What Will You Do If the Kings Trade Boogie?

[Capt. Factorial]

When the Kings moved to Sacramento, I was in my last years of elementary school in a small town in the mountains of Southern California. I was a casual fan of the Showtime Lakers, and it's hard to blame me - they were the local team and they were winners. The Kings weren't even a blip on my radar. But what interest I had in basketball gradually faded to the point that Magic's HIV announcement during my senior year of high school registered, but only barely. I moved to Davis for college in '92, and outside of attending a (frankly, terrible) Kings/Clippers exhibition game at the old Rec Hall on campus in probably '92 or '93 and a few TV Lakers games at a friend's insistence (she thought 18-year-old Kobe was adorable) I hardly followed the NBA for years.

But in the middle of the '97-'98 season a roommate of mine started to watch some Kings games on TV, and I got interested just a little. And it was entirely the success of the Webber/J-Will/Peja team of '98-'99 that sucked me in, and by the time that first playoff series was over I was hooked. Never looked back.

And while I wasn't around for the hard times that the Kings had in the '80s and '90s, I've been through "the Horry Shot" and "Game 6" and Webber's knee and the depths of Maloofery and 9 straight years of missing the playoffs and 7 straight years of being under .400...I fought with CrownDowntown to save this team from moving to Anaheim and Seattle and to get a downtown arena built and damn well that arena is going up.

I'm not going anywhere.

My fandom is more than DeMarcus Cousins. Vivek has basically blown it as far as tending this franchise has gone, but it's my team, and this is my town, and that arena going up is my arena and even if Vivek were dumb enough to trade a happy Cousins (much less a Cousins who may be forcing his way out), I wouldn't like it, but I could deal with it. The team is bigger than Cousins, it's bigger than Karl, it's bigger than Vivek. It has survived the Maloofs and all of these other trials over the last 30 years in Sacramento, it will survive this, and I will be here to watch it and cheer it on.

 

[PurpleHaze]

I've been more of NCAA basketball fan for decades than addicted to Kings / NBA basketball for lots of reasons. March Madness better than NBA playoffs by spectacular wide margin in my eyes nearly every time. Hopefully new arena will get tourney games back and eventually Final Four. Count me as OUT for most part - #5 choice. No more grief and disgust. I've had it for far too long with dysfunctional Kings franchise - endless league wide laughing stock.

 

[Fear the Putin]

This is more than just Cousins being potentially traded away. It is a never-ending saga of abuse towards the fans. What are you rooting for exactly? For George Karl getting his way? For conniving agents getting their way against a franchise? For self-serving GMs looking out for their own behind?

Are we supposed to blindly throw away money because we want to have some supposed "die-hard fandom" attached to us? All they see us is as loyal dogs they can further abuse...

This is a franchise center that would be traded because of politics...

 

[ArcoKings]

I chose: Reaction will depend on what we get back but it will have to be BIG. If we got crap in return I would probably stop following the Kings until Vivek gets out. I used to like the Suns a lot back when I was in High School. I would most likely turn my attention to them. I don't know. I'm very loyal to my teams. Too loyal.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Eh, I'll stick around. Who else am I going to root for, the Hawks?

 

[Dime Dropper]

Probably would be the last straw for me. Do you know how easy it is to follow the Kings in Europe? Not easy, not even a little.

I've been a fan since I was a child, my support has never wavered. But it would be the final straw. There's seriously only so much ineptitude a person can take.

 

[Ugolino]

I get the anger, but if you're going to bail on the team we all fought so hard to keep here over some bad management decisions, good riddance.

 

[AaronPDX]

Not spend another DIME on this joke of a franchise and promote that campaign as much as humanly possible.

 

[Dime Dropper]

I get the anger, but if you're going to bail on the team we all fought so hard to keep here over some bad management decisions, good riddance.

I see that you have particularly loose definitions of the terms "some" and "bad".

