Sacramento Kings fans Warriors hate has a truly pathetic origin story

Sports are all about rivalries. Whether there's animosity between players, a deep-rooted hatred among fans, a rich history of back-and-forth battles for supremacy, or hypothetical matchups between all-time greats, rivalries breathe life into sports.

The 2023-24 NBA Rivals Week highlighted one of the league's budding geographical rivalries, and it's taking center stage once again. The Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings will battle for Northern California supremacy in the NBA Play-In Tournament on Tuesday night. Both teams finished with the regular season with a 46-36 record, but the Kings earned the ninth seed in the Western Conference, which will give them home-court advantage over the Warriors, who finished as the 10th seed.

Kings fans are suffering from inferiority complex

Kings' fans have developed a palpable hatred for the Warriors in recent years, ESPN's Kenny Caraway said.

"The moment that really pissed people off here in Sacramento was when we started seeing Warriors gear in the Sacramento airport," Caraway explained. "For whatever reason that start us off."

The two teams have played just 86 miles apart ever since the Kings relocated to Sacramento in 1985. When two teams play in the same area, the more successful team typically captures the hearts of sports fans in the region, whether it's the Los Angeles Lakers over the Clippers or the New York Yankees over the Mets. In this case, however, both the Warriors and Kings struggled throughout their history.

Then, Golden State blossomed into a dynasty and captured the Northern California market. Heading into their Play-In matchup, the sea of Warriors fans in Sacramento have made Kings fans quite upset.

"The Warriors may have supplanted the Lakers [as] the number one in Sacramento," Caraway said. "We hate the Warriors."

Last year, the Kings ended a 16-year playoff drought and faced the Warriors in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. It was the first time the Northern California foes met in the playoffs, and they provided an electric series that reignited the rivalry. Golden State pulled out a 4-3 victory, but the series featured a slew of memorable moments, including Draymond Green's stomp, Kevon Looney's domination on the boards, and Stephen Curry's 50-point explosion in Game 7 to end Sacramento's magical season.

If history is any indication, the North California Play-In game will be one to watch. During the regular season, the teams met four times and came away with two wins a piece. Three of the four games were decided by a single point.

If the Kings want to escape being the "little brother" of Northern California, they can start by ending the Warriors season tonight.