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Fox’s Colin Cowherd Makes Bogus Claim That Kings’ Victory Beam Is Waste of Energy

The Kings have emerged as one of 2023's most compelling sports stories, as Sacramento has shed its lengthy playoff drought and taken a 2-0 series lead over the Warriors to near-universal acclaim from the wider NBA world.

Emphasis on near-universal.

With Golden State on the ropes, Fox’s Colin Cowherd offered a bizarre suggestion on Twitter: He thinks the Kings’ famed victory beam is a “waste of energy.”

“Light the Beam feels like an egregious waste of energy,” Cowherd wrote on Twitter. “Hopefully (California Gov.) Gavin Newsom looks into it.”

The hot take was debunked by Michael McGough of The Sacramento Bee, who wrote Wednesday afternoon that the beam “uses about as much power as a typical household appliance.”

McGough also noted that solar energy is Golden 1 Center’s sole power source—a fact that has won the arena Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification.

The beam, which projects an array of purple light skyward above Golden 1 Center following Kings victories has become a beloved rite in Sacramento. It’s powered by 1,800 watts of lasers, about the same amount of wattage required to power one cycle of a typical household dishwasher, according to McGough.

Before tweeting about the beam, Cowherd defended Warriors forward Draymond Green after he was ejected for stomping on the chest of Sacramento forward Domantas Sabonis.