Dwight Howard: Is He Still Superman?

 

                Who is Dwight Howard? The super human athlete we once referred to as “Superman” has more closely resembled a villain, terrorizing every team and coach he comes into contact with. The most coveted big-man in all of basketball has chosen Houston as his destination for the next four years. Though, with Dwight’s track record of switching teams it seems likely that he won’t retire a Houston Rocket unless they somehow starting winning championships. Nonetheless, it seems a lot longer than 2009 that Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic lost to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one in the 2009 NBA Finals. After that season, Dwight’s relationship with the Magic was never the same. Howard put the finishing touches on the destruction of the Magic franchise by stabbing head coach Stan Van Gundy in the back after telling the Magic front office that he wanted Van Gundy out in order for him to stay in Orlando. This wasn’t enough for Dwight though, and he demanded a trade from the Magic, after Van Gundy was canned,  in one of the weirdest NBA “holdouts” of all time. Eventually, Howard got what he wanted and was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, his suspected dream team; though maybe he really did want to go to the Nets and win one for Jay-Z.

After joining the Lakers with future Hall-of-Famer Steve Nash last season, the Lakers were predicted by many as the favorites to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. Finally the NBA was going to get what they had craved for the last five seasons, a LeBron vs. Kobe Finals matchup for the ages. However, after just five games the Lakers fired head coach Mike Brown and hired Mike D’Antoni, who could never figure out how to properly use Dwight in his offensive run-and-gun scheme. The Lakers struggled the entire season and Howard and Kobe never seemed to be able to come together on or off the court. After Kobe injured his Achilles late in the season, Dwight carried the Lakers to the eighth seed of the playoffs where they were swept by the Spurs. Shortly after the season, speculation surrounded that Howard might leave the Lakers franchise in search of a new beginning with less pressure. Howard’s exit from the city of angels wasn’t much prettier than his escape of Orlando, and L.A. for the first time in recent memory had a superstar willingly choose to leave their team in search of something better. Howard jumping ship to the Rockets appears to be the first major warning sign that the Lakers reign of dominance in basketball is all but over. The Clippers have upgraded their roster immensely and without Howard it appears as if the Lakers are for the first time the clear sidekick to their cross-town rivals. We witnessed the Boston Celtics clean house this season, maybe it’s time for the Lakers to do the same; obviously without losing Kobe Bryant.

                Now Howard is with the Rockets and the state of the NBA has changed forever. Houston now looks to be a major player out in the Wild West with one of the youngest teams in the league and one of the best scorers in James Harden.  The Rockets haven’t had this superb of an inside-outside duo since Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming carried the franchise.

                What will be interesting to see is if Dwight Howard can transform into the most dominant big man that we have expected him to be for quite some time. There are no more excuses for Howard, who has seemed to get a pass on his erratic behavior because of his infectious smile and grace. Howard escaped from the pressure of being the next great L.A. big man, but now has to face the pressure of being compared to Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe Mutombo. Can Dwight Howard overcome the pressure he and the media set himself up for? We all will find out the answer next season.

                What I have noticed, especially with this Dwight Howard scenario, is that the NBA is now being controlled by the players. The NBA has evolved into a different type of beast ever since LeBron James left to take his talents to South Beach in the summer of 2010. Since then, the NBA has resembled something of an arms race, in which teams are stockpiling super stars to compete with the premier contenders.

                In my opinion, there are a lot of big men who are more valuable than Dwight Howard right now. Seven-foot two-inch center Roy Hibbert of the Indiana Pacers just came off an All-Star season and Eastern Conference Finals appearance. Joakim Noah was a first-team all-defensive selection and was the heart and soul of a Bulls team that challenged the Miami Heat in the second round, even without MVP Derrick Rose. My point being, Dwight Howard isn’t the lone dominant big man in the NBA and at times he appears to be more baggage than production.

