Sacramento Keeps Their Kings

The Sacramento Kings will reside in Sacramento for another basketball season to give mayor Kevin Johnson an opportunity to fulfill his promise of a new arena.

The Kings had been contemplating a switch to Anaheim following many rejected attempts to construct a new playing place in Sacramento, but in the end, they opted to allow the former Phoenix Suns All-Star point guard one more chance.

Everyone seems to be in favor of this decision, and it’s a good thing because the future of the Kings team looks bright and promising.

“Our future is very bright on the basketball court because of our young up-and-coming team,” co-owner Joe Maloof said. “We’re going to have a top five pick and then we’re going to have a great amount of money to spend on free agents.”  It’s shining vividly.

“The mayor of Sacramento has told the NBA relocation committee that he will have a plan for a new arena within a year,” Maloof stated to The Associated Press. “If not, the team will be relocated to another city.”  K.J. will keep his word and keep the Kings in Sacramento for good.  Look at his NBA career, he succeeded no matter what the situation presented itself.

The Kings had until Monday to inform the NBA whether or not they would seek permission to relocate.  The former NBA standout, Johnson, had invested the past few months doing his best work to hold Sacramento’s only major sports team in town.

“I think it’s the fair thing to do,” Maloof said. “We’ve always said we think Sacramento has the best NBA fans in the world. Their overwhelming show of support was incredible. But now they realize that we’re giving them another opportunity and we’re anxious to play basketball.”

“We spent 13 years and millions of dollars to try to get an arena built,” Maloof said. “We don’t have the answer. The mayor has the answers and we’re willing and able to listen. He’s got to have a plan. We never want to be untruthful to the fans of Sacramento. There is a sense of urgency, and that’s up to Mayor Johnson and his political team.”

The club said that if an arena layout is not completed in a timely way, the NBA’s relocation committee has guaranteed the Kings that it would be in favor of a move to another city for the 2012-13 season.

“I am sure that Anaheim will have a team some day,” he said.

Sacramento was an NBA powerhouse that generated sellout streaks of 497 and 354 straight games.

With the team and fan interest sputtering, Anaheim looks like a more ideal option for the Kings.

Anaheim’s Honda Center in Orange County offers high-priced corporate sponsors the Central Valley can’t beat and an NBA-ready arena with more luxury suites and upgraded sightlines.  The fact that it would get them out of the Lakers and Clippers market, is something to consider.  However, for now, the Kings are in Sacramento – where they should be.

The losers in this whole situation? The California Moving Company that would have facilitated the move from Sacramento to Anaheim.