Sacramento Kings Organization Recognized With Awards In Innovation
Jan 16, 2020, 5:25 PM | Updated: 5:27 pm
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The league recognized the Sacramento Kings and Milwaukee Bucks with the NBA Inclusion Innovation Award for the “Team Up For Change” initiative, an event that united leaders from two cities to discuss solutions to social injustices in their communities. The Bucks will be hosting a summit when the Kings visit Milwaukee next month on Feb. 10. Last month, the Kings and the REPRESENT JUSTICE Campaign also tipped off a new NBA initiative called “Play for Justice,” which includes a series of conversations and basketball games at correctional facilities between incarcerated individuals and NBA players and coaches. The Kings visited Folsom State Prison to talk about hope and redemption before a game of basketball and just this past weekend, Kings players and coaches hosted free screenings of the film “Just Mercy” for local youth.
The team also earned the NBA Team Innovation Award in honor of opening the world’s first in-arena, checkout-free convenience store in partnership with Zippin. Cameras, sensors and artificial intelligence enable Zippin to identify which items customers purchase as they walk around the store, allowing guests and fans to walk in, grab items and walk out in under 30 seconds.
The Kings are the only NBA team to win the NBA Inclusion Innovation Award twice in a row.