 What makes Dwight Howard different from all other big men is that he is the only super star seven-footer who is media friendly and marketable. I will admit, I believe that Howard is an extreme talent and has the potential to carry a team to a title. However, I believe that Howard still hasn’t fully recovered from his back injuries that have hindered his explosiveness. For that reason, I believe Houston is still a piece or two away from making any real noise in the playoffs simply for the fact that the Western Conference is going to be perhaps the most competitive its ever been in the history of the NBA. Will “Superman” be able to deliver the Larry O’Brien trophy back to Houston, or will he slowly infect the Rockets similar to the way he has treated the Magic and Lakers?  

The Ugly Truth of the NCAA

 

            Why do we love college sports? I think the answer is quite simple really. As Americans, we love college sports because of our loyalty to the schools we grew up with. We root for the schools we’ve graduated from and the universities we admire.

Unlike professional sports, collegiate athletics is the most basic of all sport. No contracts. No free agency. No labor disputes between the players and owners.  For these reasons, I loved college athletics because it was refreshing to see players who competed purely for the love of the game. All seemed perfect, until I asked myself, “How can the NCAA be a multi-billion dollar industry, yet still claim to be a “non-profit” organization?!”

            Let’s take a look down memory lane at how the NCAA was formed before we come to the present situation. The NCAA was formed in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt as a consequence of the many injuries and casualties that came about from student-run football teams. They had no rules and no organization. So, Roosevelt held two White House meetings with collegiate presidents to discuss how to change the rules of football so that it could stay a sport. On March 31, 1906 the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) was formed as a rules-making body to protect all collegiate athletics. In 1910, the IAAUS officially changed its name to the NCAA.

            That was then. This is now.  

The NCAA is defined as a nonprofit association that represents more than 430,000 student-athletes today. However, in April of 2010 the NCAA signed a 14-year, $10.8 billion deal with Turner Broadcasting and CBS Sports for the rights of the men’s Division 1 basketball tournament. According to the NCAA, the projections for the 2012-2013 revenue are $797 million dollars with $702 million coming from media rights agreements with CBS Sports, ESPN, etc. Does that sound like a non-profit organization?

Do you think the NCAA’s contract with CBS and Turner Broadcasting is extreme? Look at what the NCAA pays their president, university presidents, and coaches! According to USA Today, NCAA president Mark Emmert collected nearly $400,000 in his first three months on the job. That’s 1.6 million a year, which is more than the president of the United States makes! What makes the NCAA even slimier is that Emmert collected nearly $23,000 in non-taxable benefits according to USA Today. Does that seem like the president of a non-profit organization?

How much money do the top universities have you might ask? In 2008, ESPN requested the financial forms of all the major colleges to see their revenue and expenses. Alabama was the number one overall college for both revenue ($123,769,841) and expenses ($123,370,004). What I found most shocking is that Alabama pays their entire athletic coaching staff ($13,118,559), which is almost five million more dollars than the $8,824,492 in student tuition costs!

That’s not even all of the massive amounts of cash circulating through the NCAA. What about all those college football video games you might ask? I always found it weird when I played NCAA Football 2005 and Reggie Bush didn’t have his name on the back of his jersey. I later found out that was because legally speaking, that wasn’t Reggie Bush, even though all his physical characteristics and skills spoke otherwise. I mean c’mon the guy even had the “619” San-Diego area code eye black on his character!

 According to Mark Fainaru-Wada, an investigative writer for espn.com, EA Sports has made well over $500 million since 2005 for its sales of the NCAA football and basketball games; with basketball only accounting for ten percent of those earnings. If you don’t understand what blockbuster TV contracts, enormous non-taxable salaries, and ground-breaking video game deals have to do with college sports, you’re not alone.  

So, why is it that there are always violations against the players and athletic programs and never any for the presidents and financial supporters who make millions off of their talent?

