Vivek voted worst NBA team governor

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#5
The Athletic gives a breakdown on who was surveyed. What isn't clear if the executives, and others were from the same team. The analysis of Vivek however, with the little I know, can't argue with it.
Right. By no means am I arguing that Vivek’s tenure has been good basketball-wise by any metrics but Tilman Fertitta took a team that finished in the WCF and immediately drove it straight off a cliff. Also the Knicks didn’t change owners.
 
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#6
There's also the matter of off court stuff like foregoing revenue sharing for 4 seasons (more?) before the arena opened and keeping the team in Sacramento that I think should give him a bump over other historically bad organizations.

He had lots of bad ideas that didn't work and horrid people like the original GM tandem and Matina with outsized influence and then he stuck to this "clash of ideas" with feel-good hire Vlade's team. He's admitted that was a mistake and moving on and the hires Monte has made look good so ?? My bottom line is that he's certainly had an extremely steep learning curve, given the above I am more or less allowing for a semi-clean slate with Monte and evaluating from here whether or not he has truly learned his lessons or if he is always going to stink, but for saving the franchise and finally getting the arena done, I'm willing to give him a C for his first 10 years.
 
#7
There's also the matter of off court stuff like foregoing revenue sharing for 4 seasons (more?) before the arena opened and keeping the team in Sacramento that I think should give him a bump over other historically bad organizations.

He had lots of bad ideas that didn't work and horrid people like the original GM tandem and Matina with outsized influence and then he stuck to this "clash of ideas" with feel-good hire Vlade's team. He's admitted that was a mistake and moving on and the hires Monte has made look good so ?? My bottom line is that he's certainly had an extremely steep learning curve, given the above I am more or less allowing for a semi-clean slate with Monte and evaluating from here whether or not he has truly learned his lessons or if he is always going to stink, but for saving the franchise and finally getting the arena done, I'm willing to give him a C for his first 10 years.
Since this thread is in response to the article in the Athletic, keeping in line with the thesis of the article, I can't give him a clean slate. He owns the first seven years of his reign. Going forward however, he can redeem himself. Just like one of the five best listed was once known as a big mouth, outspoken idiot, i.e. Mark Cuban.
 
#9
Since this thread is in response to the article in the Athletic, keeping in line with the thesis of the article, I can't give him a clean slate. He owns the first seven years of his reign. Going forward however, he can redeem himself. Just like one of the five best listed was once known as a big mouth, outspoken idiot, i.e. Mark Cuban.
Understood - but like I said, he basically took a rotten foundation from the Maloofs and an arena that couldn't even get proper truck deliveries and secured another 30 years in Sacramento. Two seasons ago Vlade was getting looks as GM of the year and now the wheels have completely fallen off. There are teams with owners that don't even try. There are teams with all the resources and advantages in the world (NY Knicks) that are perceived as so horrid they can't attract 4.5 star free agents to the largest media market in the western hemisphere if not the world. There's Charlotte who can't afford Kemba Walker only to essentially make what amounts to a delayed trade for a well used Gordon Hayward a year later. And of course Houston.

I don't know how the fanbases of those teams feel, but at least I have hope.
 
#10
Vivek > Fertita.

Pros: Saved the Kings for Sac, took a rev sharing hit, developed DOCO and G1C.
Cons: Doesn't stay in his lane, straying from his first instinct (data) and hiring on gut (Vlade--dude set the Kings back 10 years), getting mesmerized by glitter (Mullins, Mitch, Vlade...) rather than substance (Petrie...).

All dude needs to do is stay in his lane.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#11
There's also the matter of off court stuff like foregoing revenue sharing for 4 seasons (more?) before the arena opened and keeping the team in Sacramento that I think should give him a bump over other historically bad organizations.

