Reading Sactown Royalty and this post stood out to me. We need to remember what it is like to be there. Be proud of them as fellow fans and understand that the few idiots on either side are not reflective of two great fan bases. It continues to be important to me on a personal level to acknowledge their strong efforts even as I know the likelihood of their success. In some ways the low odds make it that must more commendable.
To everyone here: You guys rock.
Say what you want about the Kings, but man, our fans are freakin’ amazing. Here we are, in a terrible economy with a team that (to say it lightly) isn’t quite living up to expectations, and in the middle of a huge battle that could leave Sacramento without a major basketball team, for the second year in a row. Talk about a living nightmare. Despite all this, however, I come here to see fan after fan giving away tickets. Giving away tickets! Guys, I almost cried at the generosity I have been seeing.
What other fans would bend over backwards for each other, to see a team that lacks cohesion and talent, in a time where the future of the franchise and the future of some of our own houses are at stake? This ain’t no bandwagon, folks, this is the real deal. We are the best fans in the world.
I hope I will be able to attend that night to join the world’s best and most loyal fans, to support my team – our team, Sacramento’s team – on a game that isn’t even on national television anymore. We’ll show up in full force in our purple to declare our loyalty.
Even in the darkest of times, I realize just how awesome STR users and Sacramento Kings fans across the nation are. You guys are awesome.
by 10KingsFan10
And on the other end of the spectrum…
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/225917/LeBron-CBA-Keeps-Compensation-Below-Fair-Open-Market-Value
Shut up LeBron…just shut up…
honestly, as long as lebron prevents the blunder from ever winning titles, i’ll still root for him hard no matter what. even with the return of the sonics i will always hate the blunder until i die. I’ll root for him him and every single other team that challenges okc in any way.
He was asked a question. What was he supposed to do?
He’s been spouting the same BS on Twitter of his own free will. It’s not just because he was asked a question.
What exactly is the BS? If there was a free market he wouldn’t be making waaay more money?
Thanks Brian, Sacramento King fans are awesome (there are a few exceptions — probably wouldn’t call them the real fans, just bandwagon anarchists jumping in when the battles brew). I will say those cowbells really got on my nerves. When I saw nothing yesterday morning that would have questioned whether the $30 million went hard I felt a huge sense of relief and then as someone else noted here, it was “strangely quiet” and I think that was the feeling for Sacramento. Who knows what is going to happen. Best to just keep the love of BB as the overriding focus in all of this.
I don’t get what LeBron is saying and I don’t think he fully understands it either; he’s young and he’ll figure it out eventually.
cowbells =vuvuzelas
Yesterdays most telling statement was Chris Daniels tweet about no announcement and then it got pushed back to next week then now to who knows when? Either Burkle is leery of jumping in because that team is worth 525 million in that market so its too high for his taste. You cant really blame someone from jumping in last minute to offer a billion dollar essentially. Most those are whales are ego driven and may be worried about their ego if they lose their proposal.
With the news of AEG and Burkle pursuing that investment and has been for some time it makes you wonder if that was the major part of the conversation was about AEG and maybe Stern’s push towards Burkle to bid on AEG. We will see I guess but even I thought that they would announce their whales by now and I knew that with the finances and arena sitauations to deal with it would take longer than a couple days.
Kings fans are pretty cool for what they are doing for eachother with the ones that live elsewhere buying tickets for local fans that have fallen on hard times. Would be fun to see that atmosphere of “arco” arena like a decade even if only for a night. Still, in the end, I want the Sonics playing basketball. If this is the way it is and it seems that way; so be it.
Its also pretty telling that the NBA dropped the Kings game for that other game (cant remember the teams but it isn the Clipper and Heat); I think that the NBA knows whats gonna happen and they want as little national attention (especially on the NBA network) so they can do some damage control.
Someone said that the NBA bent over backwards in attempting to complete and arena deal for the Kings. It didnt work. Its highly doubtful the NBA risks keeping the Maloofs around and a team losing money for a 2nd time.
The news about Burkle and AEG is extremely bad for Sacramento as, if he winds up buying a share of the Lakers, it probably means not only that Sactown loses the Kings, but that they never get another team. Mastrov lacks the resources to buy a franchise, while Ellison would probably only be interested in buying another team for San Jose, not Sacramento.
LeBron is simply saying that if the NBA had a true open market system with no spending cap, his own value would increase exponentially.
And he’ s not wrong. Teams would be throwing A- Rod sized contracts or bigger at him if they didn’t have to worry about caps and tax penalties.
I’ m not gonna get mad at a guy for telling the truth.
Yeah, I agree with him probably getting more money if there was no spending cap, but there is. It keeps the other teams having hope.
For many decades, no one had much hope with the Yankees being able to spend whatever they wanted to spend. That did change a bit when Steinbrenner died.
Of course there have been more teams winning titles in the MLB than the nba…not sure how it creates hope
Sure does sound like a guy that will be opting out for the 2014 FA class (or is it after the 2014 season)? I dont really feel sorry or these atheletes especially the star ones that mark enormous money.
The final line of that Lebron article was:
“Forbes recently estimated James earns $40 million per year in endorsements and sponsorships, thanks to deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, State Farm and Samsung.”
Someone has got it real hard huh?
I think that salaries in the NBA,ML, and even the NFL are more than respectable. Now some of the NFL guys sign these big contracts but most of the time its about the signing bonus. The way there are contracts are written up for the big timers it usually appropriates the largest annual sums near the end of the contracts and a lot of time thats after the age of 30 when it becomes time to cut these guys.
