The Sacramento Kings had a solid 2023-24 campaign one year after making the NBA Playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons. The star duo of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis is proving to be one of the most promising in the league. Moreover, Sabonis has risen to new heights after a career year. The star forward surprised fans with his finish in the 2023-24 NBA MVP voting.
Sabonis received one fourth-place vote in the esteemed award, as shown by a graphic from the NBA Communications X page:
Sabonis’ standing ranked him two points above Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant. Sabonis’ squeeze into the rankings had fans on social media up in arms:
Most fans acknowledged that Sabonis is a top-tier player; yet, they did not think he deserved to be in the NBA MVP race. On the other hand, some believed Sabonis’ regular season efforts were good enough to at least have his name mentioned.
The star forward may not have been the MVP in the eyes of the voters, but in Kings fans’ hearts, he finished in first place.
Domantas Sabonis displayed stellar regular season production in 2023-24. The 28-year-old
averaged 19.4 points, a league-leading 13.7 rebounds, and a career-high 8.2 rebounds per game. Sabonis was among the few players who played all 82 regular season games. Moreover, he amassed the most triple-doubles in the NBA with 26. Sabonis’ production has him in the conversation for his second All-NBA honor.
In addition, Sabonis became just the seventh player in NBA history to amass 77 double-doubles during the regular season. He was the first to achieve the feat since Moses Malone in 1978-79. Sabonis delivered like few in the NBA in 2023-24. Yet, Sacramento failed to make the playoffs after losing to the New Orleans Pelicans in their second Play-In tournament game.
That will not stop the Kings’ bright future though.
Kings look to keep building off promising talent
Sacramento finished the 2022-23 season with an impressive 48-34 record, which earned them the third seed in the Western Conference playoff picture. As a result, the Kings made the postseason for the first since 2006. Unfortunately, Sacramento lost their first-round series to the Golden State Warriors in seven games.
On the bright side, De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis earned their first All-NBA honors after the season. They were the first Kings duo in franchise history to achieve the feat in the same season.
One year later, the star pairing helped the Kings have a shot to make the playoffs again. Although they came up short, Sacramento retains some of the most promising talent in the NBA. Like Sabonis, Fox had a career year in 2023-24.
Fox amassed a career-high 26.6 points along with 5.6 assists, and 4.6 rebounds through 74 regular season games. In addition, he totaled 2.0 steals per contest, which led the NBA. The star point guard is not the only one leading the new era of Kings talent.
Keegan Murray is Sacramento’s prized sharpshooter. Murray had one of the most impressive regular season performances in the league in the Kings’ 125-104 Dec. 16th win over the Utah Jazz. He amassed two franchise records in one night: most points in a third quarter (26) and most three-pointers made in a game (12).
The trio of Murray, De’Aaron Fox, and Domantas Sabonis looks to ascend higher in preparation for the 2024-25 season. Sabonis may not have won the NBA MVP award in 2024, but nothing is stopping him or one of his teammates from getting the accolade in the future.
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