There's a lot of different conversation threads to respond to here, so I'll just go with what stands out the strongest to me.
First of all, there's something seriously wrong with a group of people with zero ties to Sacramento buying into the team and then condescending to us fans who have watched this team for decades about what we do or do not want to see. At least be honest enough to say that this is about what you want to see. Don't put this on the fans. That's disingenuous and everyone knows it. Of course I'm grateful that Vivek stepped up and provided the majority share necessary to secure the future of the Kings in Sacramento. He wants to play with his new toy, that's what owners do. It doesn't feel right to boo the guy after he was the front man for a very long and emotional effort to keep our team, but that's the thing -- the fans did everything they could do as fans to show their passion for basketball and petitioned for years to anyone who would listen. Vivek provided the dollars to get it done, but it's not like he accomplished this single-handed. These are not LA fans who come and go when they get bored with other diversions. My grandmother knows more about the day to day goings on of this team than any full-time sportscaster on ESPN. We deeply care and we do not suffer fools gladly. Ask the Maloofs what happens when you insult your own fans' intelligence.
Secondly, regarding George Karl, he may be the right coach for the job but that doesn't allow you to "crap" can a good young coach who did everything right because you like the smell of "hall-of-fame credentials" a little better. That may be how things are done in the business world, but integrity matters to sports fans. Especially Sacramento Kings fans. We still cheer former Kings like they're part of the family whenever they return. Not to mention, how you conduct your business effects who will do business with you. You don't think other coaches and executives talk about these things behind the scenes? Of course they do. What respectable coach is going to want to work for an organization that stabs coaches in the back? How are you going to ask a player to make a multi-year commitment to the team, possibly sign away their only shot at ever winning a title, if they think in the back of their mind that you'll cut them loose whenever it suits you? If the plan was to bring in George Karl, the way they went about it was completely wrong. Give Malone the rest of the season at least and let him know in the off-season that you're going in a different direction. It's still bad news, but at least that's respectful. What bothered me the most about the way Tyreke left Sacramento is that he was here through the threat of moving and he was front and center in supporting Sacramento at every opportunity. Yet when the dust settled, it was an entirely new group of outsiders in charge and they told him to pack his bags. It just felt wrong. It's hard to invest yourself emotionally in an organization that doesn't seem to share your ethics.
I go through something like this every year as a fan of the Oakland A's and I can tell you, no matter how much you convince yourself that it makes sense financially to sell your home-grown talent for cheaper facsimiles, that doesn't make it any easier when players you have invested yourself in emotionally are headed somewhere else and the overall impression of your franchise is that you care more about numbers and stat sheets than people. It's clear this is the prototype for sports today -- everything is numbers, everything old and traditional is suspect. Every hot-shot young kid thinks they know a better way to do the job. I think there's a cautionary tale to be told here about investing too much in what is essentially a billionaire's play thing. I love watching Kings basketball -- it's cozy and familiar. It's a welcome old friend who returns every year offering variations on your favorite old stories and the promise of new and unexpected gifts to come. But what I really love about it is the opportunity to share in the experience with other people. Seems to me that community used to be something precious that we create together and now it's a product -- what can we sell you, how can we use you to create our own instant fortune? And the impression I get from the way Vivek and Pete and Chris Mullin have conducted their front office is that they care about the fans just enough to sell them a season ticket plan, a jersey, a few hot dogs, and a cable subscription. Everything else is just lipstick on the pig. So, umm, be careful what you wish for I guess?
No that's too depressing. It is still our team. Here we stayed dammit! They're going to do what they think is best but without us there is no team. So I say boo away. Cheer Peja. Boo Vivek, Pete, and Chris Mullin. Nobody here is a lemming. Coach Malone may not be coming back, but at least we can let it be known that we don't want parlor tricks and gimmicks, we want quality basketball. No more NBA 3.0. No more GSW sloppy seconds. This is a team and a fanbase with a proud history and a strong identity and we don't care what anyone outside of Sacramento has to say about it, we take care of our own. Sports is nothing if not family. The sooner they learn that, the better we're going to get along.
