By comparison, his one-game stint in Sacramento wasn't quite as memorable.

"I'm wondering if they're even going to boo me," Gooden said. "I'll bet they forgot I was even there."

If the fans at Arco Arena blinked, they probably missed the entirety of Gooden's Sacramento career.

Gooden was a King for 12 days in February, following a trade-deadline deal that sent fan favorites John Salmons and Brad Miller to Chicago. Nursing a strained groin, he played a single game in a Sacramento uniform, and left that one after aggravating the injury again.

Five days later, the Kings bought out Gooden's contract, allowing the 6-foot-10 forward to sign a free-agent deal with the Spurs for the rest of the season.

It was quite a reversal of fortune for Gooden. Instead of playing out the season with a miserable team in Sacramento, he found himself a key figure in the Spurs' stretch run toward the playoffs.

As the team's most reliable post-up presence outside of All-Star Tim Duncan, Gooden is averaging 9.2 points in 16 games since joining the Spurs. Lately, he has been even better than that, scoring at least 14 points off the bench in four of the past five games.

Gooden says he didn't show up in Sacramento intent on seeking a buyout. Soon upon his arrival, however, he came to believe that the cost-cutting Kings didn't consider him to be in their long-term plans.

It didn't help that the only game Gooden played in Sacramento, Feb. 25 against Charlotte, the Kings set a franchise low in attendance.

"I was more concerned about my future, what they saw me as," Gooden said. "They don't have a lot of money to spend on free agents. It was going to be tough for them."

Sacramento's loss has been the Spurs' gain. Gooden gives Spurs coach Gregg Popovich options he did not have in February.

With a back-to-back today at Sacramento and Sunday at Golden State, Popovich can more easily opt to rest Duncan and his sore knees for a game and let Gooden handle post-up chores.

"He pretty much does what he's always done throughout his career," swingman Ime Udoka said. "It took him a minute to get acclimated, but once he did, he settled down and started giving us some big buckets."

Late in the third quarter of Friday's victory over Utah, Gooden might have turned in his best 60-second stretch with the Spurs.

First, he chased Ronnie Brewer all the way to the sideline following a long rebound, harassing the Jazz guard into fumbling the ball out of bounds. Then, he outwrestled Utah's front line for an offensive rebound.

Seconds later, Gooden finished the three-shot possession by up-faking Paul Millsap at the free-throw line and driving for a layup.

More telling is what happened later: Popovich allowed Gooden to close the game.

"Drew is a good example of someone who is beginning to feel more and more comfortable with every game," Popovich said. "I don't know where the high end of that is, but we're real happy with the way he's playing."

Had things broken differently in February, it could have been Kings interim coach Kenny Natt - and not Popovich - uttering those words today.

Gooden is hopeful this summer the Spurs can offer him the long-term security Sacramento could not. He only wants one more thing out of the Kings.

Gooden likes to keep a jersey from each career stop for posterity. He has yet to receive one from Sacramento.

"They probably sent it to my house in Orlando, or it's on the way here (to San Antonio)," Gooden said. "For all I know, they sent it back to Chicago."

If they even remembered him at all.