MLB players have no room other than maybe complaining that guys take PED’s get big contracts that couldve gone to players playing the game the right way so that system is messed up especially with the guaranteed contracts teams give players. Some teams wont commit more than a 5 seasons at top dollard amounts that I commend. Its just that some other team will offer 7 years and teams stand fast at 5. Its ridiculous.
Alot of players make ridiculous amounts of cash flow. Cash flow most doctors can only dream about. So when a player like Lebron comes out and whines even though he is whining in a different context than Im writing about I find it really hard o feel bad for the Lebron’s out there.
This doesnt mean the owners make a gross amount of money but for most owners these franchises are just the tip of the iceberg on the cash cows they run so yeah.
He makes far less than what the open market would give him. If that happened to you…you’d be pissed
Seriously, I would be disappointed with Sac if they didn’t fight for their team with all of their might. Good on them.
LeBron . . . meh! But as long as the Heat keeps OKC from a Championship, I am all for it.
Oh, and by the way, I would expect the Kings’ fans to feel the same way about us if this sale is finalized, and the team is located. They are going to dislike us as much as we dislike the OKC ownership. I never disliked many of the OKC fans . . . just the ones who liked to run salt into our wounds. I have some good friends who live in OKC. We just don’t talk about the Thunder.
I dont like the Thunder for obvious reasons but you have to wonder why they traded Harden and not Westbrook? If I was them Id rather have Harden and trade Russell. I think Westbrook is overrated and they had some guys who could give decent minutes. Just mmy two cents.
I agree if the Heat stop the Thunder or the Clippers for that matter I would be happier than a pig in poop. Actually I would also be happy if the Clippers found a way to win a championship after all they have endured in my lifetime (27 years).
I really hope this trade bites em in the ash..but they made the right call. Westbrook is a game changer and his speed + tenacity is umatched in the league. He’s a total headcase and needs to pass the ball more but I’d probably rate him as a top 15 player in the league.
If by some miracle, Sac keeps the Kings. I’ll be ecstatic for them. Unlike our efforts to keep our Sonics , KJ Group was able to pull it off. And that is nothing but admirable.
If Sac loses their team, regardless of where they would have relocated, we would be members of the same “Lose Your Team” club. As it appears today, the Kings will become the new Sonics. Even though Kings fans can’t see it today, we have enormous respect and admiration for their efforts. We have so much in common.
While I don’t like to speak for others, I think most Sonic fans, given the choice - - - would heartily vote for an “E” team any day over a relocation team. As we know, the NBA Fans are never asked or consulted. Blame the NBA business model - not the fans.
For me they are always welcome: Purple shirts, crowns and even cowbells.
I won’t be ecstatic because that means no NBA for Seattle, at least with this present group of people. It will be too long if we have to wait for the Bucks or any other team. We would have to wait for another group to rise up at the right time and go through this all over again. Including a new arena design and plan.
No ecstatic isn’t the word for how I would feel.
I would feel ecstatic for the fans - - then they wouldn’t have to go thru the hell we’ve gone thru. If I can’t have OKC back as the Sonics, and the “E” team is not in the NBA near future, then, Yeah - - I want the Kings or whatever team is for sale and able to relocate. I just don’t want any fan to live thru what we have. So, yes - - I woud feel ecstatic for them, the Kings fans.
i agree, but also i never accepted that everyone in oklahoma was a thief. clay & co? hate ‘em. but there are millions of oklahomans who had nothing to do with the move, and one day our old team fell into their laps while they were living their lives. . . i once interviewed for a job down there, at a college near tulsa. it was years and years before the sonics moved, and the people were very nice. just regular people.
there will be plenty of sacto folks who say “seattle is ____” or “people from there are all ____” but that’s ridiculous, and perhaps in some future year when the bucks or pacers or someone moves to sacramento and renews the king legacy, and the newly jilted fans are saying the same things about sacramento, then they’ll learn.
most fans are just doing what we always do: crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. for our town, ourselves, the team we like.
Well put, Charliesonic. Fans are more or less pawns in this game. The loyalty of the team to the fan is only as good as the team’s owner. That’s why I’m glad we’ll have Chris Hansen. :)
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/02/5159642/sacramento-kings-suitor-burkle.html
I still think Burkle is going in with AEG for an NFL team in Los Angeles — those be the big bucks when it comes to sports/entertainment. Sacramento has a huge ally in David Stern, that’s only unknown to me in all of this.
This isn’t a competition between fan bases. It never is.
I do not go to their sites, read their comment boards, none if it.
If KJ or Burkle were frequenting those boards, I would have plenty to say to them.
This handwringing over fan feelings isn’t new. It’s the downside of the business.
It is simply not my fault that their lease ran out in 2006, the team has poor owners, were given every opportunity the league could provide, but it failed.
I actually don’t know how they feel because the league treated the situation very differently. I feel bad for the fans, but not the situation.
mr. baker, you are wise and right, as usual!
Exactly !!
This is why LaBron should shut up:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/01/25/170176590/at-17-5-million-a-year-lebron-james-is-underpaid
The salary cap means that some of the money that would otherwise go to James goes to the guy in the middle.
Another reason James’ teammates vote to hose him: They want the league to be competitive.
The salary cap makes it impossible for rich teams to hire all the superstars. That means even teams in smaller markets have a shot at greatness, which draws more fans to support those teams. More fans means more revenue for the league as a whole — and that means bigger paychecks for the players.