 

[206Fan]

I'll always follow this team. As people can see, I am from Seattle, but I love Sacramento and this team. I currently live in Sacramento and it feels like another home to me. I believe we truly have an amazing unique set of fans. I'm a huge NBA fan, but I'm a bigger Kings fan. I've spent hours of my life looking at this draft class trying to figure out what player would help make our Kings better. I'm dedicated to this team 100% and I'm always looking at this team optimistically. (Last season I predicted 45+wins)

I didn't quit on the Kings when they traded my most favorite player in the NBA at the time, Tyreke. And I won't leave now. 2000s were a glory era, and there's no reason why we can't ever get back to it. Being a 9er fan, I stuck around when Candlestick was half empty and when Alex Smith was terrible. It took them over a decade, but the 9ers became relevant again and were considered THE best team in the NFL. The feeling it feels to be a fan of a winning team is amazing. I believe that the Kings can get back to winning basketball again sooner or later.

I can't personally walk away from a team that I love.

I think if we were ever to trade Cuz, we should look at all of our options.
Of course I'll be disappointed, but this wouldn't end my fandom for this team.

 

[gman23]

I will continue to follow them, because as a FAN of any sports team (not individual) it's all about the team. Gotta keep the faith. Only time I followed a individual was MJ.

 

[Mass]

As I said in other threads, if Boogie goes, I go with him. I agree with everything rainmaker wrote here. Enough is enough, and we, as fans, don't deserve this after all the passion and patience we put in this team.

As many of you knows, I'm from Italy, but I started to like the Kings since the Richmond/Webb era. I lived there in 2000/01 and during that time I felt in love with the team, the fan base and all the passion around the franchise. I'm ok with a losing franchise, not sniffing the playoffs for decades, but I can't keep following a franchise that does everything to alienate its fans and to be a joke around the league.

Maybe some of you believe I'm not a fan, but I will follow Boogie wherever he goes. And everytime he plays against the Kings I hope he goes for 50+30. Sorry, but this is just too much for me.

 

[Padrino]

if the kings trade demarcus cousins--a superstar center who actually wants to be in an nba backwater like sacramento for some reason--then i'm out. if he gets traded to any of 28 other teams, then i'll happily follow his career and root for him to succeed above any other player. however, if he winds up in a lakers uniform, then i will actively root against the kings at every opportunity. that's a bridge too far, an anvil to break the camel's back of my connection to this team; i can think of no indignity greater than watching boogie cousins stomp all over the kings four times a season while wearing purple and gold...

beyond that, my wife and i are planning a permanent move to oregon in about two years. i had intended to take my lifelong kings fandom with me, because i haven't been fond of the idea of rooting for the portland trailblazers. i mean, i'm the kind of fan who can't even muster up an ounce of enthusiasm for the warriors' championship victory because they're a nearby division rival. but if boogie gets traded and the kings set themselves up for another half-decade of uncertainty during a slow and painful rebuilding process, then i'll likely just make an early leap onto the blazers bandwagon (and hope that they're able to re-sign wesley matthews, rather than pray that the kings' doom circus of dysfunction hasn't damaged the team's reputation so much that they're unable to convince mid-level free agents like matthews to sign in sacramento)...

i just don't have the patience anymore for this kind of bafoonery. the kings have been in this town for thirty years. in that time, they've had about a five-year stretch where things were pretty great. the remaining twenty-five years have ranged from mediocre to miserable, with the last decade being an especially trying experience for any kings fan. we deserve better than the abject disappointment that every iteration of the sacramento kings has ever managed to deliver...

 

[Fear the Putin]

I will continue to follow them, because as a FAN of any sports team (not individual) it's all about the team. Gotta keep the faith. Only time I followed a individual was MJ.

What team? That's the cliche being thrown around all the time, yet most people can't put any substance behind that statement. How many times has your franchise center demanded a trade out of Sac of all places? Has Demarcus not been loyal to the city? What are you rooting for? For our logo to be trashed on again? The abuse to continue? For free agents to not even consider coming to Sac? To continue drafting rookies only to crap on them after 4-5 years? To continue this reverberating cycle of demoralizing the fanbase?

Answer these questions before you continue throwing out statements of "having faith", "being a fan of the team", etc.
And quite frankly, that is exactly what owners around the league bank on...people to continue being sheep and "having faith" for the sake of having something to root for in their lives...all while they continue racking in their hard earned money on deceit, politics and abuse.