The answer to your question is that the NCAA is a cash-filled piñata and everyone wants to take a swing. Let everyone make money off of these athletes talents now before roughly only a few percent will make it into professional sports.

            Let’s take a look at the opposite end of the spectrum and discuss some of the recent disturbing violations that college athletes and programs have been involved in.

The most disturbing act of recent memory occurred on November 5, 2011 when the country discovered that the Penn State football staff turned a blind eye to the monstrosity of rapist Jerry Sandusky and his 52 charges of molestation with younger boys. Maybe the biggest shock of all was that this happened at Penn State and under the supervision of legendary football coach Joe Paterno who was seen as an example of sportsmanship and class to millions of people. Paterno was a coach at Penn State from 1960 to 2012 and was portrayed as the leader of a university that could do no wrong. This in itself is the best example I can recall that proves that even the most idealized leaders in all of sports cannot be trusted.

Just this year, there have been countless head scratching violations that make you question the purity of sports. Take the Rutgers basketball program. Head basketball coach Mike Rice was caught on camera shoving players in a violent manner and calling them gay slurs on numerous accounts! This caused a shockwave throughout the university, causing the Athletic Director Tim Pernetti to resign as well.

Another big violation by one of the biggest universities in the country is Auburn. In 2011, Cam Newton led the Tigers to their first championship in over fifty years! It isn’t until now that we find out the true story, which is that nine players were ruled academically ineligible but were allowed to play due to a lack of supervision from the coaches and staff. Also, players who were seen as potential draft picks reportedly were given money to stay in school rather than go to the NFL!

This shows that when the money gets bigger, the scandals get bigger, and people will literally do ANYTHING to protect the sanctity of something we value more than anything in America… winning.

            The NCAA is a great example of American capitalism in that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It’s a joke to believe that only the athletes and coaches are corrupted by power in college sports. The whole damn system is a joke from top to bottom! So if we are to blame the athletes and coaches for ruining the purity of college sports, why not include the actual people who are paid to prevent these scandals from taking place?   

 

 

-          Jordan Santos reporting for “ON THE SIDELINES” on 1talknetwork.com

 

The Super Splash Brothers

The Super Splash Bros.

  By Jordan Santos

            Shooting a basketball is one of the most elementary actions in all of sport. As some people who don’t know much about basketball like to put it, “It’s just putting the ball through the hoop isn’t it?” This statement is completely true, but it does not accurately reflect the level of skill and precision it takes to score off a jump shot, especially with adefender like LeBron James breathing down your neck. However, if you want to see a pair of sharp shooters who resemble something out of the Wild West, than look no further than the Golden State Warrior’s Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry a.k.a. “The Super Splash Brothers.”

            The unique situation regarding Curry and Thompson is that they are one of the youngest starting backcourts in the NBA.Not only that, but they are both sons of former NBA stars Dell Curry and former number one overall pick Mychal Thompson. What is an even bigger shocker is that Curry (age 25) and Thompson (age 23) are both in the top 25 all-time list for three point shooting percentage during the regular season. Stephen Curry is number two overall with a 3FG percentage of (44.6%) and Klay Thompson is number twenty four overall with a 3FG percentage of (40.6%)! In fact, Curry and Thompson are the only two guards on that list who have shared the same backcourt!

            Curry and Thompson both had breakout seasons this year. Curry was the more exceptional of the two and had his “coming out party” game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden where he dropped 54 points and went 11 of 13 from three-point range! Though, it wasn’t just his three-point shooting that was responsible for one of the best scoring performances in the Garden, it was his complete game. That day the sports world witnessed Stephen Curry not only dominate from the perimeter, but also making his presence felt in the paint with buckets at the rim. That game made sports fans make a double take and say “Curry just did what?! Damn I gotta see more of that cat!”

