Warriors, Kings radio broadcasters cherishing ‘long overdue’ first NorCal playoff showdown
SACRAMENTO — The first-round series between the Warriors and Sacramento Kings feels like a full-circle moment for Golden State play-by-play radio announcer Tim Roye.
His last stop before taking the Warriors gig in 1995 was at Sacramento’s KFBK-AM radio, where he was part of the Kings broadcast team while also serving as the station’s sports director from 1989-95. During his time there, he worked closely with Gary Gerould, the Kings’ long-time radio announcer, and they formed a close relationship that still stands strong to this day.
Over the years, the two often talked about what it would be like if the Warriors and Kings had ever met in a playoff series.
“I wondered if the time would ever come in our lifetimes when these two teams would be good at the same time,” Gerould said in a recent phone interview.
Roye recalled telling Gerould, “I’m going to stay in this business until we get one of these.”
At the beginning of this season, a matchup between the NBA’s two NorCal teams seemed like a longshot. The Kings had hired former Warriors associate coach Mike Brown in the offseason and the organization underwent a culture overhaul. Meanwhile, the Warriors once again projected to be title favorites after making an improbable NBA Finals run last summer.
But the Kings established chemistry and a groove early and never let up, finishing with the third-best record in the Western Conference to send Sacramento to its first postseason in 17 years. The Warriors, on the other end, spent most of the season hovering around .500 before a late-season surge helped them escape the dreaded play-in tournament. Golden State’s sixth-place finish set the table for this matchup.
And allowed those “maybe one day” conversations to finally came to fruition.
“It’s way overdue,” Roye said. The two teams “never [have] run on a parallel course. One’s been up, one’s been down.”
Added Gerould, “It’s been a pleasant surprise and it’s been a ton of fun. I love the interactions between the fans and the fact you’re 85 miles apart from arena to arena. It’s just a terrific, fun experience.”
While the Warriors have enjoyed success over the last decade with their dynastic nucleus of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr, the Kings have been on the periphery of the NBA since the mid-2000s.
Gerould, who’s calling his 38th season for the Kings, remembered the eight-year playoff run from 1999 until 2006. But since then, Gerould, who’s 82, has been free to start planning his Memorial Day barbecues in January.
“I joke about the fact that I was 6’4 when the Kings came to Sacramento and they eventually beat me down to my current height of 5’8,” Gerould said. “So it’s just funny how these things happen somewhat cyclical. Boy, it’s been a long time in this cycle.”
Not only has this series revitalized the Kings’ fan base, but it’s also “certainly reinvigorated and helped an aging broadcaster in a sense,” Gerould said.
“When you’re in it, a team [in the playoffs], it’s fun,” Roye said. This Kings team “kind of reminds me of the Warriors [early on]. They’re on their way up. The climb of it and being in the playoffs and being a threat, that’s fun.”