Feelings of Foreboding in Sacramento As the Kings Wither
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Yxxx,2011-04-10,SP,005,Bs-BW,E1 THE NEW YORK TIMES SPORTS SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2011 SP Y 5 PRO BASKETBALL OFF THE DRIBBLE Feelings of Foreboding in Sacramento as the Kings Wither ‘Cs and Bulls fans ing effort dubbed “Here We comparing # of titles is From First Sports Page Build,” on Twitter. Within 24 like Oprah and Gates native and former star guard for hours, fans had pledged $140,000 the Phoenix Suns, provided the toward a new arena. A local chain comparing their billions. starkest assessment. of Jiffy Lube shops plastered the I would like just 1 please.’ “It feels,” Johnson wrote in his hashtag #HereWeBuild on six blog, “like a slow death.” electronic billboards. As of Fri- BASKETBALL JOHN, As is often the case when day, pledges had surpassed $575,000, according to organizers. a Utah Jazz blogger, on his teams and cities break up, this is Twitter account, @SLCDunk, in a story about money, politics, “The city of Sacramento, much response to an argument about missed opportunities, broken like it has done historically, has the various championships of the promises, hard feelings and completely dropped the ball,” blame cast in a dozen directions. Carmichael Dave said. “So leave Celtics and the Bulls. The Jazz It is clouded by a national reces- it to the citizens.” has yet to win a title. sion and the N.B.A.’s struggle to Another campaign, called Here sustain teams in small markets. We Stay, has organized rallies But it is, at its core, about the and promoted ticket drives, all in arena itself — an aging, charm- the hope of showing the Maloofs ingly smallish building that that Sacramento, despite its polit- looked outdated within 10 years ical failures, still supports the of its construction in 1988. team. Recently rebranded as Power “We’re still here, we still be- Balance Pavilion — but still lieve in you,” said Michael known colloquially as Arco — the Tavares, a member of the Here arena seats 17,317, the second- We Stay group, summing up the lowest capacity in the league. Its mission. 32 luxury suites and 150 club At their peak, the Kings were a seats are paltry by modern STEVE YEATER/ASSOCIATED PRESS high-scoring marvel built on ath- standards. The “back of house” Fans made banners, urging leticism, speed, clever passing features — locker rooms, green the Kings to stay put. Mayor and consummate teamwork, fueled by Chris Webber’s post rooms and staging areas needed Kevin Johnson of Sacramento for concerts, circuses and other play, Peja Stojakovic’s 3-point said the team’s plan felt “like a shooting and Vlade Divac’s grit. JACOB WEINSTEIN/FREEDARKO events — are limited. The A caricature of Joe Johnson N.C.A.A., which used to hold tour- slow death.” The Kings lost a For a time, Arco Arena was the nament games at Arco, now re- heartbreaking Game 7 to the most raucous spot on the N.B.A. from one of FreeDarko’s books gards it as substandard. Lakers in the 2002 Western map. about the N.B.A. The city has rejected multiple Conference finals. But Webber was never the proposals to build a new arena, same after a devastating knee in- FreeDarko Goes Dark most recently abandoning a com- jury in the 2003 playoffs. Team of- Johnson is conducting a feasibil- plicated three-way land-swap ficials waited too long to rebuild, Started by a group of friends ity study for a new sports and en- plan. The last time the arena is- and the Kings slipped into com- from a fantasy league to write tertainment complex, to be built sue reached the ballot, in 2006, petitive irrelevancy. Fan support about basketball for fun, Free- on public land near the down- Sacramento County voters over- waned. Then the 2008 recession Darko ended up becoming the town railyards. But the study will whelmingly rejected two meas- hit. first of what became a long line of not be completed until May, and ures that would have raised pub- Sacramento is a government irreverent basketball blogs. there is still the question of how lic money to fund an arena. town with a tiny corporate base, After countless posts over the to finance a $500 million arena On Thursday in New York, the high unemployment (12.9 per- years and two successful books without public money. Maloofs will address the N.B.A. cent) and one of the nation’s about the N.B.A., the site will “Is it too late?” Cook said, re- Board of Governors and make highest home foreclosure rates. publish its final post Monday. JIM WILSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES peating a reporter’s question. Af- their case. They have until April The city has a $45 