 

[Warhawk]

And while I wasn't around for the hard times that the Kings had in the '80s and '90s, I've been through "the Horry Shot" and "Game 6" and Webber's knee and the depths of Maloofery and 9 straight years of missing the playoffs and 7 straight years of being under .400...I fought with CrownDowntown to save this team from moving to Anaheim and Seattle and to get a downtown arena built and damn well that arena is going up.

I'm not going anywhere.

My fandom is more than DeMarcus Cousins. Vivek has basically blown it as far as tending this franchise has gone, but it's my team, and this is my town, and that arena going up is my arena and even if Vivek were dumb enough to trade a happy Cousins (much less a Cousins who may be forcing his way out), I wouldn't like it, but I could deal with it. The team is bigger than Cousins, it's bigger than Karl, it's bigger than Vivek. It has survived the Maloofs and all of these other trials over the last 30 years in Sacramento, it will survive this, and I will be here to watch it and cheer it on.

This is basically me. My interest will wane somewhat given everything that has gone on for the last half decade or so, but I've been a Kings fan since Lukenbill planted them here. Even this year after Malone got canned I haven't watched some games. Idiotic owner moves aren't going to shake me loose, even with something like this. I may not attend/watch as many games for a while, but I'm not jumping to another team. I will be eternally hopeful that either our ownership will mature and correct mistakes or new ownership will step up. But I won't, other than opening night at the new arena, likely spend money on them for a while either.

 

[uolj]

Didn't really see an answer in the poll that fit my position. My interest will wane significantly for a period of time, but I'll still consider the Kings my favorite team and hope they turn it around. So I guess I'll keep following the team no matter what happens, but there will be a significant enough drop in my interest for me not to want to pick that in the poll.

 

[dude12]

With all due respect to those that would leave, whatever, I'm a Kings fan and will continue to be a Kings fan.

 

[Gary]

I will always be diehard regardless so Move Cousins or don't move Cousins. Makes no difference to me as a fan (I would be pissed off but I wouldn't leave the fanbase).

I have been a Bengal fan my whole life and a Kings fan since 1990 or so. I am used to losing and losing bad.. Well at least the Bengals turned it around!

 

[Gary]

While I gotta give you props on your loyalty.... Enough is enough as far as I'm concerned.

It would be one thing to root for an unlucky team (which is what we were when Webber's knee exploded), or a mediocre team trying to be relevant (what we were when GP tried to keep us relevant post Webber injury), or even a crappy team on a rebuild (the early days of Reke/Cuz, which had many of us optimistic)...But to root for a team that somehow is able to **** itself in the *** over, and over, and over again? Because somehow despite all the relocation drama we managed to get an owner who is WORSE than the Maloofs? F that. As Rainmaker said above, sports are supposed to be fun.

Vivek is such an inept bumbling jerkass tool of an owner.

**** Vivek. **** PDA. **** Mullin. **** Fegan. **** LA.

Maaaaaybe, MAAAAAYEB if The Kings pull off some kind of miracle trade that gets us Towns + Noel or Wiggins + Russel + future top 5 picks, or anything of that nature that sets us up for a legit rebuild (you know, like the legit rebuild we had with Cousins before the Irritant ruined everything), than The Kings will remain my "B" team, after wherever Cuz ends up.

I live in Seattle, and was against relocation. Boy do I feel dumb now.

It wouldnt surprise me if all if the Kings franchise is revealed to be an elaborate, long running, social experiment on brand loyalty and masochism. Lakers being the control group.

Did you get "Jerkass" from the Simpsons?! lol Love the old episodes.. "OUT OF MY WAY JERKASS!"

 

[kingsboi]

I've become so numb to the results of Kings games these last couple of seasons that if Cousins were to go, I'd probably still stick with the team, because as others have posted...I'm not a player follower, I love the Kings and have been a die hard over a decade. While it would be hard to stomach such stupidity, I probably would watch the games still but with very minimal interest until they get to the playoffs. Which would probably be another 5+ years if they trade number 15.

 

[Chupacabra]

I will not be denied my fandom by any front office,coach, or player.

 

[kingsboi]

I will always be diehard regardless so Move Cousins or don't move Cousins. Makes no difference to me as a fan (I would be pissed off but I wouldn't leave the fanbase).

I have been a Bengal fan my whole life and a Kings fan since 1990 or so. I am used to losing and losing bad.. Well at least the Bengals turned it around!

