As a lifelong Kings fan born in Sacramento, my opinion on the move is a bit different than Callero’s. Basically, I’m as jealous as Nicolas Cage watching the Academy Awards.
California’s capital boasts little besides state government buildings, the Oakland Athletics’ Triple-A baseball team and the Kings. Losing the boys in purple and white would be detrimental to the city’s identity.
If the Kings leave Sacramento, it will become the largest city in the U.S. without a major league sports team. Seattle still had the Seahawks (NFL), the Mariners (MLB) and the most popular club soccer team in America, the Sounders.
Even with all those teams, the only championship parade to come through Seattle was after the 1978-79 NBA Finals. For a certain 16-year-old basketball player at nearby Enumclaw High School, those were the glory days.
“I got to go down to the world champions’ parade, and I got to shake the head coach’s hand and see the players and give them high fives,” Callero said. “When they left, it left a hole in my heart.”
Seattle fans have been holding up their city’s nice-to-a-fault reputation. Every Kings/Sonics message board is filled with empathy, because the boys up north remember how awful it felt when Clay Bennett moved their team to Oklahoma City.
The fans want someone to fill their stadium, but it seems that many would prefer an expansion team in the Emerald City. The Kings could stay home, and Sonics fans would have a clear conscience.
“When your team gets stolen by a billionaire from Oklahoma City, it doesn’t feel right. Yet it feels right to steal a team from another city,” Callero said. “I hate to see Sacramento lose their team, because I know how bad it feels. I’d much rather have an expansion team.”
Callero’s sympathy is representative of Sonics Nation, but at the end of the day, Seattle will probably get my team. It’s like your girlfriend cheating on you with Gandhi: no matter how awesome he is, the situation still sucks.
If I was bitter, I would gripe about how the move could have been avoided. I would recall when the Maloofs agreed to a deal with the city of Sacramento on a new arena, shook mayor Kevin Johnson’s hand at center court, then backed out of the agreement a few days later.
I could note that Sacramento was going to pay $255 million for the new arena, and the owners would only pay $7 million. I could talk about how the Maloofs spend their money on South African skateboarding championships and Ali Lohan’s singing career instead of the Kings.
But clearly I’m not bitter, so I won’t complain about them. I won’t mention plans to attend my last Kings game over spring break, where my friends and I will raise less-than-complimentary signs about the Maloofs.
Kings fans deserve better for their loyalty. A sellout crowd was roaring at Arco Arena, even when Mikki Moore and Donte Greene were in the starting lineup. In fact, the Kings have sold out in 19 of the 27 seasons they’ve been in town.
Recreation, parks and tourism administration junior Travis Geerts has a concentration in sports management and plays small forward on the Cal Poly club basketball team. Geerts grew up a Kings fan in nearby Woodland, and noticed the Maloofs as part of the Arco crowd — when the team was successful.
“They were around more when the Kings were good,” Geerts said. “They were really big supporters when the Kings were winning. Once the Kings started losing, they sort of closed up their pocketbooks, and the team fell apart.”
SuperSonics fans also deserve better. Bennett moved the team because mayor Greg Nickels made little effort to stop him, even with many in the city begging for the Sonics to stay. Seattle voiced its displeasure with Nickels in the next election, when he failed to make it out of the primaries.
Callero has not followed the league much since the original Sonics left, but would buy the NBA League Pass on DIRECTV to follow Seattle’s new team, he said.
Moneymen such as Mark Mastrov and Ron Burkle have made Callero nervous, though. The pair is interested in buying the Kings and keeping them in Sacramento, and Burkle recently met with NBA commissioner David Stern.
“I’m still 50-50 on my excitement,” Callero said. “Part of me is not convinced that they’ll end up in Seattle. I don’t believe they’re going to be the Sonics until they play a game.”
If Seattle lands the Kings, Sacramento will have been cheated. If Sacramento keeps the Kings, Seattle will have been cheated. Both cities deserve a team, but not at the expense of each other.