Entering the playoffs as a sixth seed, not many people and sports analysts predicted them to make it past the first round. After the Warriors beat the Nuggets in six games, people started to take them seriously. Let’s take a look at their numbers during these playoffs. Stephen Curry shot 39.6%from three-point range while putting up a playoff high 106 three-pointers. The only person who shot close to as many threes as Curry was his sidekick Thompson, who shot 59 three-pointers and hit 42.4% of them. That’s insane!

            Unfortunately for the Warriors, they ran into a brick wall called the San Antonio Spurs and lost in six games. But what impressed me the most about Golden State’s playoff run was how heavy of a load Curry and Thompson put on themselves to make sure their team stayed competitive. Most marksmen like Curry and Thompson are spot-up shooters who specialize in camping and knocking down the three because they can’t create their own shot.

Remember the Steve Kerr and Kyle Korver types of the league who solely relied on hitting wide-open threes? No longer is that the case in the league! The Splash Brothers are a completely different breed of pure shooter because they can create their own shots off of the dribble.

            After the Warriors game 2 win over the Denver Nuggets, Warriors coach Mark Jackson stated that Curry and Thompson are the greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the game. At first I had to think about his comments and put them in perspective because when you talk about the history of the NBA you got to do your homework. Though, when you go back into the history books you can’t find a backcourt with better sharpshooters than Curry and Thompson.

            Take a second and think about what backcourt would be their biggest competition. What about Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott¸ the backcourt that Curry and Thompson passed on their way to a record-breaking 483 made three-pointers?Though, one can point out that Anderson and Scott had an unfair advantage in having a 22-year old man-child in Shaquille O’Neal to create open shots. Some people like to point to the historic combo of Jerry West and Gail Goodrich of the legendary Lakers back when Wilt Chamberlain was dominating the game. The biggest problem with this is that West and Goodrich played in an era without a three-point line. Also, West and Goodrich had the luxury of playing along Wilt Chamberlain, the most dominant offensive player in NBA history! Curry and Thompson don’t have any of these luxuries!

What about a more recent comparison like Steve Nash and Joe Johnson back when Nash was winning his back-to-back MVPs. Though when you check the leaderboard for three-point percentage, Steve Nash is number eight on the list and Joe Johnson is nowhere to be found. Thus, it seems that Mark Jackson wasn’t that far off in his comments. Maybe the best comparison would be to imagine Reggie Miller and Ray Allen in the same backcourt at the same time.

            The Super Splash Brothers had a ground-breaking season that NBA historians will raise their eyebrows to for many years to come. The duo hit 483 three-pointers, which broke the NBA record for teammates hitting threes, while shooting nearly 43 percent! That is literally unheard of. Curry had the most spectacular season in three-point history as he broke Reggie Miller’s record by nailing 270 three-pointers in a single season. Stephen Curry is also the only player in NBA history with 250 threes and 500 assists in a single season, to score 50 points and make over ten threes in a single game, and the only player in NBA history to have five games of 35 points and seven three-pointers!

So don’t question why Curry and Thompson are being labeled as the “Super Splash Bros.” or the greatest shooting backcourt in history because they literally make the NBA look like a video game!

-          Jordan Santos for “ON THE SIDELINES” on 1talknetwork.com

The Saga of the Sacramento Kings

From Maloofs to Magoofs: The Saga of the Sacramento Kings

By Jordan Santos

                The phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” has been a common theme in my life. Like most kids, I have adopted this attitude of perseverance through my hometown of Sacramento. Sacramento is a blue-collar town that became the state capital of California in 1854 due to the formation of the Central Pacific Railroad Company in the early 1860s. We are a city of gold miners, railroad workers, and overall tough sons of guns. Sadly, it took Sacramento over a hundred years for the city to get a professional sports team. When the Kings came to Sacramento in 1985, the love affair was born.

                On June 8, 1983, the Kings were purchased for $10.5 million by a local business group that brought the Kings to Sacramento from Kansas City. The Kings had their first home game in front of a raucous, sell-out crowd on October 25, 1985 against the L.A. Clippers. Even though the Kings lost that game and had thirteen straight losing seasons, the fans never wavered in loyalty and showed up to every game with cowbell in hand.

