ICYMI: Kings Guard Gaming Hosts Panel Discussion with Kings and Queens Rise Youth and Families

Last night, the entire Kings Guard Gaming team met virtually with 35 Sacramento youth and their families from the Kings and Queens Rise co-ed youth sports and mentoring league to share stories of their personal journey and advice on following their dreams.

In a guided conversation, the Kings Guard Gaming players emphasized the value of communication, teamwork and managing stress to assist in personal and business relationships as well as goal setting. Rookies Rafel “Crush” Davis, Mathew “Bash” and Hayden “Nasthetic” Caudle shared their struggles to break into the very competitive NBA 2K League and their persistence in the face of obstacles, as veterans Waseem “Seemo” Talbert, Yusuf “Yusuf_Scarbz” and Connor “Dat Boy Shotz” Rodrigues discussed the importance of making choices and sacrifices to become a professional gamer. The players then answered questions from the youth and coaches on the call.

To view the full event, click here.

Last week, the Sacramento Kings, in partnership with the Build.Black. Coalition, Black Child Legacy Campaign, My Brother’s Keeper Sacramento, First Tee of Greater Sacramento, Cameron Champ Foundation and OneSwing Golf Academy launched the third season of Kings and Queens Rise – the highly successful summer league. Due to COVID-19, the league has moved from weekly basketball games in various neighborhoods throughout Sacramento to virtual basketball with NBA 2K and socially distanced, in-person golf training. Through these activities, the youth will be able to connect with teams, trusted adult coaches and new opportunities to learn skills and strategies.

For the past two summers, Kings and Queens Rise has sought to prevent and interrupt violence by providing a caring, productive environment through community building, sportsmanship and resources for health and safety. The success has been tremendous, seeing a 100 percent retention rate amongst participating youth in the last two seasons. To learn more about the first season of Kings and Queens Rise, see the 2018 impact report here, and for a video recap, click here. For a video recap of the second season, click here.

For details about the third season of Kings and Queens Rise, visit the Black Child Legacy Campaign website or the My Brother’s Keeper Sacramento web page.

Kings Guard Gaming will begin their 2020 NBA 2K League Playoff appearance on Thursday, August 20, after finishing the regular season with an 11-5 record and securing the fifth seed. To learn more about Kings Guard Gaming, visit KingsGuard.gg or follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook – @KingsGuardGG.