Kings debut Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic at Golden 1 Center despite the birth of his newborn baby girl.
LaVine, whose family is from San Bernadino in Southern California and has a house in Newport, said he’ll have lots of family and friends in attendance, even adding that his wife Hunter will try to make it fresh off giving birth.
And, of course, he’s uberly excited to light his first beam, hoping it happens after his debut Wednesday night.
It isn’t LaVine’s first time playing in the West. He began his NBA career with the Minnesota Timberwolves for three seasons before being traded to Chicago. But it’s a whole different landscape nearly eight years later.
As of now, five games separate the third and seventh seeds in the West, four teams are 1.5 games behind the seventh seed and 2.5 behind the sixth, and the reigning Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks, with a 26-25 record, are in 11th place. In the East, 9.5 games separate the third and seventh seeds and the Miami Heat (24-24), Orlando Magic (24-27), Atlanta Hawks (23-27) and Chicago Bulls (22-29) all would be in the NBA Play-In Tournament if the season ended today.
LaVine said he’s “excited” about the challenge to play and compete with the best in the West on a nightly basis.
And even though he has been in Chicago for the last eight years, LaVine has kept tabs on what was brewing in Sacramento. He said he’s familiar with a couple of guys on the team, and obviously stoked to reunite with his former Bulls teammate and good friend DeMar DeRozan, who he joked “couldn’t stay from me” for more than three months.
“It's a fun group,” LaVine said of the Kings. “We just played [each other] two weeks ago. Fun group of guys who can really shoot the ball up and down. When I was in Chicago, we were so worried about [the Kings] taking the ball out and shooting within the first four or five seconds.
“So with me coming in, I think that just adds to the offense and with the experience as well. I'm excited. You never know what the ceiling can be. We're going to work through some stuff, just like any team will have to, but we're trying to get it down as fast as possible. But my initial reaction with the group was a great group of guys. Doug [Christie] seems like the spirits are super high, and that's something that even coming from Chicago, it seemed like a really fun and ready group, so it made me really excited.”
Not only was he keeping close tabs from afar, LaVine long has been connected to Sacramento since the Kings offered him a four-year, $78 million contract in 2018 before Chicago matched the offer to keep him.
Since then, the Kings always have had a fan in LaVine. And years later, the dozens of “what-ifs” and rumors became a reality.
“I signed here about six years ago, so I've been a fan for a long time. I thought I was going to be a King a little bit ago,” LaVine said. “Chicago matched my office sheet. But I've had a good relationship with a lot of guys that played here. I understand the culture here, being from the West Coast, and watching a lot of games and knowing how incredible the fans are each and every game, not just when you play Golden State or the Lakers.
“A Tuesday night, it’s still going to be packed in here. People pull for their team. So I'm really excited to go out here, especially the first game, and start building the chemistry, not just with the fans, but with the players.”
Many who aren't from the area or near it don’t know a lot about Sacramento. Then they come here and never forget how much the city rides and dies for its Kings.
In return, LaVine wants to pay that support back with his play on the hardwood.
“I'm a passionate player about basketball,” LaVine said. “I put a lot of hard work into my game, and I don't take this for granted. So every time I step on the floor, I'm not taking it for granted the time they come to watch the game, spending their hard-earned money to come here and watch and cheer on the team.
“So I'm going to be right there, willing to do everything I can for the city.”
A lot of uncertainty has loomed like a dark cloud over Sacramento for the past few weeks. But LaVine’s addition to the Kings provides clarity on one thing: They want to compete. They want to make the playoffs. They want to win.
LaVine fully is embracing his new opportunity to “start somewhere fresh.” He has found that in Sacramento, and is more mentally and physically ready than ever to build on something special.