He had lots of bad ideas that didn't work and horrid people like the original GM tandem and Matina with outsized influence and then he stuck to this "clash of ideas" with feel-good hire Vlade's team. He's admitted that was a mistake and moving on and the hires Monte has made look good so ?? My bottom line is that he's certainly had an extremely steep learning curve, given the above I am more or less allowing for a semi-clean slate with Monte and evaluating from here whether or not he has truly learned his lessons or if he is always going to stink, but for saving the franchise and finally getting the arena done, I'm willing to give him a C for his first 10 years.
Basically this. ^^^

Some of Vivek's challenges have been unavoidable. The revenue sharing is a huge one, and to have to navigate that in a small market with a non-playoff team just really put him behind the 8-ball. And full, 100% credit for being there to get the arena done and committing to staying in Sacramento for three decades at least (was it 30 or 35 years?)

Still, some of the issues have been self-inflicted, including Matina, and largely seem to stem from not knowing how to run a basketball franchise but insisting on having too many fingers in the sports end of it. There's a large percentage of sports ownership that is essentially a vanity venture for the über-rich, and having met Vivek very briefly, I get the distinct impression that vanity is a major motivating factor here. Ideally that should work out fine if it's just being the public face, but Vivek being actually very smart and having accomplished a lot of what he did via his own work I think he felt he could just step into a completely different field and hit the ground running as a basketball decision maker. That's on him, so it's hard for me to give him a "C". I think the grade has to be worse than that, but I'm willing to go with the "INC" as it seems that lately he has been stepping back and letting the front office do its work (and yes, that applies even before the McNair hire). So, he's been bad but I have reason to hope that he's trending in the right direction.
 
#12
Understood - but like I said, he basically took a rotten foundation from the Maloofs and an arena that couldn't even get proper truck deliveries and secured another 30 years in Sacramento. Two seasons ago Vlade was getting looks as GM of the year and now the wheels have completely fallen off. There are teams with owners that don't even try. There are teams with all the resources and advantages in the world (NY Knicks) that are perceived as so horrid they can't attract 4.5 star free agents to the largest media market in the western hemisphere if not the world. There's Charlotte who can't afford Kemba Walker only to essentially make what amounts to a delayed trade for a well used Gordon Hayward a year later. And of course Houston.

I don't know how the fanbases of those teams feel, but at least I have hope.
Serial entrepreneurs are rare. In many respects, this is Vivek's second swing at building an entrepreneurial winner. He's failing thus far, but dude bought stock, not options, so time is on his side. We'll see.
 
#14
per my second post - that's my bottom line.
Hope is spelled: Halliburton. Culture changer. Laud or laugh at me in 10 years.

Edit: I love Fox. Dude has his head on straight. Changed his fam's fortunes overnight, which is priority #1--as it should be. But Fox's game does not naturally make others better. I think he'll get there, in the same way that Gary Payton got there. On the other hand, Halliburton's game is all about team--first, second, and third. Kings haven't had that type of player since Christie (and a poor man's version in Temple). And it also one of the reasons why I would love to get Lonzo Ball on the Kings at some point.
 
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#17
It's actually the proper title for the primary owner as far as "board of governors" is concerned, as I am sure minority owners also like to think of themselves as "owners" - as Capt. pointed out, often this is an ego thing.
 
#18
Basically this. ^^^

Some of Vivek's challenges have been unavoidable. The revenue sharing is a huge one, and to have to navigate that in a small market with a non-playoff team just really put him behind the 8-ball. And full, 100% credit for being there to get the arena done and committing to staying in Sacramento for three decades at least (was it 30 or 35 years?)

