Category: Sacramento Kings

By George Devine, Sr.

The Kings are now 1-1 in preseason, having beaten the Los Angeles Lakers, 104-86 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Sacramento started strong and led 30-24 at the end of the first period. At the half, though, Los Angeles led 50-48 after a 26-18 second quarter, ending the half with a 7-0 run. In the third, the Kings came back with a 25-19 tally, and in the fourth they dominated with a 14-3 run and a score of 31-17.

High performers for the Kings were Travis Outlaw with 18 points, DeMarcus Cousins with 16 points and 12 boards and IsiahThomas with 9 assists. Two Lakers, Chris Kaman and Shawne Williams were tied with 6 rebounds; Kaman had 12 points. Pau Gasol had 13 points and 6 assists. Jodie Meeks had 19 points. Steve Nash was pulled off the court with a sore left ankle; he played only 8 minutes.

By George Devine, Sr.

A basketball-hungry crowd ended its offseason famine by coming in large numbers to Oracle Arena in Oakland to see the Sacramento Kings in preseason against the Golden State Warriors. The home team won, 94-81, but the Kings showed promise for the coming season.
Sacramento was off to a quick start, and led 26-21 after the first quarter, even with a 13-3 run for Golden State in that period. But when it came down to endurance late in the game, the Warriors lunged ahead and stayed there.
Klay Thompson had 17 points and four boards. He was 8 for 17 from the floor. He is a veteran of last year’s team that won 47 games and went to the playoffs, along with Harrison Barnes, Steph Curry, David Lee and Andrew Bogut. That was tough competition for the Kings and made for an exciting game.
For the visitors Isaiah Thomas had 15 points and six boards. DeMarcus Cousins had nine and four, respectively; it has just been announced that he has signed a lucrative multi-year extension with the team.
For Sacramento fans, it was enough to see their team stay, after a pitched battle– reported by Sports Radio Service’s Ken Gimblin — that prevented the team from moving to Seattle. The new organization has two Warrior standbys in place: former assistant coach Mike Malone heads up the Kings, with his dad as an assistant, and Warrior legend Chris Mullin is a consultant. As the season progresses, the fans will expect more and the talent indicates they will see more.

The Kings next play the Lakers at Los Angeles on Thursday, October 10 at 7:00 p.m. PDT.

SACRAMENTO–With new part owner Shaquille O’Neal sitting at the dais at the Sacramento Kings media day was the big hit on the stage after buying into the Kings partnership. Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive withheld information about the new design on the Kings new downtown arena. Ranadive wouldn’t discuss certain details of the new arena design that will run in the neighborhood of $448 million.

Sources have said that fans not able to get into the arena will be able to see the game from the outside of the arena from a see through glass located even or above the floor level. Ranadive refused to release that information but it was learned that the Kings will be using public resources in the neighborhood of $62 million that was recently approved the Sacramento City Council for costs of the arena.

The funds from the city will be paid off by charging a five percent sales tax on each ticket sold at the Kings new arena which is expected to be open in 2016. O’Neal and Ranadive joked at the presser and O’Neal said that he intends to make the Kings a global brand name. The Kings recently were voted the worse sports organization overall in a poll that included Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NHL and the NBA which would account for former Kings owners the Maloof family who helped make that distinction.

Ranadive said that he wants to give the Kings a new make over and new brand name. In Ranadive’s native country India and throughout Asia where basketball is the number one sport in many Asian countries marketing there will be huge on the Kings part. O’Neal is very excited about marketing to these countries and part of the plan a source said was to televise live Kings games in different countries with coverage in different languages and promote the sales of jersey, caps, and other Kings souvenirs.

“There’s a billion people in India, there’s going to be a lot of people watching. We want it to be the biggest opening night in the history of the NBA.” O’Neal said that the Kings new arena would put the Kings on the map saying it would be a “first cash less arena where fans would be able to use I phones to buy their tickets, find the concession stands and even the bathrooms with the smallest lines, as long as you got a phone you can get in” said the former Lakers star.

Ranadive said that the arena would be the first outdoor and indoor facility but would not allude to the windows outside the building where fans can see the game in an new arena where every seat will be sold out for every game. Ranadive did mention that fans would be able to watch the game live on big screen TVs outside the arena just like watching a game in a drive in. The Kings are expected to provide cover for rainy nights for those events when screening a game outside for fans. NBA Commissioner David Stern said he was excited about the new ideas for the new arena.

In the meantime the group STOP Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork are now close to having 22,000 signatures for a ballot measure allowing the voters to tell Sacramento that they will need voter approval on any new sports facility being built in Sacramento. Seattle hedge fund manager Chris Hansen who wanted to buy and move the Kings to Seattle and was voted down by the NBA Board of Governors who voted in favor of Sacramento funded the ballot measure signature campaign in which he now denies he’s a part of although he recently paid a $50,000 fine for missing the voter registration deadline.

