The Kings turned the beam ceremony into a religious experience with a strange mascot ritual

With the playoffs around the corner, the Sacramento Kings have cemented themselves as a legitimate Western Conference power. Their now trademark “light the beam” pregame ritual — introduced only in the 2022 season, where the purple beam outside the arena lights up — has become quite popular during the team’s rise.

Sacramento mascot Slamson the Lion took the “ritual” part of this quite literally recently.

Before the Kings battled the Utah Jazz Saturday night, Slamson led several other sports teams’ mascots, like the Chicago Bulls’ Benny the Bull and the San Antonio Spurs’ Coyote, through a strange mascot ceremony. The group surrounded Slamson and “worshipped” him as held the beam up high.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this kind of experience from mascots, but perhaps Slamson is merely capturing the Kings’ impeccable vibe:

MascotBeamCP pic.twitter.com/Jmljbapo6H

— James Burnes (@JamesBurnes8) March 26, 2023

What’s your favorite part? Where Slamson moves like a Jedi Knight while holding the purple beam like a lightsaber? Or is it when the different mascots act like they now understand the way of the Kings?

This moment would be so weird if it weren’t also absolutely comical.