                In 1994, everything changed for Sacramento when Geoff Petrie was hired as Vice President of basketball operations. Petrie was a basketball wizard and made a series of trades, signings, and draft picks that would quickly turn the Kings from an afterthought into a powerhouse in the Western Conference. From 1996 – 2000, Petrie drafted Peja Stojakovic and Jason Williams; signed Vlade Divac and traded for Chris Webber. Petrie put the finishing touch on the rebuilding of the Kings by hiring Rick Adelman as head coach in 1998.

During Petrie’s transformation of the team, the franchise was sold to the Maloof family on January 15, 1999. The Kings announced that the Maloof family of Albuquerque, N.M., would assume controlling interest of Capital Sports and Entertainment, the organization that includes the Kings franchise and Arco Arena. The team was improving, the stock market and tech industry was exploding, and all of Sacramento was happy with the direction of the city and Kings.  More success came in 1999, when Petrie was named NBA executive of the year. That same year, the Kings had their first winning record in the Sacramento era (27-23) and took the defending Western Conference champs Utah Jazz to an elimination game 5 in the first round. The Kings eventually lost in overtime of game 5 despite a valiant effort. After that series, there was a feeling around Sacramento that the Kings had a real shot at greatness for many years to come. And they were right.

                Starting in 1998-1999, the Kings had eight straight winning seasons that resulted in playoff appearances in a highly competitive Western Conference. This time period is referred to as the “Golden Age” of Sacramento Kings basketball. Luckily for me, this is the same time that I became obsessed with basketball and worshipped the Sacramento Kings. Not only were the Kings one of the best teams in the entire NBA, but they played the game with such heart and comradery that the team quickly became a national story. Nothing was more symbolic of the Kings’ success than the Sports Illustrated cover of the starting five on the February 19, 2001 NBA mid-season report issue. This cover of SI, which read “The Greatest Show on Court” and “The Sacramento Kings: Basketball the way it oughta be,” was a historic issue because never before nor since has there been an entire starting five (Webber, Christie, Williams, Divac, and Stojakovic) on the cover in which the entire team was profiled as a unit. I still have a framed cover of that issue lying on my desk to remind me of the good ol’ days.

                In the 2000-2001 season, the Kings had a winning season and reached the postseason for the second straight year. Sacramento took the Los Angeles Lakers to a final Game 5 in the first round, but lost to the eventual world champions. Sacramento had finally made a name for itself as a sports city, but was not satisfied with losing in the first round back-to-back seasons. In the 2001-2002 season, the Kings beat the Phoenix Suns 3-1 in the first round. Again, the Kings would face off against the defending world champion Lakers. This time, the Kings were swept 4-0 and sent home with a bad taste in their mouths. This officially marked the rivalry between the Kings and Lakers, one of the greatest rivalries in the NBA at the time.

                During the 2002 offseason, the Kings were determined to create a roster that would compete with the Los Angeles Lakers, the only real threat to the Kings. Petrie made Sacramento an immediate title contender by trading Jason Williams for Mike Bibby, who was a much more reliable player in clutch situations. Bibby made the Kings a much more efficient squad and led the team to the best record in the NBA with a record of 61 wins and 21 losses, the best record in Sacramento history. Going into that postseason, all of Sacramento believed that the Kings would bring home a championship to a fan base and city that so desperately deserved it. The Kings blew past the Utah Jazz in the first round, destroyed the Mavericks in the semi-finals, and eventually met with their arch-nemesis L.A. Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in what became one of the most controversial series in NBA history.

