SACRAMENTO – After clanging the first free throw with 4.5 seconds left, Brandin Podziemski glanced at the Warriors bench, cracked a smile and took a deep breath.
Score-wise, there was no reason to fret about a make or miss, as the Kings led the Warriors by seven points and had the game well in hand.
But for Podziemski, one more point stood between him and his first-ever 30-ball. Did he know how many points he had?
“Everybody did,” Podziemski said. “As soon as I missed the first one, everybody on the bench yelled at me, and that’s why I smiled a little bit. They’ve just been giving me a hard time about it the whole year.”
Podziemski nailed the second foul shot, scoring 30 for the first time in his 219-game career. In the process, he also freed an infamous social media account – which goes by “Podziemski’s Gravity” from its self-imposed digital exile.
On Nov. 25, 2024, the anonymous fan account posted on X that it would not be heard from again until Podziemski scored 30 points in a game.
Podziemski had gotten close a few times – games of 28 and 29 points last season – but Friday was the first time he was able to get over the finish line.
Seconds after Podziemski’s free throw rippled the net, the account posted “WE DID ITTTTTTTTTTTT”. Its first few posts, made in rapid succession, each have 10s of thousands of likes and engagements.
Podziemski cracked a joke midway through his postgame press conference in Sacramento confirming his awareness of this internet joke.
“The account can be activated,” Podziemski said.
Golden State Warriors’ Brandin Podziemski (2) guards Los Angeles Lakers’ Christian Koloko (10) in the first quarter of their NBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, April 9, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Internet netizens weren’t the only ones happy to see Podziemski break the 30-point barrier.
“I told him we were going to treat him like Devin Booker when he scored 70 in Boston and lost. Give him the sign (to hold up),” Steph Curry joked.
Though the 30-point threshold has received the vast majority of fans’ attention this season, Podziemski is quietly approaching another impressive milestone.
When he suits up on Sunday at the Clippers in the regular-season finale, he will become the only Warrior to play in all 82 games.
In a season in which almost every teammate has missed extensive time with injuries – Gary Payton has played in 72 games for the second-highest number – Podziemski has been a fixture in the lineup while averaging a career-high 13.9 points per game while only starting 41 times.
This comes after 74 and 64 games during his first two years in the league.
“I’ve had good vets, like (Kevon) Looney and Buddy (Hield) have done it before me,” Podziemski said. “I’ve just found a flow on the days I’m free, or on back-to-backs that have allowed me to just be ready and be healthy. Through my injuries, I learned a lot about my body and how it works, and by doing that, I’m able to prevent injuries.”
Sacramento Kings’ Daeqwon Plowden (29) goes up for a basket while Golden State Warriors’ Brandin Podziemski (2) attempts to block his shot in the third quarter of their NBA game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday, April 10, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)