i'd like to take this opportunity to piggyback on this thread and offer my farewell to the sacramento kings and to this website. i've been a kings fan since i could walk, and i've been a member of kingsfans.com since i was in junior high. we laughed and cried together through the highs and lows of those glory years... and then chris webber's knee gave out, which eventually gave way to "flexible pieces" and a deluge of losing seasons, and things proceeded to get salty in kingsland.
i took some time off from the boards as i was pursuing my post-graduate career. but i returned a few years ago to find that kf.com was still in full vigor. it was nice to see so many familiar usernames, and to be welcomed back to a truly passionate and intelligent fan community. things were as bleak as ever, of course, and we fought like hell just to keep the team located in sacramento. however, i've now come to the conclusion that this organization simply doesn't deserve "the best fans in the world."
for those that consider the departure of myself and others to be a weakness of will, i'd offer this: in 31 years in the city of sacramento, the kings franchise has totaled eight winning seasons. eight. across all of those years and all of those losses, there has been organizational incompetence at every level, from the team's ownership to the front office to the coaching staff to the player personnel. we had a good run for about a half-decade at the turn of the millenium, but that flash-in-the-pan represents the exception to the rule of this franchise's near-perpetual malaise. last night's events are just the straw that breaks the camel's back for me. i can't do this any more.
there are many things in my life that bring me joy: my wife. my dog. hiking. cycling. poetry. music. film. interesting television. the smell of rain and the lush green that follows. the sacramento kings used to be on that list. they helped my father and i craft an important bond that has since evolved into one of my most important relationships. but i'm discovering that i simply do not find joy anymore on this particular roller coaster. i'm tired of making myself miserable as i follow this team from one drama to the next, and i don't have the stomach to do all of the waiting, wishing, and hoping that accompanies yet another rebuild, especially with an impulsive, meddlesome owner at the helm. i lived through the maloofs. i won't do it again with vivek ranadive.
yes, i was a big fan of demarcus cousins, but i was also among a growing number who simply did not see a viable path forward to a winning team with cousins at its core. between the organizational upheaval, the blown draft picks, the revolving door of coaches and players, and countless other prohibitive factors, the kings had blown their chance to build a winner around cousins, so perhaps it was best to turn that singular and superior asset into a fresh start. multiple young talents and multiple first round draft picks seemed like a reasonable expectation for a superstar of demarcus' caliber, especially with his contract year more than an offseason away.
minnesota turned kevin love and his lack of defense into andrew wiggins. denver turned carmelo anthony and his cancerous attitude into a bevy of assets that are now starting to pay off for the nuggets. the #kangz turned demarcus cousins into buddy hield and a middling first round draft pick. it's an embarrassment of the highest order, and it betrays the amateur hour at the center of this organization. ask any knicks fan what an impulsive, meddlesome owner will do to a franchise. it gets worse before it gets... actually, it doesn't get better. and i'm making the conscious decision to make my exit now, before further damage is done to my sanity. vivek ranadive can take his nba 3.0 and his fawning over the warriors and shove it up his a$$. he's cost the kings this life-long fan, and while i hardly expect a mass exodus amongst kings fans, i suspect that i'm not the only one who'd rather jump ship than rearrange deck chairs on this titanic dumpster fire.
i'm upset enough that i could continue further critiquing last night's trade and this franchise's decision-makers for endless paragraphs in a fitful release of righteous anger, but what would be the point in that? everything's been said that should be said by many here at kf.com, and anything else that might need to be said will surely get said by those who are left. goodbye, my fellow kings fans. i've enjoyed the stimulating conversation. it's been healthy for me up until now, and i may yet check in from time to time just to see those good old usernames, but my time as a dedicated kings fan and active member of the fan community has come to a close. good luck to those of you that stick it out, and all the best to everyone else. this is padrino, signing off. <3