I could write an entire article just on this series and the controversy it brought to the entire league, so if you want a greater perspective on one of the greatest tragedies in sports history go “YouTube” it. The Kings and Lakers split the first two games in Sacramento, with Sacramento winning game one and L.A. winning game two. The Kings bounced back in game three, leading by as many as 27 points and never trailing the entire game. In game 4, the Kings took a 24-point first half lead due in large part to their 40-point first quarter assault! Though, the Lakers stormed back after a barrage of three pointers and eventually won the game on a buzzer-beater three point shot by Robert Horry. I can still remember the exact place I was at when that play happened. I was in a bowling alley in Clear Lake, CA watching the game with my family and friends when Horry hit the shot at the buzzer. All I remember is tears of anger rolling down my red cheeks and screaming at the TV “What just happened?!” That shot tied up the series 2-2 heading back to Sacramento. In game 5, the Kings trailed nearly the entire fourth quarter until Mike Bibby came to the rescue. With 8.2 seconds left, Mike Bibby came off a Chris Webber screen and sunk a jumper that will be remembered as the biggest shot in Kings history.

Now on to game six, the most controversial game in NBA history. If you mention game six of the 2002 Western Conference Finals to a Sacramento resident, they will give you a look of anger and disgust that only a person who has been robbed blind can imitate. Why you might ask? Maybe because Tim Donaghy, a NBA referee who admitted to the FBI that game 6 was fixed by the refs in response to NBA executives telling the referees they wanted the series extended to a game 7. Let’s look at some of the stats before we get other opinions shall we? The Lakers shot 27 free throws in the fourth quarter alone! The Kings were called for 31 fouls, three resulting in technicals which were completely uncalled for, compared to the Lakers 24 fouls. The most despicable play that I’ve seen in NBA history came with about 11.8 seconds remaining in the game with the Lakers up 103-102. The Lakers were inbounding the ball and Kobe elbowed Bibby in the face on his way to the ball, yet the play resulted in a foul on Bibby. The refs chose to not call the foul because it would have given the Kings a chance to win the game and move on to the NBA finals. Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times had this to say about game 6, “It was unbelievable. The worst officiated game in my sports writing career. That game was not right, I’m telling you I was there. That was not right.” Michael Wilbon, one of the most respected NBA analysts, covered the game in Los Angeles and stated, “It was an abomination. That it was an embarrassment to the league. That it was the worst officiated contest in professional basketball that I’ve ever seen.” Even Ralph Nader, a political rights activist who is a Harvard University alumni and has run for the presidency three times, sent a letter to NBA commissioner David Stern in light of the Tim Donaghy investigation. Donaghy told the FBI that two of the three NBA refs fixed game 6 and were “company men” of the NBA. Stern has since attempted to distance himself from the scandal, calling Donaghy a “felon” and the lone perpetrator in the scandal. I find this extremely hard to believe that one referee stood out alone during this dark period in the NBA. Just like when Jose Canseco came out and revealed the “Steroid Era” in Major League Baseball, Donaghy highlighted the back-alley deals that were going on between the NBA and their officials. To this day, I believe that the Kings were not given a fair fight against the Lakers and that money and ratings were the biggest influence on that series. You know what they say. Money makes the world go round.

The series shifted back to Sacramento for game 7 for the biggest game in Sacramento history. Game 7 was by far the tensest game of the series going back and forth with 16 ties and 19 lead changes. Mike Bibby hit two crucial free throws on a Kobe Bryant foul away from the ball to tie the game at 100 and send the series into a final overtime. In OT the Kings couldn’t keep their composure down the stretch and handed the Lakers a third straight appearance to the NBA finals. The Lakers eventually dismantled the New Jersey Nets and captured their third straight NBA championship. There are some stats that really pop out on the box score that display how bad the Kings beat themselves. First off, the Kings missed 14 out of 30 free throws that game and shot a horrendous 2 of 20 from three-point range. Shaq and Kobe combined for 65 points as the Lakers upset the Kings in overtime 116 to 112. After that series, the Kings and Sacramento would never be the same.