million budget The mainstays Nathaniel ter a six-second pause, he said: 18 to file for relocation. A vote deficit. Can it afford a state-of- Friedman (a k a Bethlehem “I’m not sure. It may be.” could come any time after that. the-art arena? Shoals) and the illustrator Jacob By the team’s account, 11 arena The Kings need only a majority “I’ll answer the question with a Weinstein will be going on to oth- proposals have come and gone in — 16 of 30 teams — to win ap- question,” said Grant Napear, the er pursuits, but they took some the last 11 years. They died for proval. No franchise in modern Kings’ longtime play-by-play an- time to discuss the site and its im- lack of financing or political sup- N.B.A. history has been denied a nouncer. “Does it make sense to pact. The complete interview is port, voter opposition to public relocation request. lose an employer than employs available at nytimes.com funding and — depending on the The Maloofs have already ap- 1,000 people, that brings a lot of /offthedribble. source — a lack of leadership by plied to trademark the name An- tax revenue and a lot of overall BENJAMIN HOFFMAN team owners, city hall and the aheim Royals. revenue to an economy that is in N.B.A. There is little dispute among the dumper?” This has led to a strange sort of Q. Do you feel like you achieved Sacramento officials about the Orange County is beckoning, self-loathing among some of the your goals with the site? need for a new arena, not only for with a population twice the size of Kings’ most ardent supporters. NATHANIEL FRIEDMAN If I may be the Kings, but for concerts, ice Sacramento County’s, a healthy “It’s really our own fault,” said so bold, I think we’ve had some shows and other entertainment. base of Fortune 500 companies Amber Williams, the president of influence in the way younger Bob Cook, a fifth-generation and the nation’s second-largest a local marketing firm, who folks write and think about bas- Sacramentan, was one of the in- television market. The Kings, blamed a small-town mentality ketball. Maybe we’ve even made vestors who brought the Kings to who now earn about $13 million for the arena failures. “I don’t sports a little more appealing to Northern California. He called in broadcast rights, might double think any logical, thoughtful per- people who don’t get off on X’s the proposed move, which he op- that figure. son looks at this as the Maloofs’ and O’s or tired macho posturing. poses, “gut-wrenching,” but said If the Maloofs are determined HECTOR AMEZCUA/SACRAMENTO BEE, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS issue. This is really our issue as a As far as the audience is con- he understood the Maloofs’ posi- to go, there is little that Kings city.” cerned, we published two books tion. fans can do now except cheer and There is widespread suspicion, interview requests. But two peo- Two months ago, Williams’s that sold surprisingly well, so “It’s not their fault,” said Cook, hope. They remain surprisingly both in Sacramento and in N.B.A. ple with close ties to the family, firm, Glass Agency, sponsored a sure, mission accomplished! who remains a minority share- loyal, cheering loudly at introduc- ownership circles, that the including a Sacramento business- series of billboards under the holder. He added: “I don’t think tions and chanting “dee-fense” to JACOB WEINSTEIN Debatable. We Maloofs are either broke or in se- man who has worked with them, heading SacDeflated, featuring a the Maloofs wanted to move from the final buzzer. definitely succeeded in entertain- vere financial distress. The fam- said the speculation was off base. deflated basketball and the tag Sacramento. I think it just got to On Wednesday, the Kings will ing ourselves for six years, but I ily sold its beer distributorship Although Maloof Enterprise is line, “If the Kings leave, we all the point where the frustration play perhaps their final game in can’t speak for anyone else. If last year. The Maloofs’ Las Vegas “stressed,” the family’s personal lose.” was just overwhelming.” Sacramento, against the Lakers. nothing else, I do think we creat- casino, the Palms, is said to be in wealth is secure, said the busi- But, Williams said, “I don’t Many fans and city officials do Emotions will be high and the ed a space for an outsider per- trouble, with Bloomberg News nessman, who spoke on condition think we ever thought we were blame the Maloofs, for their per- roars no doubt deafening. Maybe spective on basketball, and reporting in January that the of anonymity to protect his rela- going to save them, to be honest ceived political failings, their the cowbells will return for old sports in general.