Hansen funded some $80,000 for the signature campaign and later apologized and said he had no part in the campaign drive. Hansen also demanded that STOP or the signature gatherers give him back the signatures but the groups have said that the signatures are legitimate and they will be submitted to the voters office in Sacramento for the June 2013 election once they receive the full 22,000 signatures plus.

Ken Gimblin covers Kings basketball for Sportstalk Radio

SACRAMENTO–California Governor (D) Jerry Brown has signed SB 743 a bill that is designed to expedite construction of a new Kings basketball arena at the downtown mall. On the last night of the California legislation session on September 12th a law that was elected by bipartisan support that streamlines any court process that would make it difficult for judges to stop any construction on a new arena project.

It will strengthen the city’s ability to use power of eminent domain, environmental lawsuits, and the eminent domain would be used to buy the current Macy’s men’s store to make room for the facility which sits at edge part of the mall near the Holiday Inn. “It’s another huge step forward in revitalizing the center of region” said the bill’s author President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg D-Sacramento.

Brown is helping Steinberg write key provisions of the law and was a guest of honor at a Sacramento dinner when introducing the Kings newest investment partner Shaquille O’Neal where the former Orlando Magic star was tweeted lifting Brown’s wife Anne Gust Brown over his head which was seen widely over the internet, construction is estimated at $448 million.

There is a petition out now that is trying to stop the Kings from using public funds to subsidize building a new arena. If on the ballot the voters would have to approve using public funds in building any new sports facilities in Sacramento. Already the pro arena backers are planning to get behind the no votes to stop the subsidy initiative.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Sacramento Kings with Tony Renteria and Charlie O.

by Ken Gimblin

SACRAMENTO–When Seattle billionaire and hedge funder Chris Hansen didn’t get the Sacramento Kings and wasn’t able to buy and move them to Seattle he resorted to paying for a campaign that would put a initiative on the ballot that would ask the public if they wanted to pay with taxpayers money to build new sports facilities in Sacramento. Once it was found out that Hansen had a hand in the initiative who he paid a $50,000 fine for not reporting unfunded money at deadline for the subsidy initiative.

Hansen who wanted to buy an NBA team has put his chances in jeopardy with funding the initiative which will go on the ballot the only problem for the initiative is that it will go down to defeat and the voters will go onto support a new arena for downtown which would do wonders for Sacramento and the Kings and an arena is needed in order for them to stay. The initiative could slow down the process a bit.

The problem for the new arena is the 18,000 signatures in favor of public subsidies that Hansen funded if that hadn’t been there there would be a strong chance it wouldn’t be on the ballot. Hansen said he didn’t pay for the funding of the ballot measure which was funded for $100,000 and he paid the fine. He must have paid for it because obviously the signatures and the law firm who forward the funds to the signature gatherers Loeb & Loeb in Los Angeles wouldn’t have had it done.

So obviously he did, and it’s hard to understand why and most people in the greater Sacramento area favor a new arena for the Kings and number two this is the one item Hansen lacks in is patience and all he had to do was be patient and you could have had a nice offer and he would have had a chance and he would have had a team in Seattle in a couple of years and obviously that law firm is not going to go out and hire people if they don’t have money.

When Hansen wrote out a check to the law firm? He realized what he was doing, he wouldn’t be the wealthy man he is if he spent money and he didn’t know what he was doing. If Hansen says he didn’t fund the campaign the Easter bunny doesn’t come at Easter and what he’s saying has the same validity but make no mistake this initiative will be on the June 2014 Sacramento ballot and you could thank Chris Hansen for that because without his support there may not be enough to make the ballots.

It’s going to go on the ballot and there is a great chance it’s going to be defeated. There is a lot of law firms I respect but Loeb and Loeb to work with Hansen to do something like this I have no respect for at all. It’s like any profession whether it’s teaching, medicine, or law some individuals you don’t respect so as long as there’s money out there I’m not surprised that somebody wouldn’t take it.

Hansen did himself a great disservice by funding the initiative and I’m surprised he did this because Hansen was really going to have a shot at bidding on another NBA team or expansion team and all Hansen had to do was be patient and I guess Hansen wanted it right away and that’s why he did it. A majority of people want a new arena for the Kings who live and can vote in Sacramento will vote for the new arena. This will benefit not just the Kings but the city and it’s going to be very positive and it’s going to go on the ballot but the public subsidy will go down to defeat once it gets in front of the voters.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Sacramento Kings for Sportstalk Radio