Kings fans not allowed to bring cowbells inside Chase Center originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The Cowbell Kingdom will be missing their signature accessory during Thursday’s Game 3 matchup on the road against Golden State.
A day before tipoff, the Sacramento Kings tweeted that cowbells would not be allowed at Chase Center, home of the Warriors. Visiting fans who bring the noise makers will be directed to an outdoor bag check location and can retrieve it at the conclusion of the game.
The Warriors enter Wednesday’s game down 2-0 and in need of a win to keep their hopes of back-to-back championships alive. The Kings, meanwhile, are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2005-06 and the Sacramento fans are certainly rewarding them for their historic season.
Ringing of cowbells, however, dates back to the heyday of the early 2000s when the Kings made eight-straight postseason appearances.
In the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Kings, Lakers head coach Phil Jackson called Sacramento a “cow town” and said Sacramento fans were “semi-civilized” and “maybe redneck in some form or fashion.”
While the locals obviously did not take to Jackson’s characterization kindly and he became public enemy No. 1 in the capital city, they can thank him for inspiring a now decades-long tradition. Fans immediately started bringing cowbells to that series and have continued to do so for every home game since.
Ahead of this season, the Kings set up a bell in the practice facility to “reward players and bring recognition to guys that do good things for the team.”
The Warriors and Kings will return to the Chase Center for Game 4 on Sunday. If the Warriors win either Game 3 or Game 4, the two teams will head back 90 minutes northwest to Sacramento where the cowbells will almost definitely be in full force.