SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – They've changed the name twice and cowbells no longer clang quite like they once did, but Timberwolves assistant coach David Adelman will always remember the arena out in the pastures north of Sacramento as Arco as well as the entertaining teams that once thrilled fans there.
"Somebody corrected me the other day, and I said they've changed it like five times," he said. "So it'll always be Arco to me, kind of like it's still the Rose Garden to me."
He grew up in a basketball family in Portland, where his father, Rick, once coached the beloved Trail Blazers and then became a part-time resident through his high school and college years and beyond when his dad coached the Kings for eight seasons.
The Wolves played at the place now known as Sleep Train Arena and before that Power Balance Pavilion for the final time on Thursday night. Rick Adelman and other dignitaries will attend the final NBA game played there Saturday against Oklahoma City before the Kings move to a new downtown arena next season after they almost left town.
Kevin Garnett and LeBron James each played his first NBA regular-season game there. Wolves veteran Tayshaun Prince once played high school playoff games there. David Adelman always will remember both midweek regular season and playoff games because of the noise, and he'll always remember teams featuring Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and others that won 55 or more games four consecutive times in the early 2000s.
"One of the most energized buildings I've ever been in," he said. "The fanbase is incredible win or lose, and all those arenas make a different kind of sound. That place, when it was rocking, it was shaking."
Those plywood floorboards that Kings fans stomped upon courtside might have had something to do with it.
"That helped," Adelman said. "I think those teams helped, too. They were so unselfish and so fun to watch. That was a special time."