And this, Grier says, is why Lebron James has a reason to support the system. Playing in a more competitive league helps him make more money in other ways.
“If he was a three-time Olympic decathlon champion, he would in no way be making nearly the amount of endorsement money that he’s making,” Grier says.
To earn those tens of millions of endorsement dollars, James needs passionate fans of professional basketball. For that to happen, he needs good teams to play against, even if it’s costing him over $20 million a year.
Teammates cost Lebron assists when they miss shots, they cost him rebounds when they get one, they cost him points when they make shots. Obviously joking but yeah he should keep the whole teammate thing in perspective.
He is filthy rich and will continue to grow in wealth. Whats wrong with spliting up the pie with his teammates who without he wouldnt have a championship. He should remember Cleveland where he didnt have the greatest support.
Pretty much some selfish statements by Lebron. I could understand if he wasnt making more than 10 million a year. 17 million a season plus another 25 million in endorsements should keep him happy, SHOULD. I dont know when he retires someday and over the next 10 years makes 450 million dollars maybe he will have a different sentiment. Heck when he is done playing and look how much money he has made I bet its close to 3/4 of a billion dollars. Obviously 60% of that will be endorsements, but he wouldnt have those endorsements if he didnt play professional sports.
I have a hard time feeling sorry for filthy rich players whining about financial concerns.
That isn’t what he is “complaining” about
The comment in that article is 100% not true. MLB does perfectly fine without a cap. Teams don’t sign all the stars and it is more competitive than the nba has been over the last 30 years.
Kansas City Royals might not agree.
But, the Charlotte Bobcats would agree? Golden St Warriors? Toronto Raptors?
All leagues have terrible teams. Hard to argue that more teams have the chance to win the title when in the last 25 years the only cities to win an NBA title are: LA, Boston, Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Detroit and Miami
In the last 25 years MLB has seen: Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Boston, St Louis, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Anaheim, Miami, Toronto, Oakland, Cincinatti, Minneapolis and Phoenix win titles.
They have a luxury tax which has prevented teams from over spending
Like, say, for example the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
This can’t be good. What is the real reason the NBA decided to do this?
http://aroyalpain.com/2013/02/02/nba-tv-pulls-sacramento-kings-here-we-stay-game-from-tv/#1
Been there. A lot of balls bounce the other direction when the league has made up their mind. I could tell a few stories but choose not to…
A big part of me wishes you would tell everything you know about what happened. But I know you can’t, for the sake of diplomatic relations.
Honestly I dont know whether I want to know what Brian knows about the inside job. Someday you should write a book about all that you know or make a movie ;)
Until proven otherwise, I have no reason not to believe that the league can and sometimes does decide things like who gets the top lottery picks and what teams get screwed by refs in key games. They’ve already been caught by the FBI of fixing games by refs. Then when it came out, they buried it as best they could.
If we would have kept the team here for the last two lease years, I am sure every “break” would have gone against us. But give us a crappy team back and we’ll all be good little consumers.
I have no doubt about the lottery picks. In fact if and when we come back for next season I think we will get a pick around where the Kings finish but I bet we dont land one of the first two. 2014 is the year I bet we get our back scratched and land the #1 or #2 pick ( also the way I want it lol). Getting a top two pick in 2014 would land us one of the top two HS kids (seniors this year) in some time. Parker and Wiggins are awesome talents. Wiggins is probably better but Parker has a far superior basketball IQ.
But yeah there are some unsettling things about the NBA but then again I just love basketball.
screw parker or wiggins, we deserve both. :)
Let us know when the book comes out Brian.
Maybe you could write a book - - - in 20 yrs with the real story. Or maybe write it now with ficticious names/teams. Wouldn’ that be fun !! Yeah, I have no shame in admitting it. Brian, I would love to hear your stories
not good for them
If SAC stays and we don’t get a team out of our arena deal, that’s pretty much the end of the NBA/Seattle relationship. It will be a bridge too far burned.
thats like the 12th time you posted that.
I don’t believe that for a minute. No matter what the “current” situation is, nothing can diminish our basketball culture, history, and passion. Barring a major disaster, we will also remain the largest empty NBA market.
If this effort fails, there will be dissapointment, setbacks and repercussions- but it won’t be the end.
As cynical and suspicious as I am of Stern, I am also optimistic.
+1
That tv thing would give me a sinking feeling right now if I were a sactown fan.
Yeah my feeling (obviously biased for Seattle) is that the NBA is attempting to avoid stiriing the pot as much as possible. If the game was being switched to some incredible matchup of teams then I would probably say that it doesnt mean anything and maybe it doesnt . It just feels that they dont want to have further backlash for whats going on. Realistically this is a non issue to most the United States and the average fan probably knows very little of whats going on. I think the NBA wants to keep it that way.
Also the NBA offices work for their owners and there is going to be a lot of anti-Maloof t-shirts (FTM, etc.) maybe the Maloofs requested that the NBA not showcase it?
“Move on everybody, nothing left to see here.” said officer Stern.
Not good.
I guess we are seeing how near the decision is on the horizon.
Tick Tick Tick getting closer to midnight…..
Again, Baker - - - well said.
I remember near the end of our last season, a Sonics game was bumped from ESPN. I forget if it was home or away. We were all suspicious, especially since Stern was so publicly anti-Seattle.
Maybe there was an innocent explanation. But in David Stern’s NBA, those are hard to swallow.
There is nothing innocent about David Stern.
