After years of sadness and despair (16, to be exact), the Sacramento Kings are good again – winning an average of 47 games over the last two years. And now, after a rockstar today offseason, they are on pace to have an even better season in 2024-25. Who knows, maybe they will even win a playoff series or two (or three...or four).
But for some reason (more on this in a moment), the NBA and the people who are charged with creating the schedule don't seem to care about their recent run of success. At least, they don't care enough to give them more nationally televised games.
The Sacramento Kings Have Only 12 Nationally-Televised Games In 2024-25
The headline above may not seem that bad. After all, mathematically speaking, 12 nationally-televised games (including NBA TV games) is about 15% of the games on their schedule. However, when you look at the rest of the league, that puts them in one of the lowest tiers.
Here's how often each NBA team will be on national TV during the 2024-2025 season.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) August 16, 2024
Adjust your personal calendars accordingly 🗓️ pic.twitter.com/dSAxrjT0DQ
Of the seven tiers created by The Athletic in the graphic above, the Kings are in the third lowest – with the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, and Houston Rockets.
To be fair, there are teams who had a lot of success last year/project to have a lot of success this year that are in this tier with them. The Pacers made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, and the Rockets, with their blend of promising youth and reliable veterans, project to be a strong bunch next season.
Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic, a team whose elite defense could make them a darkhorse in the Eastern Conference, are in the tier below them.
So, it's not like the Kings are the only team that got some hate from the league. But what really sucks is some of the teams that are in tiers above them. Particularly teams like the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, and the San Antonio Spurs. While you never know for certain at this stage in the game, the Kings will likely have a much stronger team than all of them next season.Plus, they have an argument as the team with the most aesthetically pleasing style of basketball to watch of those four.
Why Would The NBA Do This?
Why would the league do this to a team that is fun, good, and has some of the best fans in basketball?
Two main reasons. First, they are still a relatively small market. This will always put you at a disadvantage when it comes to things like this.
Second (and probably the variable that factors more in the NBA's calculus in this instance), the Kings don't have stars who are as marketable as the three teams we mentioned. The Spurs have the prodigious Victor Wembanyama. The Warriors have Stephen Curry (whose popularity is at an all-time high after his Olympian effort in Paris) and Draymond Green. And the Clippers have Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, and company are awesome, but they don't have the fan clout that those fellows do.
The good news is that the league can always add (or subtract) nationally-televised games in the middle of the season. So, if the Kings really want to, they can ball out and force the NBA to show them some love.