The Kings would make the playoffs four straight years after the demoralizing loss to the Lakers in 2002. Unfortunately, they never were able to make a run back to the Western Conference Finals due to injuries and personnel changes.

The last year the Kings had a legitimate shot at a title was the 2002-2003 season. Sacramento was again on a collision course to meet the Lakers in the conference championship. The Kings finished the season by winning the Pacific Division for the second consecutive year with a record of 59 wins and 23 losses. The Kings earned the second-seed in the Western Conference and were primed to make a deep playoff push. Sacramento met against the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs and was the better team, winning game one 124-113. Though, bad luck always has a way of finding the Kings. In game two, Chris Webber who was the heart and soul of the Kings, blew out his knee on a play under the basket and was gone for the rest of the season. The Kings would never be the same. Ever. The Kings still took the Mavericks to game 7 because of their depth as a squad, but eventually lost to the Mavs.  

In the 2003-2004 season, Chris Webber came back from his injury during the middle of the season and helped the Kings go 55-27 in the regular season and earning the fourth seed in the playoffs. The Kings enacted an assault of vengeance on the Mavs in the first round, beating them soundly 4 -1. In the second round, Webber’s injury was much more apparent and hindered him against the MVP Kevin Garnett. The Kings would lose to the T-Wolves in another game 7 heartbreaker. After this, it was obvious the Kings’ window to win a NBA title was all but closed.

The 2004-2005 season marked change for the Kings, who lost three starters from the 2002 team. In the off-season of 2004, Divac signed with the Lakers, Christie was traded to the Orlando Magic for Cuttino Mobley, and Webber was traded to the 76ers for three forwards who did nothing. The Kings lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Sonics, led by Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis.

The next year, 2005-2006, the Kings limped into the playoffs as the eighth seed, but somehow made the series competitive and took the Spurs to six games in large part because of the excellent play of Kevin Martin and Metta World Peace. This was the last appearance the Kings have made in the playoffs to date. All of Sacramento was stunned in disbelief that a team with so much potential was seen and gone in what seemed like seconds. With the core group from the 2002 squad gone, the Maloofs buried the Kings by not renewing Rick Adelman’s contract in 2006. After that, the Kings resembled more of a circus than a basketball team

Since then the years have brought Sacramento nothing but turmoil and disappointment. For years the city had begged the Maloofs for a new stadium, but they always seemed to have an excuse to never fully commit to Sacramento. In fact, during the mid-2000s the Maloofs brought up the possibility about moving the Kings to Las Vegas, the place where they earned and lost their fortune. That talk quickly died down after Kings fans attacked and confronted the Maloofs about their statements.

The first actual report that the Maloofs were serious about relocation was by the San Jose Mercury News in October 2009. The column highlighted the Maloofs statements and actions that reflected their desire to move the franchise. After the column came out, the Maloofs family quickly made multiple statements reaffirming their commitment to Sacramento. Around the same time the column was published, the Maloofs confirmed their commitment to Sacramento. The city began planning the “Cal Expo Project” which would create a stadium on the fairgrounds and completely revolutionize the area making it a “city within a city.” Though, like most plans of a new arena in Sacramento, it was eventually rejected by the Cal-Expo board due to negative reports from consultants. The Kings and Maloofs were back to ground zero.

 Then the first apparent threat to the survival of the Kings had surfaced. In February 2011, David Stern admitted that the Maloofs and officials in Anaheim discussed moving the team to Southern California. To native Northern Californians and Kings fans, this was a complete slap in the face to a fan base that was so loyal for so long even during the years the Kings were one of the worst teams in the NBA. It was at this time in 2011, that Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson took leadership in the grass-roots movement to keep the Kings in Sacramento. Without Kevin Johnson, there would be no more Sacramento Kings I can promise you that! Johnson sat down with the Maloof brothers in March of 2011 and discussed how he could help keep the Kings where they belong. On March 29, 2011 the Anaheim City Council voted unanimously to approve a $75 million plan to help lure the Kings to Southern California. This looked like the end for the Kings. But in a miraculous stroke of luck, the Maloofs opted to remain in Sacramento for another year to weigh their options.