I agree with that……I have a hard time believing even as a child that he wasnt a schemer ;)
I think if someone was casting for another Batman movie, Stern would fit the role of The Penguin very nicely ;)
Whoa, I’m watching Batman Returns right now! I can totally see it.
People are worried about Stern and how he is acting. For me I am not the least bit suprised that he handling it this way. People learn from their mistakes and Im sure he wouldve handled the Seattle situation differently in 2008. I mean he is far from the only scapegoat in that saga BUT he has learned and is trying to stick up for the city and leave his legacy much less tarnished than it would be if he did Sacramento like he did Seattle. At some point the charade has to end.
If you think about it from Stern’s P.O.V. or KJ’s P.O.V. if they wouldve came out in the beginning and handled it as an inevitable move the Kings fans wouldve been far more upset. I know that either way they will be upset if and when the team heads north but at least they have some hope and fight in em. At some point though I would hope the NBA could get this done, if it is actually done, and allow these fans to be able to have the bittersweet ending but at least be able to say goodbye. Some wont want too and I get that but some will.
As this gets further along people need to let them in Sacramento be as they will see anything we say (other than we dont the Kings) as condescending and will upset them and make you a scapegoat. Let them handle this how they see fit even if it gives you flashbacks to our fan base in 2008. Its the right thing to do.
Im not sorry for getting the Sonics back; though I wont go to their sites and shove it down their throat. Actually when I was a young child I lived in Sacramento for a few years so if we had never made the migration to Washington I would probably be on the otherside of thsi spectrum at this time. Ironically we already have.
When I think of what Sactown fans are going through, and what we went through last decade, part of me can’t help wondering how many Kansas City residents (in their 40s and up, obviously) still feel the hurt of having the team they grew up with yanked away to California. They never got a team back, either, even after 27 years. To compound the irony, I wonder how many of them finally decided to support the new team that moved in closest to them…in OKC.
I used to live in KC, still have family there. OKC is pretty big there, its gross. KC won’t get a team ever, even with an arena. Its a nice new building they have there, but there was an article in KC Business Journal, comparing the population, median disposal income and competition for sports dollars in the top 40 (or something) markets without an NBA team an KC was third from the bottom, meaning the market is too saturated to likely make it financially viable. Surprise, Seattle was way far high on the list
It was 1 year ago tonight (well actually Feb. 4), but that was a Saturday and so is today) that the Seattle Times ran the front page story that an investor was buying up SODO land to build an Arena and bring back the Sonics. I remember because it was my wife’s birthday and we were out with friends, when the news came across my phone. Both the Kings and Coyotes are mentioend in this Steve Kelly article. Who knew 1 year later we would be so close. So close…
http://seattletimes.com/html/stevekelley/2017426609_kelley05x.html
It’s crazy to think about how much has transpired since then.
ahh I remember that day as well, as I just landed in Puerto Vallarta the night before with family and woke up to that news, that made the vacation even better. So pumped then reading all the comments about the excitement. It seemed so real then, and look one year later we may have a team already. Un believable progress in 12 months. Love CH4Life….
Tell.me about it. My life was altered dramatically. I’m still trying to reconcile it all and kind of stunned that there might really be a team here soon. I won’t know how to handle it.
Something tells me you’re gonna be just fine. And you’d better be playing a big role when they get back, it’s the least they can do!
I think they have done enough for me if they are successful bringing the team back. On top of that all the people involved have genuinely but appreciative and respectful to me. Nothing more is owed or expected.
We need to thank them. This has been a huge effort.
And that’s why you should be involved. At the very least I imagine you’ll enjoy helping run a fairly popular Sonics related blog.
But yes, we need to thank them and keep thanking them, over and over again. This is a pretty (potentially) miraculous thing they’ve done.
I’m looking forward to just writing about basketball without consequence again. Being a blogger will be fun and ill probably wrangle a press credential again. This blog has some potential and I think it will be a great part of the new teams presence if it happens. Sonicscentral was pretty amazing. I’m always stunned at the people who read it.
Yeah, you will - — - Job well done. A fine self-satisfied smile, perhaps a private tear of sheer joy and your personal choice of celebration. God knows - you deserve it. Thank you and Congrats !!
I spent the first few years of my life in Kansas. Then we moved to Denver. As a kid I went to a lot of Denver Rockets and Globetrotters games. I wasn’t into ‘leagues’ or other teams. As far as I knew they were all the same. They played basketball. I just knew the Rockets were my home team, Doug Moe was the best coach ever, and David ‘Skywalker’ Thompson was THE MAN (you can imagine how excited I was when he became a Sonic and I got to see him again).
A few years later (around 1980), after my parents divorced, I was flying to or from Kansas (can’t remember which way now) after visiting one of my parents and the front part of the plane was full of really tall guys. The pilot later announced that it was the KC Kings. That was really cool to me. Riding with a pro team. After that I kinda had a soft spot for the Kings. I do remember feeling bad when they left KC. I wasn’t a huge follower but they were leaving my home state.
Anyway, its funny that I may get to cheer them on again. Kinda like coming home for me.
Top 5 Potential Pick Nerlens Noel just went down hard with what looked worse than maybe it was. Announcer says those are some valuable knees. I cant disagree with that. Looks like he walking gingerly off the court but will be alright. Just saying it because it might be a potential guy we might be interested in (if and when the day comes) although his offensive game and actually his team defense is still a work in progress.
This is the best I’ve seen Noel play. He’s a freak, it’s scary what he could become but also scary how raw he is especially on offense, that jump shot needs a ton of work.
Blocks last five games 12,6,7,7,6.