Still, some of the issues have been self-inflicted, including Matina, and largely seem to stem from not knowing how to run a basketball franchise but insisting on having too many fingers in the sports end of it. There's a large percentage of sports ownership that is essentially a vanity venture for the über-rich, and having met Vivek very briefly, I get the distinct impression that vanity is a major motivating factor here. Ideally that should work out fine if it's just being the public face, but Vivek being actually very smart and having accomplished a lot of what he did via his own work I think he felt he could just step into a completely different field and hit the ground running as a basketball decision maker. That's on him, so it's hard for me to give him a "C". I think the grade has to be worse than that, but I'm willing to go with the "INC" as it seems that lately he has been stepping back and letting the front office do its work (and yes, that applies even before the McNair hire). So, he's been bad but I have reason to hope that he's trending in the right direction.
Inc. would be a fair grade if we included hope into the equation. He may have or even is hitting it out of the ballpark with off-court stuff but the article seemed to be looking at in terms of the basketball side of the equation.

I not only hope for better but expect better going forward but that hope has been dashed before with him at the helm. In no way can I give him a pass for his "ownership" of the team to this point.

Having said that, I do question the objectivity of the survey even if I agree with the analysis of Vivek that was given.
 
#20
Dolan is the worst.

Tillman needs a couple more years of failure to be under Vivek, and I expect him to eventually be in competition with Dolan for that spot.

But when you are the 29th worst, does it really matter if someone says you are number 30?
 
#21
A lot of folks are over thinking this. This is poll of industry insiders on who is the worst owner for basketball operations. Agents don’t care if you say the right off-court things, they care if your basketball ops is going to make their client look good on the court and pay them accordingly.

Hard to argue any owner is worse than Vivek at basketball ops. Try to clown Dolan all you like, he spends a lot of money on basketball ops, let’s those people run the operation, and is probably too loyal to front office/coaches. From an insider’s standpoint, Dolan is eventually going to make the right hire (which could be Rose and Wes) and have another extended run.

What’s Fertitta’s basketball ops sin? Trading for Russ because Harden demanded it? Morey is THE celebrity GM—Fertitta picked Harden over Morey. Please understand that all the national media disparaging Fertitta are getting quotes directly from celebrity GM, Daryl Morey. Morey is the most media available man in the NBA, besides maybe Cuban.

Vivek is not good at basketball ops, and he’s cheap. PDA, Vlade and McNair were all very affordable choices.
 
#26
If Bagley had stayed healthy last season and the team won 40+ games we aren't having this discussion. I know that's apparently a big if, but there was really no reason to expect the guy to miss 75%+ of his sophomore season like say Oden was a known risk when picking over Durant. Fer cryin out loud, we went with the athlete! :mad: (also was it Vivek's pick, because it is said his son definitely wanted Luka and apparently letting his son into the ops is a cardinal sin....)

And to be honest, I think we are better off long term for the setback. Halliburton may wind up one of the steals of the draft and odds are we'll get a decent pick next year too, and Monte looks like he knows how to draft.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
#28
While I do agree that there are a lot of owners AS BAD as Vivek out there, I find it funny that people are actually defending him.
In what version of reality does accurately classifying James Dolan as the worst governor in basketball count as "defending" Vivek Ranadivé? I don't even root for the Kings, any more.

Dolan is the worst. Period. I'm not defending Ranadivé, just because I don't go out of my way to make sure that you know that I think he's the second-worst.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#29
While I do agree that there are a lot of owners AS BAD as Vivek out there, I find it funny that people are actually defending him.

Vivek is horrible. Dolan existing doesn’t change that.
No one appears to be defending Vivek here so much as pointing out that Jamie Dolan and Tillman Fertitta are flaming hot dog turds and Dan Gilbert wouldn’t be far behind if not for the fact that that best player in the world happens to be from the same geographic area as his team.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
#30
In what version of reality does accurately classifying James Dolan as the worst governor in basketball count as "defending" Vivek Ranadivé? I don't even root for the Kings, any more.

Dolan is the worst. Period. I'm not defending Ranadivé, just because I don't go out of my way to make sure that you know that I think he's the second-worst.
Point taken, and I wasn’t really referring to your post either, Dolan just comes to mind so easily when thinking of an example of another horrible owner.... most of us here in this thread are throwing his name around...

..Which I suppose backs up the notion that Dolan is the worst owner in the NBA. Haha