Property of @KristinasCall

I know it’s been almost a week, and the conversation surrounding the Kings has now turned to potential draft picks and GM and head coaching candidates, but I am still processing the events of the last few weeks. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Long Live the Kings Rally in Cesar Chavez Park last week. It was an incredibly emotional event, where the presence of Kings legends Chris Webber and Mitch Richmond, as well as former fan favorites Scot Pollard and Bobby Jackson, allowed 15,000 Kings fans to reminisce on the Golden Era of Kings basketball while simultaneously looking to the future with more optimism than any of us have felt in the last five or six years. I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the event, and discuss what I believed to be the highlights of the night, as well as what might be considered some lowlights.

Highlights:

Kevin Johnson- When Kevin Johnson took the stage, he was an enthusiastic as I’ve ever seen him. At times during his impassioned “Pride, Grit, and Heart” speech about the fans of Sacramento he sounded more like a public address announcer than a politician, which was awesome. His words rang true to every one of the diehard fans at the park, and it was truly inspirational to witness the culminating celebration of the Mayor’s phenomenal efforts over the last few years.

Vivek Ranadive- As exciting as the appearances of former and current Kings players were, the highlight of the night for me occurred when new owner Vivek Ranadive addressed the sea of purple. He began by heaping praise on Mayor Johnson, promising 35 more years of the Sacramento Kings, and declaring to the fans of Sacramento that “this is your team.” He painted a triumphant picture of the future, while humorously suggesting that Kevin Johnson will be building an intergalactic arena on Mars before the Kings leave Sacramento.

While Vivek’s speech was infused with humor, there were more than a few touching moments. One such moment came when Ranadive announced that there were many people he wanted to thank, and then paused. During the pause, a fan yelled out “Thank you!” and all of a sudden we were all chanting “Thank you! Thank you!” at the top of our lungs. It was a special moment that encapsulated the immense gratitude that all Kings fans feel toward everyone who has worked so hard to keep this franchise. Ranadive went to on say that he and the rest of the ownership group will work hard to ensure that this becomes a franchise of which we can all be very proud. In the short time since the rally, he has begun to follow up on this promise, already pursuing the kind of big name front office personnel that Kings fans have rarely bothered to dream about.

Chris Webber- The video tribute to Chris Webber, as well as the interview he gave, provided an emotional blast from the past. We remembered the triumph of Webber’s 2000-2001 Season, when he averaged 27.1 points and made the All-NBA first team, and we remembered the devastation of his knee injury in Game 3 of the second round against the Dallas Mavericks. We remembered the glory of building a 3 to 2 lead in the Western Conference finals in 2002, and the agony of losing games 6 and 7. Most of all, Webber’s appearance served to remind us all that Sacramento deserves an NBA championship, and that the Kings have unfinished business in a passionate city that wasn’t about to let them walk away without a fight.

Tyreke Evans and Isaiah Thomas- The appearances of current restricted free agent Tyreke Evans and starting point guard Isaiah Thomas were encouraging. Evans’ presence indicates that he doesn’t expect to be leaving Sacramento and hopes to be a part of the future here. Isaiah Thomas is probably the most popular King, and his story makes him a perfect fit for the city of Sacramento. Because of his small size, Thomas has been a perpetual underdog since becoming the 60^th pick in the NBA draft. Much like the city of Sacramento, Thomas has used his pride, grit and heart to overcome many obstacles.

Lowlights:

Booing during Isaiah Thomas’ interview- I hate to even mention anything negative about the night, because, overall, it was an amazing, triumphant, and unforgettable event. However, some awkwardness arose when Isaiah Thomas, who is from Seattle, mentioned that Bobby Jackson came to Seattle to work with him in the off-season. When he said the word “Seattle,” fans began to boo, which seemed to make Thomas uncomfortable. Thomas was full of enthusiasm and praise for the city of Sacramento, Kings fans, and for his coach, and former King, Bobby Jackson, yet fans thought it would be appropriate to boo during his interview.

The booing prompted Grant Napear to say that we shouldn’t have any problem with Seattle now that the Kings are staying in Sacramento. I thought the whole incident was unfortunate and awkward, and I sincerely hope that Kings fans have more courtesy in the future. While the animosity toward Seattle is understandable to some degree, it is extremely rude to boo a beloved player’s hometown, simply because he mentioned that he trains there in the offseason. I’m sure none of us would want to go work in another city and be booed whenever we mention Sacramento.

Johnson defending the Maloofs- The only other instance where fans booed was when Kevin Johnson asked the fans to “give it up for the Maloofs!” Obviously, Kings fans had no intention of accommodating his request, and booed vigorously. I don’t have a problem with fans booing the Maloofs. In fact, I think they are probably the only people involved in this whole saga who do deserve to be booed. Probably forever. And they had better not ever show their faces in the new arena.

However, I do think it was inappropriate for Mayor Johnson to even bring them up on such a celebratory night, especially since he had to have known how the fans reacted when Thomas mentioned Seattle about an hour earlier. There was absolutely no way Johnson could have reasonably expected the fans to applaud the Maloofs, and by asking them to, he just opened the door for more awkwardness and unpleasantness.

On the whole, the Long Live the Kings Rally was a huge success. The fact that approximately 15,000 strong showed up for the rally is amazing in and of itself. The Kings only averaged 13,749 for home games last season. More people showed up for an outdoor rally where no basketball was actually played than would show up for an NBA basketball game. That should provide some insight as to just how powerful and passionate this fan base is, and how bright the future looks for a rebuilt team in a brand new arena!

Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Late last week, Kings fans breathed a sigh of relief when it was finally announced that a group of investors, led by Golden State Warriors minority owner Vivek Ranidive, had come to an agreement to purchase the majority interest of the Sacramento Kings from the Maloof family. Die hard fans who rallied, tailgated, attended fundraisers, sat thru monotonous city council meetings, and purchased tickets to cheer on a team, that for all intents and purposes, could have been rumored to relocate to Anaheim, Las Vegas, Virginia Beach, Seattle, or Tijuana at any given moment, tasted victory for the first time in many years. Simply put, Kings fans have been reborn. But It’s not the first time a rebirth has taken place in the capital city amongst loyal Kings fans. Coincidently, last week also marked the 15 year anniversary that a guy by the name of Mace Edward Christopher Webber III was traded to the Kings. The season prior to Webber’s arrival was certainly an adventure…

In early 1997, then Managing General Partner Jim Thomas and the City of Sacramento came to an agreement on a $78.5 million loan that would keep the Kings in Sacramento. Thomas had threatened to relocate the team if the city did not provide monetary assistance to the franchise, which had been suffering financial hardships for many years. With the future of the team secure, attention turned back to the court. The Kings narrowly missed the playoffs in 1997 by two games, despite posting a dismal 34-48 record.

The start of the 1997-1998 off-season was a tough one for Kings fans. Star forward Brian Grant turned down a 7-year, $48 million contract from the team in order to ink a 7-year, $63 million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, despite coming off a season that saw him appear in a mere 24 games due to injury. The Kings removed the interim tag from head coach Eddie Jordan (who replaced Gary St. Jean midway thru the previous season), and used their first-round pick (11th overall) on San Jose State guard Oliver Saint-Jean, better known as Tariq Abdul-Wahed, the name he adopted after converting to Islam in late 1997. Three other rookies were added to the roster, including second-round pick Anthony Johnson, 1994 second-round pick Lawrence Funderburke (who had spent the previous three seasons in Europe), and former Kennedy High School standout and Kings ball boy, Michael “Yogi” Stewart.

From the onset, it was a season of disastrous proportions. The Kings sputtered out of the gate to a 6-14 record, and during that loathsome first month of the season, the unthinkable happened. On November 7th, the Kings fell at home to the Los Angeles Clippers 98-85 in front of 15,858 fans at ARCO Arena. After 497 straight games playing at capacity, the Kings failed to sellout a game in Sacramento. If having a 12 year sellout streak snapped wasn’t bad enough, turmoil in the Kings locker room began to spill over.

Veteran center Olden Polynice had been regulated to the bench, pathing the way for rookie Michael Stewart to be inserted into the starting line-up due to his exceptional defensive play. “OP” was non too pleased with his diminished role, after being a starter the previous three and a half seasons, and had no problem voicing his displeasure regarding the situation.

Star guard Mitch Richmond began to grow tired in Sacramento. Entering his seventh season with the Kings, Richmond was already a five-time all-star, and well on his way to a sixth appearance later that year. However, Richmond had only seen the playoffs in his previous six years with the franchise one time, and despite all his accolades, was the sixth highest-paid player on the team at $3 million per year, behind the likes of Billy Owens ($4.2 million), Lionel Simmons (who retired prior to the start of the season, but was still due $3.7 million), Olden Polynice ($3.6 million), Bobby Hurley ($3.55 million), and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf ($3.3 million). Despite rumored mid-season trades that would have sent Richmond to destinations such as Miami or Seattle never materializing, the writing was on the wall that the teams first star player of the Sacramento era was ready to exit stage left.

Despite all the off-court issues surrounding the team, President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie still thought the team had a chance at a late playoff run, and pulled the trigger on a deal that would send fan favorite forward Michael “The Animal” Smith and guard Bobby Hurley to the Vancouver Grizzlies for former King Otis Thorpe and guard Chris Robinson. Thorpe, a one-time all-star with the Houston Rockets, was in the twilight of his career, and at age 35, provided the Kings with anemic 8.3 points and 4.3 rebounds while playing 23 minutes per game.

The Kings would finish the season dropping 26 of their final 30 games, a statistic that left even the most loyal of fans, who sat thru years of atrocious teams, with a feeling of disdain towards the roster. The Kings were going to need a miracle transaction to re-energize the once rambunctious fan base during the off-season, and on May 14th, 1998, that miracle fell into the lap of Geoff Petrie.

The Kings traded Richmond and Thorpe to the Washington Wizards for troubled forward Chris Webber. Despite apprehensions at first from both Kings fans and Webber, the move sparked one of the greatest turn arounds in basketball history. The trade provided seven straight years of playoff appearances, two division titles, thunderous crowds, a new sellout streak, and an entire city adopting purple as It’s favorite color. Kings fans had been reborn.

Now here we are, 15 years later, the future of the franchise in Sacramento is secure after several attempts by the Maloof family to relocate the team. Kings fans have had yet another resurrection. The phones are blowing up at Sleep Train Arena, and the “old barn” will surely be rockin’ next season. Now, does the new ownership group and their potential new front office staff have a “Webber-like miracle” in their back pocket? Will lady luck be riding on their shoulder at the draft lottery? Can they secure a big name free agent? Can they pull off a trade that would bring an all-star level talent to the capital city? Time will tell, but It’s great knowing as fans we can speculate about transactions that involve basketball players, and not billionaires wrestling over control of the franchise. It’s great to be able to focus on the game we all know and love. It’s great to be a fan of the Sacramento Kings.