He’s got amazing defensive ability.
If he can add additional weight to be more sturdy down low and develop even a semblance of an offensive game and he’ll be a star
NBA team flying commercial, now that’s comical —Ohh, how the game has changed. Pretty cool expereince for you as a kid though.
I’ve been a lurker for a long time and have finally decided to say Thank You to everyone here for keeping the hope alive for me. Really want to thank Brian for being a public voice for folks like us who when this all started didn’t know what to do. I totally understand this RESPECT that we need to show for our SAC brothers, sister, mothers and fatherss.
My first memories of the SUPES came at game 4 of the ’87 Conference finals when Showtime swept us. I was at game 4, 6yrs old and lucky enough to go with my dad who got tickets from his boss who could not make the game. Didn’t remember any Sonics from that game but I do remember how in awe I was of Kareem and how frickin’ tall he looked compared to all the other players, even from the nose bleeds.
Other great memories came for me where my dad worked. The Supes held training camp in the late 80′s and early 90′s down here in Lacey, WA at Saint Martin’s University Pavilion. My dad ran maintenance for the gym facility and could get me in when the Supes were running practice. Before the 1990 camp it was great meeting my then favorite player Derrick McKey, Kemp before he was the Reignman and a pre#20 Gary Payton who was then #2, the highlight of my Summer!
I am positive that SAC fans have these same sorts of stories and this is where My respect comes from for them. When the team was sold and moved it was like someone bought and sold my memories and it is hard seeing them scramble down there because it is like reliving 2008 all over again for me!
Again, thanks everyone! It’s feels good not looking through the window anymore!
When life gives Art lemons…
http://sportspressnw.com/2013/02/sale-of-nhl-coyotes-fails-seattle-on-move-list/
good grief. I dislike the paragraph where it says that if Burkle gets AEG it gives Sacramento an advantage… No it doesn’t
Plus the last paragraph i didn’t like either.
I read recently that AEG is willing to commit approximately $60M toward a new arena in Sac. That might be about 15% of what they would need to have an arena that would compete with the proposed arena in Seattle.
Again I don’t take any creedence to what Art Thiel says! His reports are nothing but negative bias just to get readers and not looking how Seattle would benefit in having the NBA here. Please don’t believe what this guy is saying because he’s being such a troll!
We’d be better off just ignoring him and his articles.
Sitting down to watch the Kings play the Knicks at MSG. Tyreke looked great in Philly. Can he string two great games together on the road?
The Kings have collapsed. The Knicks are hitting 3′s like they are unguarded. Trade Marcus Thornton.
Wearing Sonics gear to a Kings game is messed up, but wearing a Storm jersey and a crown to a Kings game is just low. http://t.co/l1Cc77ii
Why do people do that? Makes you look like a fool. I’m planning on going to a King’s game in April, and sure not wearing Sonics gear, I won’t even tell anyone im from Seattle…..
Frodo.
Wow Novak is lighting it up for the Knicks against the Kings. Carmelo has zero points half way thru the 2nd quarter and they are up twenty plus.
41-7 run by the Knicks I think?
Are we getting and NBA team or an NBDL team once the BoG approves? I cant tell. I mean multiple (like 10) missed lay-ins that were barely contested
another missed layin uncontested
Up to 14-15 missed layins
Do the Kings have an offense to run? A defensive scheme? Any plan at all?
Maybe the Maloofs told the coaching staff dont make an attempt to coach anything, MR Hansen SAID lol J/K (I think)
80-43 the only way it could get worse for the Kings fans is well uh I wont even say it cuz Im already being an a-hole. This is a sad performance
104-55….my god…
At least the math and time left are on their side so they dont lose by more than they have scored. OUCH……wouldnt want to be in that locker room after the game.
Knicks bench Kings 62
Now that Steve Kelley has retired, will he stay silent, I mean, he is a writer. How does he turn that off?
“Once more, I want to thank all of these players, coaches and administrators for all of the laughs and all of the moving moments inside and outside of the arenas. They’ve made my life and all of our lives richer.
OK, I’m going to stop now before I think a little longer about this decision and turn into Brett Favre and un-retire.
So long.”
Harden just got his 1st triple-double.
The Chicago Bulls system is like the old Bronco running game, it doesn’t matter who’s out there it just works. Rose hurt, Noah hurt, Boozer hurt, beat Hawks by 17.
Thibodeau has to get some serious consideration for coach of the year.
Agreed, if the opposing team has to adjust to you darn near every game, it’s impressive.
I could watch a defense like that every night.
Thibodeau imo might be the best coach in the league. Bulls can get healthy for the playoffs theyre gonna be freakin scary as h3ll
I, for whatever reason, watched much of the Twolves and Hornets game. The Hornets are beyond horrible.
Twolves are light weight in the back court but have good court vision and give effort. They don’t give up on plays on the defensive end, even though they are not lock down defenders.
The are making the effort even though they are missing Kevin Love. They have great passing, run endless high screen and roll from the 3 point line, 3/4 to the hoop, if the defender sags from the corner there is a shot, gets sealed off on the roll then there is a layup, drop off Rubio to cover the roll then you get eaten alive by a great ball handler.
They can beat comparably talented rosters, but that is where is ends.
Adelman is doing a very good job there.
GREIVIS!!!!!!
