On the heels of Tyreke Evans' MVP-winning performance in the Rookie Challenge (congrats, Reke!), Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee was kind enough to talk about his experiences covering the Kings and evaluate the team's young players' progress at the midway point of the season. With the NBA trade deadline only three days away, Mr. Jones breaks down the rumors surrounding Kevin Martin and assesses the Sacramento's plans for the offseason.
You covered the Oakland Raiders for The SacBee prior to becoming a beat writer for the Kings. Can you talk about the transition from the NFL to the NBA?
In some ways, the NBA is a lot easier than football because you have a lot more access to the players. The way the NFL is, with one game a week, you’re limited to the team you cover. You get a conference call with one player and the head coach before the game, but you don’t get a chance to meet and talk to most of the league the way you do in basketball.
The schedule is a lot different, obviously. I was comfortable with the set routine of one game per week and practice [the rest of the week], so that was an adjustment. But I love basketball, so that was no problem at all.
Which teams did you follow growing up and who were your favorite players?
I’m from California and grew up as a lifelong Laker fan. Magic Johnson is still my all-time favorite player. He was the first guy I saw and was enamored with – he made me want to be a point guard even though I wasn’t 6’9” and wasn’t going to be like him. I pretty much liked all of the Lakers [through] the Kobe-Shaq years. Outside of that, I was a big Charles Barkley guy. He and Dennis Rodman were two of my favorites.
Has being a Lakers fan ever made covering the Kings a bit of a challenge?
It’s not as bad as people would think. They only play the Lakers four times a year, and it’s so much like work when you’re out there, you don’t even have time to get caught up in the fact that they’re playing the Lakers.
It might’ve been different in 2001 or 2002 when that rivalry was really hot. I might’ve been sitting in press row with a laptop kicking myself under the seat, but right now, it’s not a big deal at all for me and it’s just part of the job. The last game up here was a great game that went to overtime, and it was a whole lot of fun.
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