Kings victory beam went from ‘corny' to ‘best thing' to Brown

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  • Programming note: "Kings Central" with coach Mike Brown debuts on NBC Sports California on Monday night before "Kings Pregame Live."

The Kings' purple victory laser went from a beam of hope to a national sensation in a matter of months. 

However, not all were on board when Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé introduced the illumination at the beginning of the 2022-23 NBA season. Coach Mike Brown happened to be one of those people. 

But just like the Kings have grown on the NBA and fans around the world, the beam has grown on Brown. Of course, that might be because his team has lit it more times than not. 

“I love it,” Brown told NBC Sports California’s Kyle Draper on the latest episode of “Kings Central.” “It was corny at first. I tell Vivek all the time, I was like, ‘Vivek, you think of some corny crap.’

“But it’s the best thing in the world. It works.” 

It definitely works. The Kings have lit it 40 times so far this season, good enough to put them in second place in the loaded Western Conference. 

The beam has become a fan favorite and a catchphrase that gets chanted before games even end. Fans will loudly and proudly yell, "Light the beam!" as time winds down in games. And it's not just during home games. As we've seen earlier in the season, the chants have broken out at Crypto.com Arena. 

And after every win, purple lasers shoot from Golden 1 Center into outer space. 

Brown and the Kings hope to light the "corny" beam a lot more during their final 16 games of the regular season. Sacramento is on the verge of snapping an NBA-record 16-year playoff drought and Brown had a direct message for faithful Kings fans.  

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"You guys keep being you. Keep bringing the energy, the juice to the table," Brown said. "Whenever we see, not just in the arena, but when we see you out in public, too. Because the smiles on your face make everything that we go through, whether it’s three, four, five, six practice days in a row, whatever it is, back-to-back, then a day off, then another game, then another back-to-back, all of those things make our life and our job a lot easier because we think of you guys.

"So keep doing what you’re doing and hopefully we’ll keep putting those smiles to your face. Thank you very much." 

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