What a Day!

Well this post wasn’t supposed to be written today, I’m working on the post-draft hangover review for the 49ers and I’m making great progress. Today was supposed to be a ho-hum decision from the NBA relocation committee on the Sacramento/Seattle I-5 kerfuffle. Instead, around 2 PM today, the Relocation committee came back with a referendum on the situation. They stared down the proposition to move the Kings to Seattle like Gandalf stared down the Balrog. They screamed “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” and unanimously voted against relocation of the Sacramento Kings for the 2013-14 season.

What does this mean? In short it assures only one thing: one more season of Sacramento Kings basketball. What, in all likelihood, does this mean? The Sacramento Kings are here to stay. While the league blocked the move to Seattle for this year, nothing precludes the Maloofs from sitting tight (other than crushing debt, a fan base that refuses to support the team as long as the Maloofs own it, a crumbling empire, a complete lack of liquidity, a refusal to work with local government, a dilapidated barn as a home for your internationally-known franchise, etc.), except pressure to sell. While the only thing this guarantees is one more year in Seattle, the general feeling is that this decision will have more positive ramifications for Sacramento.

Currently, the Maloofs have two offers in front of them; one from the Hansen-Ballmer group (“Seattle”) and one from the Mastrov-Ranadive group (“Sacramento”). The Seattle group was looking at the Kings to replace the Supersonics that they failed to retain five years ago. If this happened, the Kings would cease to exist; they would become the Seattle Supersonics. The Webber/Stojakovic years are lost in the past. The Kings first playoff appearance in a decade becomes a fight against themselves (it was against Seattle in 1996). The Kings would be gone.

To me, this would be the favorable outcome to the Maloofs. They would end the “Sacramento Kings” franchise, and all their failures associated with it. Anything the team does from thereon out would not be compared to any moves the Maloofs made. After all, they owned the Kings. That is a completely different franchise than the Supersonics. Selling the team would mean that if they ever found success, the Maloofs would not see that as a failure on their part. As I’ve already established, I firmly believe the Maloofs to be terrible businessmen and horrible man children. Their complete lack of transparency with regards to the availability of the Kings franchise until they announced their deal with the Seattle group is the perfect display of this immaturity.

The Maloofs could have come out of this on top. They could have been heroes. They could have announced that their financial situation made continued ownership impossible. They could have been sympathetic figures in the area. They tried their best, and maybe they hung on too long, but ultimately they understood that they were overmatched and did what was best for the franchise. Instead, they tied the success of the franchise to their own success (maybe because it’s the only thing that they haven’t sold yet), and refused to sell. The destruction of the Kings in the last few years has to has have worn on the Maloofs. They don’t know how to run an operation, considering that the Kings are the latest in a long line of failures for them. The problem is that the public at large doesn’t generally know about them selling off shares of their liquor distribution business, their shares of the Palms, and their shares of Wells Fargo. Selling off the Kings would be their most public collapse and failure thus far.

This post isn’t about the Maloofs failures, however, it is about the success of Sacramento at large. After it was announced a few months ago that the Maloofs had come to an agreement with the Seattle group, the Sacramento leaders, headed by Mayor Kevin Johnson. Sacramento rallied around their only pro sports franchise, with support from all angles. The fans and media (including KHTK’s Grant Napear and Carmichael Dave) came together, with “Here We X” nights and movements. X included, stay, buy and build. Luckily X now equals STAYED.

While I no longer live in Sacramento, it’s where I lived for 18 years, and where I grew up. I know its roads better than Santa Barbara or San Jose, where I have lived since 2004. In short, it’s home. Growing up in Sacramento, the Kings are a significant part of my identity.

I remember my first home game in Arco Arena. It was against the Jazz; my dad had gotten tickets to the luxury suite for The Good Guys, where he worked. I was able to see hall of famers John Stockton & Karl Malone. I cheered the arrival of the most recent Kings’ addition: Olden Polynice. The trade for OP was announced that night, and I was excited.

Many Kings fans earned their team being relevant. They earned the sudden relevancy at the beginning of the millennium with the Webber years. What they don’t deserve is the Maloof ownership group. This is a fan base that is loyal to their franchise to the end. The only problem is the Maloofs turned their franchise into a money pit. All we ask is that you try to field a competitive team; history tells us that Kings fans only care about trying (especially considering the Kings sold out every game in the entire decade between their first and second playoff appearances).

I’m so excited about the Kings staying, and I apologize if this post was pretty disjointed. All there is for everyone in Sacramento is pure joy. My situation is not unique, and I make no presentation that it is. Every Kings fan in Sacramento shared my joy today, and KHTK’s Jason Ross Show perfectly explained my joy today when they asked how a team that is outside of the playoffs can feel like they won the championship. KHTK today also opened my eyes with a quote from a long time caller who passed about five years ago.

“Never give up, never give in, as long as the Kings have a chance to win.”

#herewestayed

 

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