Mikki Moore Still Hearts Sacramento

OAKLAND -- You already know that Mikki Moore is a little bit different, what with the hair and the snake collection and the playing of the drums and the restoring of vintage cars and all that.

But he proved it again on Wednesday when he was in the Bay Area to sign his one-year contract with the Warriors. During an interview he was asked about that other Northern California NBA team he played for: the Sacramento Kings.

Real quick, some background ... Moore was touched by the basketball gods last season when he was waived by the Kings on Feb. 19, then signed by the Boston Celtics less than a week later. That means he went from the worst team in the league to the defending NBA champs.

What a stroke of good fortune, right? What a blessing, no? Well, not exactly.

"It was tough," Moore said of the transition. "I had to leave Sac. To this day, I still do feel like they're my brothers. I've never walked out on anyone when the times get hard, and we were struggling.

"The young guys were trying to learn their roles. We had coaching changes. Some of the older guys were ready to get out because the organization was changing. It was hard for me to go from that group of guys to a group of guys who were already into it. They had just won a championship the year before so I was on the outside looking in."

But still ... c'mon. We're talking the difference between the Kings and Celtics here.

"It was very difficult," Moore countered. "But God works in mysterious ways. It taught me a lot. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I'm trying to bring forth that and what I've learned from that situation to the Warriors."

Moore signed a three-year, $18 million contract with the Kings in the summer of 2007, by far the biggest contract he has received during his NBA career. But the last year wasn't fully guaranteed. So when the Kings waived him, there went $4 million.

"I've always fought through the hard times," Moore said. "If I had a choice, I wouldn't have left Sac. It's just the guys, the guys and the fans there ... they're great."

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