Photo courtesy of Ryan Greene – DNVR Sports

Nique Clifford and Isaiah Stevens recently suited up for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA2k26 Summer League and with both of them back on the court again, how could you not love that as a Ram fan? Gets me down right emotional.

In game 1, it was about how you’d expect the first summer league game to go. Looked more like a game at the CSU Rec Center than an NBA game. That’s no shot at the players, summer league just isn’t a conducive environment for great basketball. A lot of guys out there are trying to prove themselves from a talent standpoint, leading to more isolation play. And with how these teams are thrown together, it’s hard to run much of anything creative from an offensive standpoint.

With that in mind, I was impressed with what I saw out of Nique Clifford in his 25 minutes. No, he didn’t shoot the ball particularly great, but in comparison to everyone else in this game, I’d say he shot alright (17pts 5-12). He got to the line ten times which is extremely encouraging even if he was still 6/10 (just gotta shake those nerves off). Nique showed off all aspects of his game (4rebs/3ast/2stl/1blk), that made him the dynamic player that he was at CSU.

But what really impressed me was his poise and professionalism down the stretch as the Kings closed out this game against the Magic 84-81. Finishing with a quick spin move on the right block over former Buff Tristan Da Silva to take the lead with 1:19 left on the clock, then putting the game out of reach with a huge one-handed flush on the baseline. After both of those plays, calmly and intently going back on defense like he’s been there before (another day at the office), like the true pro he is and has been for a few years now.

Isaiah had a quiet game 1 (16 mins, 2 pts 1-6, 1 reb, 1 ast) and will need to shoot the ball more consistently to be an effective NBA player, but the Kings have a surplus of guards on this team, so I assume they will give him some more consistent run in the next games once they figure out rotations.

Game 2 really felt like deja vu as a CSU hoops fan in the best way. Isaiah with a classic Zay performance (10pts, 4ast, 2reb, 2stl). Didn’t score a ton, but he didn’t need to with Carter and Clifford lighting up the scoreboard. Starting off the game with two pull-up threes, he just looked as locked in as you could be for a summer league game.

The most impressive (but not surprising) aspect of his game was his impact as a floor general for this team. Leading the team with a plus-minus of +28 (the next highest guy was +17), he was just doing exactly what he did for the Rams in his five years there. Whipping pinpoint passes all around the floor and putting guys in great positions to make plays was just beautiful to see and had me feeling nostalgic.

One word to describe Niques second summer league game would be: Steady. Clifford racked up 19 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. Another classic Ram performance. He shot the ball much better this game (8-13 from the field and 3-4 from three) and just seemed to have everything going. Catch and shoot, drives, cuts, spin moves, fadeaways, he was dialed in and continued to carry himself with that professional demeanor that so few players his age have.

The Kings’ 109-92 win over the Chicago Bulls looked at least a little more like an NBA-style game than the first one and gives the Kings a 2-0 start in summer league. Really excited to continue watching these two represent the Rams well in summer league and to continue to build on these solid performances.

As much as I can, I’ll continue to appreciate every moment of having Zay and Nique back on the court together again. Can’t help but get emotional. Really hoping for a Kings summer league tournament run to see these two in (kinda) high-stakes games again. I’ll be checking back in after the next few Summer League games.

Thanks for reading! More soon. (: