Uk kings fan
Bench
I am probably one of the most emotionally invested Kings fans around. There are 5 generations of Kings fans (so far) in my family. None of us has ever been embarrassed to be a Kings fan, nor do we ever consider we might be the "laughing stock of the NBA" into the equation. That's just not who we are.
That's why I asked the question of UK kings fan. He's in England. I cannot imagine there is a lot of pressure on him for being a Kings fan. I was looking more for his response than for the response of people unfortunate enough to live surrounded by Laker fans, etc.
I would like to think despite being English I am still emotionally invested in this team, I still feel pride when we win and upset when we lose. I sit up all night watching 60 odd game a season and quite frankly I would like to be doing that to a team that doesn't jeopardise a great start to the season.
Just because im not in Sacramento doesn't mean people don't know i support the Kings or there there are not quite a few NBA fans who know whats going on either. I also feel embaressed when I read reports on the internet or podcasts basically laughing about the way our owner is carrying on currently. Its not fun to be a loser in my opinion!
Mates over here know us as the team with the "crazy owner" and quite frankly I have to just take it because its hard to argue against it. We have been perennial losers for my entire time supporting the kings and just when it was turning a corner we go and fire the coach on the basis of the style of play and "nothing to do with wins and losses" that to me is quite embarrassing, especially as we don't seem to (as of yet) of had a plan in place!
tl;dr - England is not some NBA-less bubble and while I respect you might be able to remain positive in these situations I do not feel the same. However feeling embarrassed currently doesn't stop me feeling very much proud to support the franchise.