Australian Super Fan Travels to See Kings
By Sydney Zuelke
Mathew Whitely of Perth, Australia traveled nearly 10,000 miles to explore the United States. On his U.S. expedition bucket list — attend a Sacamento Kings game at the new Golden 1 Center.
We caught up with Whitely, joined by his girlfriend Ciara Hinton, following the Kings' victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Golden1Center.com: How long have you been a Kings fan?
Mat Whitely: About 13 years.
Golden1Center.com: What brought you to tonight’s game?
Mat Whitely: I was traveling around America with my girlfriend and saw the schedule, and just made sure that we got to Sacramento for a game. Had to take a bit of a detour, but we got here.
Golden1Center.com: You mentioned you wanted to come for the home opener, but it didn’t work out?
Mat Whitely: I was across the other side of the country, so the back and forth flight probably wouldn’t have made her too happy.
Golden1Center.com: You’re from Perth, Australia. How long is that flight? And what other places have you visited?
Mat Whitely: So the flight all together was about 19-20 hours to L.A. We’ve been all over – from Texas, to New Orleans, New York, Boston, Chicago, San Fran. We’re going to Yosemite in a couple of days as well.
Golden1Center.com: What do you think about Golden 1 Center?
Mat Whitely: It’s awesome, so good. We went to Barclays (Center in Brooklyn, NY) and this just knocks it out of the water – so cool.
Golden1Center.com: The Kings won, how cool was that?
Mat Whitely: I’ve had a good run with my team; seeing them in America, and seeing a good game. I’m really happy that they won.