First of all, there's something seriously wrong with a group of people with zero ties to Sacramento buying into the team and then condescending to us fans who have watched this team for decades about what we do or do not want to see. At least be honest enough to say that this is about what you want to see. Don't put this on the fans. That's disingenuous and everyone knows it. Of course I'm grateful that Vivek stepped up and provided the majority share necessary to secure the future of the Kings in Sacramento. He wants to play with his new toy, that's what owners do. It doesn't feel right to boo the guy after he was the front man for a very long and emotional effort to keep our team, but that's the thing -- the fans did everything they could do as fans to show their passion for basketball and petitioned for years to anyone who would listen. Vivek provided the dollars to get it done, but it's not like he accomplished this single-handed. These are not LA fans who come and go when they get bored with other diversions. My grandmother knows more about the day to day goings on of this team than any full-time sportscaster on ESPN. We deeply care and we do not suffer fools gladly. Ask the Maloofs what happens when you insult your own fans' intelligence.
Secondly, regarding George Karl, he may be the right coach for the job but that doesn't allow you to "crap" can a good young coach who did everything right because you like the smell of "hall-of-fame credentials" a little better. That may be how things are done in the business world, but integrity matters to sports fans. Especially Sacramento Kings fans. We still cheer former Kings like they're part of the family whenever they return. Not to mention, how you conduct your business effects who will do business with you. You don't think other coaches and executives talk about these things behind the scenes? Of course they do. What respectable coach is going to want to work for an organization that stabs coaches in the back? How are you going to ask a player to make a multi-year commitment to the team, possibly sign away their only shot at ever winning a title, if they think in the back of their mind that you'll cut them loose whenever it suits you? If the plan was to bring in George Karl, the way they went about it was completely wrong. Give Malone the rest of the season at least and let him know in the off-season that you're going in a different direction. It's still bad news, but at least that's respectful. What bothered me the most about the way Tyreke left Sacramento is that he was here through the threat of moving and he was front and center in supporting Sacramento at every opportunity. Yet when the dust settled, it was an entirely new group of outsiders in charge and they told him to pack his bags. It just felt wrong. It's hard to invest yourself emotionally in an organization that doesn't seem to share your ethics.
I go through something like this every year as a fan of the Oakland A's and I can tell you, no matter how much you convince yourself that it makes sense financially to sell your home-grown talent for cheaper facsimiles, that doesn't make it any easier when players you have invested yourself in emotionally are headed somewhere else and the overall impression of your franchise is that you care more about numbers and stat sheets than people. It's clear this is the prototype for sports today -- everything is numbers, everything old and traditional is suspect. Every hot-shot young kid thinks they know a better way to do the job. I think there's a cautionary tale to be told here about investing too much in what is essentially a billionaire's play thing. I love watching Kings basketball -- it's cozy and familiar. It's a welcome old friend who returns every year offering variations on your favorite old stories and the promise of new and unexpected gifts to come. But what I really love about it is the opportunity to share in the experience with other people. Seems to me that community used to be something precious that we create together and now it's a product -- what can we sell you, how can we use you to create our own instant fortune? And the impression I get from the way Vivek and Pete and Chris Mullin have conducted their front office is that they care about the fans just enough to sell them a season ticket plan, a jersey, a few hot dogs, and a cable subscription. Everything else is just lipstick on the pig. So, umm, be careful what you wish for I guess?
No that's too depressing. It is still our team. Here we stayed dammit! They're going to do what they think is best but without us there is no team. So I say boo away. Cheer Peja. Boo Vivek, Pete, and Chris Mullin. Nobody here is a lemming. Coach Malone may not be coming back, but at least we can let it be known that we don't want parlor tricks and gimmicks, we want quality basketball. No more NBA 3.0. No more GSW sloppy seconds. This is a team and a fanbase with a proud history and a strong identity and we don't care what anyone outside of Sacramento has to say about it, we take care of our own. Sports is nothing if not family. The sooner they learn that, the better we're going to get along.
