Managing co-owner of the Sacramento Kings, Vivek Ranadive, is not exactly a favorite among fans. His micromanaging of the team, combined with his lack of understanding of the game, has kept the Kings in the league's basement. His most recent bad decision shows where change needs to start.
Ranadive has been the Kings' co-owner for more than 13 years at this point. For the most part, it has been a dismal run outside of the exceedingly brief success of the Beam Team era in the 2022-2023 season. Outside of that, the Kings have spent most of his tenure on the outside looking in.
Credit has to be given to Ranadive for what has gone right. His purchase of the franchise kept it in Sacramento and prevented a possible move to Seattle. On top of that, Ranadive both funded and spearheaded the building of Golden 1 Center. He's done a lot of positive things in the community.
While he seems honestly quite good at the business aspects of owning a basketball franchise, he has problems letting the front office and coaching staff do their jobs. Ranadive has strong opinions about the game that don't translate well to the court and have led to a lot of performance problems.
Ranadive needs to step back and focus on what he does best
During Scott Perry's reign as general manager, Ranadive appears to have laid off the micromanaging a bit. But his meddling recently manifested in a more troubling way. He held a team dinner, stood up in front of everyone, and essentially roasted his own players with what the media says about them.
It's possible that he thought this was some sort of motivational technique. The best reports on the incident said that players were confused and the vibe was awkward with a healthy splash of tension. If you read between the lines, it's becoming increasingly apparent that it was a really bad idea.
Some players may have gotten what Ranadive was reportedly trying to do and went along with it. They would probably be veterans like Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, and Keegan Murray who have been around Ranadive for a few years. Anyone who hasn't was probably a little demoralized.
It's just another example of why Ranadive needs to step back from the team and focus on the business side of the franchise. If not, it might be time for a change. Ranadive has done some good for the Kings and Sacramento, but he might also be the biggest obstacle in their path to success.
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