Dylan Cardwell shared a poignant message following an Easter Sunday game against the Los Angeles Clippers, expressing profound joy and gratitude for the opportunity he has received with the Sacramento Kings this season.
Cardwell went undrafted out of Auburn in June, signed a two-way contract with the Kings in July and was rewarded with a four-year, $8.3 million standard NBA contract in February. Cardwell’s joy and devotion shined through as he talked about his journey over the past 12 months.
“My joy just comes from the Lord,” Cardwell said. “I try to be a light for Him each and every day because every day is not promised. He’s taken me from — I was a nobody my whole entire life. I played JV in ninth grade. I averaged like three points a game in 10th grade. I rode the bench my junior year. My senior year, I didn’t play. I played 15 minutes a game in college basketball until last year. I’m unqualified for a lot of things, and yet here I am. I can’t stake any amount of credit for all the Lord has done for me.”
Cardwell came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points while grabbing eight rebounds and blocking four shots in a 138-109 loss to the Clippers before a crowd of 15,014 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Kings coach Doug Christie knew Cardwell was somebody from the moment he saw him in summer league almost a year ago. Christie has spoken highly of Cardwell ever since.
“When you’ve got a kid like that, he’s so highly motivated and so easy to coach,” Christie said. “He’s all about his teammates and trying to win and how can he win and how can I get better and do you have any film and on and on. Those are things that make me smile about Dylan, so not only that, but you’re just happy to see him when he’s having success.”
Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points to lead the Clippers (40-38), who have clinched a spot in the play-in tournament. John Collins came off the bench to score 25 points. Darius Garland and Kobe Sanders scored 17 points apiece.
Devin Carter had 21 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Kings (21-58), who had won two in a row and seven of their last 14. Rookie first-round draft pick Nique Clifford had 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. DeMar DeRozan scored nine points in the first quarter to pass Oscar Robertson for 16th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Cardwell went 7 of 8 from the field and knocked down the first 3-pointer of his career. He has appeared in 40 games this season, averaging 5.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 blocks.
Cardwell said he is grateful for the support and encouragement Christie has given him this season.
“I’m really appreciative of Doug Christie,” Cardwell said. “He’s been a very honest man, a very hones coach. Since I touched down in Sacramento, I’ll never forget my first practice with him and the team in L.A. He pulled me to the side and said, ‘Hey, I just want you to go out there and beat up and people and foul people.’ He was saying you have to find a way to separate yourself. We have so many skilled basketball players on the team. We have so many people who can do great things at a high level, and I have to find a way to get on the court.
“And for me, that’s being tough. That’s being an enforcer. That’s being a rim protector. He was very honest about, if I do these things, if I make sure I’m on time and make sure I’m being professional, when the opportunity presents itself, he gave me a lot of grace, and that’s been one of the bigger reasons I’ve been successful this year is because Doug Christie has given me a lot of grace to go out there and fail and mess up on rotations and miss layups or miss free throws or miss assignments. He let me play through that because the main thing he wants me to do is play hard, and I can’t thank him enough for the amount of grace he’s given me as a coach. I’ve never had that much grace given to me by a coach in my entire life.”
Up next
The Kings will visit the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday at Chase Center in San Francisco. They will then play host to the Warriors on Friday in Sacramento before going north to play the Portland Trail Blazers in Sunday’s season finale.
The Warriors (36-41) had lost three in a row going into Sunday’s game against the Houston Rockets. They are 10th in the Western Conference and have clinched a spot in the play-in tournament.
Warriors star Stephen Curry had not played since Jan. 30, but he returned against the Rockets on Sunday after missing 27 games due to right patellofemoral pain syndrome.
This story was originally published April 5, 2026 at 11:09 PM.
Jason Anderson is The Sacramento Bee’s Kings beat writer. He is a Sacramento native and a graduate of Fresno State, where he studied journalism and college basketball under the late Jerry Tarkanian.