For the Record, all of the “Respect for Sac Fans” goes out the window when it comes to Carmichael Dave!! just sayin……
He is the ringleader of the Sacramento zealots. You do realize alot of his existence of being an internet sports radio host comes from the Sacramento Kings. Thats why I can understand the sportswriters in Sacramento spinning this for the positive andgrasp onto anything they can. For many of them their jobs as they stand now are on the line. Sacramento doesnt have much else to cover other than the MiLB team and whatever else is going on.
When the Sonics left some writers were affected but there was other sports to cover. In Sacramento they dont have much going for them.
Regardless, the media is consolidating and shrinking into fewer and more powerful entities.
Carmichael Dave might want to get started on learning a marketable skill, no matter what happens with the franchise, like long-haul truck driving, or hotel-motel hospitality.
Yeah he knows it too. He will not even think for a second that things are going downhill or his favorite team. I do think that he has lost it in terms of being able to handle the trolls. Cant say I blame him. I wonder why he got canned/left from his last gig that has sent him to his garage.
+5
Steve Kelley say farewell, and thank you.
http://seattletimes.com/html/stevekelley/2020268915_kelley03.html
And another thing, now that they are temporary partners, I wouldn’t expect the Maloofs to make any changes until the deal is complete (unless part if that $30 million was “firing” money, house cleaning, whatever you want to call it).
Walkin around money
I think it may be contigency money in case anything comes up like maybe they didnt think the whole bankruptcy trustee thing was going to be a problem. Contingecies, temporary partnership title, and Maloofs are broke probably in that order. Maybe the Maloofs just wanted it or Hansen wanted it. Who knows and all I care about is havimg the Sonics playing in Seattle.
Does that mean it’ll be used to pay Cousins for his activity on the court?
I wouldn’t expect anything to happen either.
Unless, of course, it’s an absolute no-brainer.
The most interesting pieces are Evans and Cousins and I have a hard time believing that other teams would offer enough to make a move appealing.
Evans will be a RFA, which means other teams won’t offer all that much, and Cousins should only be traded for a high lottery pick and something else or a star calibre player.
Both things seem highly unlikely, which means waiting till after the season is pretty much the way to go.
Though, if any contender would want Thompson and take on Garcia or Salmons you could talk about that.
Could the Maloofs just say that the here we buy night is sold out since they are going to have a lot of animosity in signs and shirts against them. I know they get the last laugh because the fans dont mean a damn thing when it comes to NBA ownership changes and relocations but they could just be a-holes and stop the ticket sales. Might as well make some moolah. I do hear that the ticket sales are not as much as they thought they would be.
I wonder if the Maloofs are just going to let them rain the hate on them or if they going to attempt to have security to keep signs that say detrimental things. I wish I could see that. The Maloofs really did screw that cities fans after their mini run in 2002-2004.
I wonder if Steve Kelley may look at getting into radio? I know that they just started that new sports radio station in Seattle. Maybe we see him pop up there to keep himself busy?
Dropping television coverage of the Kings game because fans would be expressing their displeasure is improper.
Well, the same thing happened to us back then as well.
Like mentioned above, we also had a Sonics game cancelled from ESPN during our last season and there wasn’t ever given a explanation for it.
BTW: I find it interesting people talking about SAC fans just grasping at straws etc., when both sides are pretty much reacting the same way.
Everytime there’s something that could be positive poeple are jumping at it, while everytime something rather negative is reported people are trying to belittle it.
All things considered, both sides hope that theirs is the one that will prevail and put all their hope in their guy(Hansen or KJ), as he’s the one who’s done good things for them so far.
Though, in the end I doubt that the owners really set a precedence and tell everyone(or pretty much themselves) that they can’t sell to the guys they want, even though they present everything($, market and arena) the league wants.
They’d also tell themselves that not only can’t you sell to the guys you want, but that you can be forced(that’s what SAC fans believe) to sell to someone by your fellow owners.
And on top of it, they’d be OK to lose out on money(paying $20 mil in revenue sharing instead of no $ in revenue sharing while collecting at least $30 mil in relocation fees) and the chance to add the walthier Seattle market and a guy like Ballmer to their group.
Gotten quiet. Hot wings cookin.
it is quiet. it will be very interesting to see sacramento’s attitude after the $30 mil has been put down. next week will they come out being more aggressive and feeling a sense of urgency or will they have a more conciliatory tone toward the league and throw around notions of “planning for the future.” i’m expecting one last big effort with investors named but not yet a completely solidified arena picture. just a guess
That’s my guess as well, 206er. We’ll probably hear the announcement of the ownership group this week. As Brian and others have noted, it will be interesting to hear what kind of language they use when they describe their commitment and participation.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/03/5161046/both-downtown-plaza-and-sacramento.html
Part of this thing in Sacramento had to do with moving their rail yard property forward, something the politicians thought was worthy of a $200 million dollar direct public investment.
I wonder how they feel about propping up Burkle’s mall.
He didn’t show up with anything like the offer Hansen has in Seattle, not on the same planet.
If burkle buys AEG how exactly is that gonna help the team stay there?
Supposedly since AEG runs 8 arenas that house an NBA that will make the owners think twice about rejecting an AEG assisted arena / team in the Kings….
I don’t know why they would think that it’s not like AEG will say ‘keep the team in SAC or you cannot play at these AEG run arenas’. It would seem to me like AEG arena need the guaranteed 41 dates that the NBA supplies.
Can they not get someone else to run their arenas if AEG would make such a threat? There are 24 other arenas that don’t have AEG involved.
Buy AEG and give up partial ownership in the Lakers for a majority ownership stake in the Kings, really?
I’m guessing a “we did all we could” press release on the horizon.
Not sure what Burkle would achieve by doing that.