While the Bengals have made four consecutive playoff appearances....I still wouldn't call what they are doing a turn around because they have yet to win a playoff game and it's only been 23 years I believe? Putting up with Marvin Lewis for 12 seasons as head coach after all this mediocrity is about as good as it gets in the Jungle because as long as Mike Brown is around, winning championships is not the priority. I'm a Bengals fan as well, started watching the NFL back in 2005 and I've seen this once too many times, Marvin needs to go, he should of been gone last season but what do I know.

 

[Sac.1989]

i need the kings, for all my sins i am a kings fan and the city of sacramento and the franchise hold a significant place in my heart.

If they trade demarcus then all hope of prosperity is lost forever and we stand to be an shining example of how not to run an effective business. I will remain a kings fan (albit there will be significant love lost) and closely follow boogie at next stop ideally looking to somehow join Vlade and the team to rebuild the franchise, if its an option, so maybe by the time i breath my last we may have won something, not for me but for the city and its long suffering fans.

 

[9x1x6]

I'll probably keep on following loosely as I have been the past few years, Boogie would just be the bookend instead of the Maloofs at that point.

This is actually the first season I've watched in about 6 years, I've always checked the box scores and stats over the years, just catching games had never really been an option until now. I left Sacramento in 2008 for the Army and have been living in Portland ever since. I'm pretty sure every time Sacramento has been in town I've been there ($9 a ticket).

Forever purple, probably won't get league pass again.

 

[rhythmless]

I get the anger, but if you're going to bail on the team we all fought so hard to keep here over some bad management decisions, good riddance.

Historically poor management decisions, poor personnel decisions, an owner with zero tact or feel for the fans, and a culture of backstabbing, lies, and condescension to the fanbase. Oh, and running a loyal as hell possible HOF player out of the town he actually wanted to stay in.

On a per year average, has any owner been as bad as Vivek in the history of pro sports?

 

[Widowmaker2k]

Cousins is a generational big man who genuinely likes Sacramento and has given the Kings more than enough chances. If they manage to screw that up, after everything we've put up with, I'm done. I'll probably just go be a Pacers fan. I'll also be a fan of whichever team Boogie lands on (unless it's the Lakers, I'm not sure if I could make myself a Lakers fan).

If this is really Feagan'a doing, I'd love it if he was traded to Utah. A classy organization in an even smaller market.

Hell, I did develop an interest in football while I was away in Europe, maybe I make that my sport of choice.

 

[Geoff]

It would be a sign that the FO hasn't learned anything from their past mistakes, and that doesn't deserve my fan support.

 

[Hadlowe]

I'm naturally a nomad. I've cheered for almost every team out there except for the Rockets, Mavs, Knicks and Nets. I am nominally a Lakers fan (dodges rotten tomatoes) but it's more out of a sense of tradition than strongly identifying with any particular team. I've watched an order of magnitude more Kings games than Lakers games the past five years.

What drew me to the Kings first was the scent of an up and coming team with Tyreke and Boogie and, yes, Jimmer. I'm not perfect. I thought I saw some flickering signs of chemistry and teamwork, only to see it smashed into rubble time and again by cheapskate then meddlesome ownership. If Boogie goes, I will definitely follow his new team, but I will probably still keep an eye on the Kings depending on what comes back. Rebuilds are tough to endure. There has to be some light at the end of the tunnel, and trading Boogie is going away from the light.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

These options don't really appeal to me but the closest I could find to my sentiments was stop following until they win again. Basically trading Cousins would cause me to take a hiatus from NBA basketball, I just don't know how long. 2 - 3 seasons minimum. I'll never switch teams, so I'll just need a break.

 

[Gary]

While the Bengals have made four consecutive playoff appearances....I still wouldn't call what they are doing a turn around because they have yet to win a playoff game and it's only been 23 years I believe? Putting up with Marvin Lewis for 12 seasons as head coach after all this mediocrity is about as good as it gets in the Jungle because as long as Mike Brown is around, winning championships is not the priority. I'm a Bengals fan as well, started watching the NFL back in 2005 and I've seen this once too many times, Marvin needs to go, he should of been gone last season but what do I know.

It beats not being in the playoffs and being out of the race the first game of the season