Covering bad Sacramento Kings teams isn’t just a professional challenge — it can be a personal grind, too. That’s the reality The Athletic‘s Sam Amick laid out when asked about separating himself emotionally from the misery of covering struggling Sacramento Kings teams early in his career.
In an interview with Sactown Sports’ Carmichael Dave and Jason Ross, Amick opened up about what it was like to cover some rough seasons–some similar to the Kings’ abysmal 2025-26 campaign.
Amick lived through both ends of the spectrum. He arrived on the Sacramento Kings beat in the mid-2000s, catching the tail end of relevance.
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Sacramento made the playoffs in 2005–06 and pushed the Spurs in a competitive first-round series. It wasn’t the glory of a Western Conference Finals run, but it still felt meaningful.
Then came the historic 16-year postseason drought, one that spanned from 2006 through 2022.
Amick spent five years on the beat, and each season got progressively worse. The Sacramento Kings missed the playoffs in each of his final four seasons covering the team, and that sustained losing, he explained, takes a toll that goes beyond wins and losses.
“The human part of covering a bad team isn’t about wanting them to win,” Amick said. “You do build relationships and hope people do well, but the negativity around the group becomes contagious.”
For Amick, the job wasn’t about fandom — it was about environment.
Showing up every day to chronicle failure, tension, and disappointment wears on you. He acknowledged how strange the profession can be when viewed from the outside, telling Carmichael Dave and Jason Ross to imagine someone whose full-time job is to come into the studio every day and publicly document whether you’re good or bad at what you do.
“That would get old,” he said.
It’s part of the ecosystem of pro sports, but that doesn’t make it easy. Over time, Amick found himself drained by the constant pushback that comes with covering a losing team honestly. The “don’t kill the messenger” dynamic became routine. When the product was poor, the coverage reflected it — not out of malice, but accuracy.
“I trust me, if you guys did positive things, we would say positive things,” Amick said. “When it wasn’t that way for 80 percent of my time on the beat, it definitely wore me down.”
Check out the full interview with The Athletic’s Sam Amick by scrolling to the top of the page or by clicking here.
Listen to The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross from 6 – 10 a.m. PST, Monday through Friday, on Sactown Sports 1140.
More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports
When is the next Sacramento Kings game?
The Sacramento Kings will conclude a five-game road trip on Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sacramento is 1-2 against the Lakers this season, although they won the most recent matchup between the two teams–a 124-112 win at Golden 1 Center on January 12th–behind 32 points from DeMar DeRozan.
Be sure to catch all of the Sacramento Kings vs. Los Angeles Lakers action right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage beginning at 5:00 PM PT on Game Night before a 6:30 pm PT tip-off from downtown Los Angeles.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Sunday, March 1st @ Los Angeles Lakers – 6:30 PM PT
Tuesday, March 3rd vs. Phoenix Suns – 8:00 PM PT
Thursday, March 5th vs. New Orleans Pelicans – 7:00 PM PT
Sunday, March 8th vs. Chicago Bulls – 6:00 PM PT
Tuesday, March 10th vs. Indiana Pacers – 7:00 PM PT
Thank you for reading SactownSports.com. Follow us on Twitter and Google News, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