Exactamente !!
AEG supposedly had committed $60M toward a new arena previously and has said they will renew that commitment. That would mean that Sac taxpayers and/or owners of Kings will have to put up an additional $430M to compete with what the Hansen group along with the Seattle loan have already committed. And that doesn’t even count that Hansen owns the land which does not go into the $490M figure as I understand it. I might be wrong about that.
Not sure that Sac can or is willing to meet the same level of arena concept that Seattle is offering.
Well, if Burkle buys AEG wouldn’t that mean that those $60 mil would partly be coming out of his own pockets as well?
I honestly don’t really know what to make about him going for AEG, but I can’t see it being a good thing for Sacramento and their efforts to keep the Kings.
It just adds other things to his to-do-list when he doesn’t have much time putting all things together.
Wouldnt it be more profitable for Burkle to hang on to his 30% or whatever AEG owns in the Lakers than buying the Kings at a very inflated price in relation to the team being in Sacramento.
I mean what if the Lakers come up to be for sale in the next 10 years? Burkle would be right there and only need to get what 20-30% more of the Lakers to be majority owner? Could it be that is what the two hour meeting was about? Stern saying dont pursue Sacramento but go get AEG and make profit and get something at a respective cost. Then in time become the Lakers if the chance comes or sell your share if it doesnt down the line and make a profit.
Burkle’s M.O. is too buy at a reasonable if not low asking price or saving businesses by buying up cheap while in bankruptcy or on the verge of it. Then turning it around and making a large profit.
The Kings are the exact opposite of an investment he likes to involve himself with. If he were to acquire the Kings he will most likely lose that AEG bid because of the “you cant own two teams” type situation. Does he want to put his name out and probably fail getting the Kings or buy AEG and own a respectable part of the Lakers (at least the company he would own).
Things dont add up for me. Mastrov may be the guy in the Kings sitaution. We havent heard anything about Burkle meeting potential investors or anything.
I believe Baker is right and Burkle is going to go after AEG which is bigger coup to him personally anyways.
In fact in my opinion that two hour meeting was actually about AEG maybe a little about the Kings but mostly AEG and is being used as a smokescreen that the NBA is listening to KJ and the Kings supposed whales. All a smokescreen for KJ and Stern to say they did all they could to help the Kings stay. It also could be that KJ believes that Burkle did meet about the Kings but Burkle was there to talk about AEG and its NBA holdings with Stern. Stern swings it as they were talking Kings. Think about it supposedly whales (Burkle/Mastrov) to be announced last week and the week before but havent been announced. Now its being announced that Burkle is one of the final bidders for AEG.
This now looks like (reading the tea leaves) Burkle was there for AEG and Stern is allowing to sound like he was there for the Kings. Stern doesnt want the backlash as he had from Seattle. He is dealing with this relocation sitaution far differently. The NBA has tried to help the Maloofs/Sacramento and poured a decent amount of money into the team.
Do they really think the NBA and its owners are gonna keep bailing em out when they can just approve a deal that gets new owners that are filthy rich and wipes the slate clean and start anew and make a wrong a right.
The NBA really did try to help the Sac. sitaution and its time they cut their losses and move on and allow new ownership to move to a more profitable city and international market. The NBA wants to push its brand interantionally especially to the Asian continent. Seattle along with San Fransisco and LA can do that.
informative article. they seem to really thing that nothing will happen with the b.o.g. voting on the maloof/hansen sale until april. there are still many quotes in this article that sacramento should find somewhat troubling. i’m not sure how long it would take to answer those questions but until you hear something definitive, these are some serious points that are still up in the air.
“City officials said they haven’t abandoned the railyard site at the northern edge of downtown.” city officials have not agreed on a site yet? sounds like burkle wants that downtown site but there is something holding them back…
“Chapman said JMA hasn’t yet committed to building an arena on the shopping mall.” seems like they need to commit soon or else it’s too late.
“For now, Chapman said he sees a reborn “urban retail/ restaurant venue” for Downtown Plaza.” so as of now they’re full speed ahead filling that site with retail space? reminds me of the renton site that clay bennett wanted. it was already planned for a large retail project.
“Until we understand more about what’s happening with the Kings, that’s going to keep our focus on retail as much as anything else,” Chapman said. they are waiting to hear what is happening with the kings to commit to the arena project. but in order for them to keep the kings they need the arena project in place… chicken and the egg. that will be tough to resolve on a short timeline.
i feel like the nba would tell them to work on a more long term project for a team down the line if the battle was truly over. they took that tone with us immediately after the sonics were sold.
Yeah, those quotes are strange.
I mean, they need a full committment and it seems like they still don’t know what to do or even where they’d like to built an arena.
Even if the owners don’t decide anything before their BOG meeting in April there’s still only about two months left for them to put it all together.
If we get the Kings, the “Lose a team, build an arena and be “next in line” for the next team” model works. That could benefit Burkle down the line. It’s not like SAC doesn’t have unlimited time to get the next team, versus Seattle with a deadline. 4-5 years from now, whatever team is in SAC’s situation now can be ripe for SAC to pick. People who use the concern that we’ll become LA forget that we’ve run our course as a leverage market, and when our 5 yr timeline is running out or run out, we won’t work to get other cities in line anymore. SAC has as much time as the league wants to be said market, and can start the cycle again.