This period between 2011-2013 can be recognized by Kings fans as the “What the bleep is going on?!” time. As a diehard fan, I never knew which reports were true and which were valid. I would be at home games and hear the fan next to me sadly admit, “Are we gonna have a team next year?” This went on for two long years, until Seattle and the Maloofs reignited talks of relocating the Kings.

Seattle had lost their Sonics because of the same corrupt and greedy behavior that almost cost the Kings their team. Seattle wanted their Sonics back badly and they had the capital and man-power to do it. On January 9, 2013 Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that the Maloofs were in negotiations to sell the Kings franchise to a group of Seattle businessmen led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer for an approximate $500 million dollars. This created a hysteric atmosphere for Kings fans who knew that the clock was ticking away to keep the Kings. The response from Sacramento was surprisingly strong and united considering the short amount of time we had to organize. On January 11, 2013 the Sacramento Bee reported that Mark Mastrov, the founder of 24 Hour Fitness, and Dale Carlsen, the man behind the Sleep Train Mattress Centers, were both interested in buying the Kings and keeping them in Sacramento. The bidding war had begun, but it seemed as though it would end quickly. David Stern announced on February 6, 2013 that the Hansen-Ballmer group had officially filed the paperwork to move the Kings to Seattle. It appeared as though the final nail had been driven into the coffin of the Kings.

Then an angel was sent from somewhere supernatural to save the Kings and all of Sacramento. His name was Vivek Ranadive. On March 21, 2013 Vivek Ranadive, the founder and CEO of TIBCO, revealed that he was the ring-leader of the Sacramento group to keep the Kings. This was the best news Sacramento had heard in decades because not only was Ranadive a computer-software entrepreneur but he had a long-standing relationship with the NBA, being a minority owner of the Golden State Warriors. The dynamic duo of Ranadive’s financial stability and Mayor Kevin Johnson’s tenacity sparked a feeling of hope in Sacramento that had been absent for nearly a decade. On May 15, 2013 hope was restored to Sacramento after the NBA Board of Governors voted 22-8 against relocation of the Kings to Seattle. Finally, the people of Sacramento knew that the security of their one and only franchise was safe.

May 31, 2013 will be a date forever remembered by Kings fans. It was the day the Kings were officially sold from the Maloof family to the Ranadive-group. Ranadive's group acquired a 65 percent controlling interest in the team at a total franchise valuation of more than $534 million, topping the NBA record of $450 million that Joe Lacob and Peter Guber bought the Golden State Warriors for in 2010. Shortly after Vanadive purchased the controlling-interest of the team, he signed a new head coach in Mike Malone and a new GM in Pete D’Alessandro, which solidified the rebuilding of the Kings franchise. The sale officially ended the 14-year rocky marriage between the Kings and the Maloof family, who never seem satisfied with being in a blue-collar city like Sacramento.  

And here we are! True die-hard fans like myself consider this a life-changing event because we were so afraid for so long that our team would be torn away from us. The great thing that I’ve learned to love and admire about sports, is that it is a constant love in my life that will never be taken from me. Whether I’m having the best day of my life or the absolute worst, there will always be sports and the Kings to lean on.  Whether life is good or bad, Kings fans will put on the purple and black and go scream, shout, and ring a damn cowbell to show support for something they know is much bigger than themselves. Kings fans don’t know what the future holds, but at least we have a future now to hold on to. Now, Sacramento can rest assured that the Kings will stay where they belong, in Sacramento. So I guess the phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is true. Almost losing the Kings was the worst feeling I’ve ever experienced in my life, and now that I have them back I appreciate the Purple & Black kingdom like never before.

-          Jordan Santos for “ON THE SIDELINES” on 1talknetwork.com