The Sacramento Kings lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 132-120 on Thursday night to fall to 0-5 on the young NBA season, but at least UConn Huskies alum Alex Karaban got a chance to make an impact.

The rookie, who was drafted in the first round, scored six points in 12 minutes of action. He had a steal and three turnovers, but he hit the first two 3-pointers of his NBA career, which is certainly worth celebrating.

The 6-foot-7 freshman had just one career point in the first four games, so these 3's were also his first career field goals.

Well, where exactly do you start? For starters, Karaban stayed four years at UConn at a time when almost no one stays four years anywhere. He's the winningest player in Huskies history, having been a part of two national title teams and three teams that went to the national title game.

He played in 151 career games, starting 150, which gives him the most starts in program history as well. He averaged 12.5 ppg for his career, including 13.2 a season ago. He was a 37.4 percent shooter from downtown at UConn and was a two-time All-Big East selection. He made the All-NCAA Tournament team a year ago as well.

He was inducted into the prestigious "Huskies of Honor" before his collegiate career was officially over, and he leaves behind a legacy that UConn players will draw on for years.

Dan Hurley continues to talk glowingly about him whenever he comes up in conversation 

On the negative side? The Kings are regarded as one of the worst organizations in the NBA, so Karaban is facing an uphill battle against that perception and that long history.

On the positive side? Since the Kings are not very good, there's probably going to be more minutes for him as the season progresses. As the team sits players and trades players away, he should see more time.

After a perfect 3-0 regular season, the Huskies will kick off the 2026-27 season on Monday night (9 p.m. ET) at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford. They'll take on Gardner-Webb, which should be an easy victory for Hurley's team. That said, he'll want to continue to see his team grow and improve off what they did in the preseason, which means you can expect him to be tough on his group despite the result.