Life works in mysterious ways.
A few years ago, Maxime Raynaud was on Christmas break from Stanford and missing his family back in France. Luckily for him, his teammate and good friend Isa Silva invited him to his family’s in nearby Sacramento. Raynaud met Silva’s cousins, uncles and aunts, and they all bonded over their love for basketball.
So, naturally, they decided to attend a Kings game.
“I call it the Christmas magic,” Raynaud told NBC Sports California’s Morgan Ragan on a recent “Kings Central.” “I was extremely happy that Isa, my former teammate, was able to introduce me to his family. Just that by itself was already an amazing Christmas for me. And then being able to have our passion for basketball bring something new to that Christmas helped a ton, too.”
The energy inside Golden 1 Center left a lasting impression on Raynaud.
But little did he know that just a few years later, he would end up being drafted by the Kings.
It’s a full-circle moment he’s fully embraced, and he’s looking forward to returning to Golden 1 Center in a new way.
“I think you guys have one of the most amazing fan bases here in the U.S. It was electric,” Raynaud said. “It was really fun. And being able to light the beam as well, I think it’s something that every single fan would want to see. Something as players we want to do. It was a lot of fun.
“And now being able to be on the other side of it, being on the court, I hope it’s going to be even more fun.”
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