I agree. If the NBA wants to keep the pressure on cities to build arenas, they have to stick to the pattern of moving the team out of that city, in this case, Sacramento. If they fail to stick to this pattern and award Sacramento one more chance, then they have burned another bridge in Seattle. I would say it is better to reward Seattle, send a message to the other cities (Milwaukee, Indiana) and start the new clock ticking on Sacramento. Seattle has proven that the fan base will come back. If they fail to reward us, then the NBA looses.
If only these decisions were made on the basis of sound business judgement and reasonable, thoughtful people who care about doing the right thing.
agreed
Yup
New tweet by Chris Daniels.
Chris Daniels @ChrisDaniels5
Random discovery: #NBA has active ‘official store of the Seattle Sonics’, w/ image frozen in time: http://ow.ly/i/1sTnF http://ow.ly/i/1sTnN
Though, if you type http://nba.com/sonics as your url you’ll still be directed to the dark site…
Mitchell and Ness has actually quite a bit of merchandise. I bought a hoodie the other day.
Clicking those links is like going back in time. A time where we would be scrutinizing the last game during this time of year.
Hopefully next year we can get back to scrutinizing the individual games and not have to talk legalities and surmise what the NBA BoG os going to do and is thinking.
I wonder if this is a reactivated site? Whenever I tried to get there in the past I was redirected to okc’s shop. Very interesting I’m hoping this is a good sign. Anyway here’s a link to the site http://on.nba.com/VxFSRm
Not really anything on there except a framed Ray Allen photo that’s unsigned. Its on sale for $44.99.
Yeah, active site is a good sign. Wonder when that happened. Won’t buy any gear until sale is final. My understanding is Bennett stills gets paid off of Sonics gear sales. Not gonna give him one red cent of my $$.
I’m curious to know when this site became active again also. I’m thinking its a good sign this page became active again. I thought with the new CBA that merchandise sales were split evenly amongst all the teams…? If that’s the case wouldn’t Bennett only receive 1/30th of the profit of any given Sonics merchandise sale? Just to clarify I’m not advocating anyone buying official(as in from NBA.com) Sonics before the team gets here, I just thought I read somewhere that with the new CBA all merchandise sales were split evenly. I could be wrong on that though.
A KIRO Jan 22 article “Fans should Hold off Buying Sonics gear”.
Per the article - Save Our Sonics - Steve Pyeatt:
Wait till logo/naming rights are returned to new owner Chris Hansen as profits likely go right to OKC/Clay Bennet. Seattle attorneys are expected to start working on logo and Sonics naming rights at no charge to Chris Hansen. Save Our Sonics gear is ok to buy as they don’t display Sonics logo.
Does anyone more tech-savvy than myself have a way of figuring out when this site became active again?
Who says that page was ever inactive?
The BOG cares about making money. 5 years ago we didn’t have a brand new arena, or any hopes for one, and OKC did, and they did what made them money. In order to keep that model working, it has to be the same result here. If we don’t get the kings, other cities are gonna be more resistant to building arenas because they will not view us as a threat anymore if it is too close to the end of our 5 yr window. and plus, it will send the message that cities can delay all they want and throw something together at the last minute and still save the team. that loses money for owners too. If the BOG cares about making money, they will approve the sale. Move the kings, and start the clock ticking on Sac’s time as the leverage market. it probably won’t get all the troubled franchises new deals, but if we don’t get a team in our window, the league will just lose us as a bargaining chip and not have any other city with a built in fanbase to use to get other cities in line to replace us. it works a lot better if the leverage market actually has a built in fanbase.
Makes me think they may be manufacturing sonics merch right now somewhere in the world for after the BOG approves.
I wonder what logos and jerseys theyll use. I wouldnt mind something new. Im sure chris will come up with something cool
Well as long as the Schultz era logo remains dead and buried I’m fine with a new look. I also have faith that Hansen will come up with something awesome.
i think something like the mid 90′s logo and design but just green and gold would look really cool. Or maybe green, gold and something like white or silver instead of the brick red.
Never was fond of the brick red. Pinch me - - Geez, I can’t wait.
black base with highlight green and gold would look amazing.
I like the Sonics Rising logo above. Skyline. . always will. Prefer the deeper green color to a bright emerald green.
I agree, skyline has to be the way to go!
From this ESPN post by Marc Stein…
6. The truth about the Sacramento (for now) Kings
More clarity on where they’ll actually be playing next season is expected two weekends from now when the league’s power brokers all migrate to Houston for the All-Star Game and the meetings and madness that surround it. But this isn’t the place for Seattle-or-Sacramento stuff anyway.
This is the place to talk about Tyreke Evans, since DeMarcus Cousins remains firmly off-limits while the Kings are in sale limbo, according to NBA front-office sources.
As for Evans? Word is that the Grizzlies would have loved to acquire him as part of the big trade that sent Gay away, but the Kings really aren’t in a position to take on salary as they await clarification on who’ll be buying the team from the Maloof brothers.
A couple of teams consulted have volunteered the notion that Kings GM Geoff Petrie is ready to move Evans, but you have to wonder how much shot-calling Petrie can do at the minute. The greater likelihood is that the Kings don’t do anything at this deadline unless it saves money or comes in cash neutral.
Hmmm… :-)
“More clarity on where they’ll actually be playing next season is expected two weekends from now when the league’s power brokers all migrate to Houston for the All-Star Game and the meetings and madness that surround it”
Very interesting
Are they hinting at the BOG voting on the sale ASG?
“The truth about the Sacramento (for now) Kings”
That could be telling. Maybe Stein knows more than he’s saying. If I remember correct, he was writing that the Sonics would soon be in OKC before most writers said they were.