Tag: Kings

Kings submit formal plan for arena development

According to the Biz Journal, the Sacramento Kings submitted formal paperwork to support their development plans for the area surrounding the downtown arena.

A rendering submitted with the application shows the hotel, including a pool deck on an upper floor, immediately north of the arena’s main entrance, and a reconfigured Downtown Plaza facing east, onto the main plaza and the arena.

I think it’s fitting that the 16 story building will all but block the view from the new arena of the Railyard.

Shaq picks Kings to make Western Conf. playoffs

Former Kings hater and current Kings part owner Shaquille O’Neal picked the Kings to make the playoffs in 2014 as the 7th pick in the Western Conference.

Apparently Shaq correctly predicted all 16 playoff teams for the lockout-shortened 2012 season, but I can’t find any evidence of this in the 7 minutes that I felt like researching it.

Renovations, eh?

Mavericks Win in OT

Sleep Train Arena will be undergoing some renovations before the NBA season opens:

The changes – expected to be ready opening night, Oct. 30 – include two new VIP lounges – one for the team’s three-dozen-member ownership group – and one expanded lounge. The visitors locker room, a long-reviled dungeon, will be doubled in size.

Not to pick on former staffer Runnergirl but here is a discussion from 2006 on this site about renovations including the very ones that are being planned. RG’s points were well-made, and I only include it here because it is relevant, not to prove anything. Though I do think the prevailing wisdom of the time was that these renovations were impossible. (Sac-eats has some choice bon mots in the comments section. Also–Kit!)

Carmichael Dave launches Project Zero; multi-city “road show” to save Kings

After hyping it on Twitter Sunday night, Carmichael Dave announced “Project Zero” today, which he calls a “huge team effort” to help “save the Kings.”

At about 4:00 PM today, Dave formally announced the project after a meeting with Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Release the Whales

Humphrey.

At his “State of the City” address tonight, Mayor Johnson is “expected” to grace us with the names of the investors with whom the City is already negotiating. However, as the Bee points out, this is only an assumption, albeit an assumption based on the fact that transparency in government is something that Americans expect.

So hopefully tonight’s event, with special appearance by Jackie Greene and Mark S. Allen, will give the Mayor the opportunity to come forward with some actual specifics. I wonder if there will be a surprise, though: If the “whales” do end up being Burkle and Mastrov as expected, and the Mayor was purposely secretive for no reason, that seems like a pretty bad situation.

As the City Manager has already begun negotiations on the terms of a new agreement, this secrecy should not go on one day more. Here We Name Names!

Sacramento makes Seattle’s dreams come true

Photo of the Seattle SuperSonics logo
I had the brew, she had the chronic.

It’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This is a time to reflect; a time to think about dreams. It is also a time to prepare to say goodbye (reportedly, er, sources say, by the time you read this) to the Sacramento Kings. We may want to ease our sorrows by putting ourselves in Seattle’s shoes. That is, let’s hop over to their side of the internet and check out what they have to say.

You can believe it now: NBA is coming back. This time the deal is done. The Sonics are coming back in the form of the Sacramento Kings. No this isn’t a dream. And it isn’t another one of those here-come-the-Kings teases. This time the deal is done. The Sonics are coming back in the form of the Sacramento Kings…And remember, the Maloofs, who have tried their best to run this team into the ground, no longer are running this show…I just have the feeling, judging by the smart and understated way Hansen and his colleagues have gone about the arena proposal and the acquisition of this team, they will be equally good at finding the right people to make the right personnel decisions. These guys are winners…We may never open our arms to commissioner David Stern, but he wanted this deal to work. He told me four years ago he wanted Ballmer in the league. The league is better with Hansen and Ballmer in it.

Fascinating. Now, back to the 916… Continue reading “Sacramento makes Seattle’s dreams come true”

Kings season starts tonight at Chicago

“Teamwork makes the dream work” via Twitter/@Isaiah_Thomas2

Your Sacramento Kings tip off in a few hours in Chicago. Jonathan Santiago at Cowbell Kingdom has a great roundup of the national media predictions for the 2012-13 Kings. Folks predicting the team to be a sleeper playoff team are out there, but most are non-believers. The Sactown Royalty preview by Greg Wissinger urges caution but acknowledges some improvements in Robinson, James Johnson and Chuck Hayes’s health.

Last year a .545 winning percentage was the cutoff on the Western Conference playoffs. I think that is a more realistic goal for 13-14, but I don’t think an improvement of 100 percentage points and a 35 win season is out of reach this year. Go Kings!

News 10 to broadcast Kings games

I’m really excited to learn that News 10 will broadcast some Sacramento Kings games this season. As a cable cord-cutter, the biggest issue that I run into is a lack of live sports. I’m not an avid TV sports viewer so it’s not a big deal, but I do miss being able to tune in and check out the Kings. Hopefully this helps expose more people to this squad which I think is going to be pretty exciting.

Before you get too excited, it’s actually just 10 games that will be aired on News 10. Here is the list:

  • Sunday, Nov. 18 vs. Brooklyn Nets (3 pm)
  • Sunday, Dec. 16 vs. Denver Nuggets (3 pm)
  • Friday, Dec. 28 vs. New York Knicks (7 pm)
  • Saturday, Jan. 12 vs. Miami Heat (7 pm)
  • Friday, Jan. 25 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (7 pm)
  • Saturday, Feb. 2 at New York Knicks (4:30 pm)
  • Saturday, Feb. 9 vs. Utah Jazz (7 pm)
  • Friday, Mar. 1 at San Antonio Spurs (5:30 pm)
  • Saturday, Mar. 23 at Denver Nuggets (6 pm)
  • Saturday, Mar. 30 at Los Angeles Lakers (7 pm)

Source: Local ABC station to broadcast select Sacramento Kings games this year [Cowbell Kingdom]

BREAKING: Kings may move to Virginia Beach, Virginia UPDATED

Virginia Beach has the largest “pleasure beach” in the world, if you’re into that sort of thing. From Wikipedia

UPDATED: Cowbell Kingdom.com outlines the update to this, which is that the Kings say it is not a real thing. WTMalooF?

I heard it first from RansackedMedia.com.

A report out of the Hampton Roads Business Journal says that the Sacramento Kings will relocate to Virginia Beach and play in a new arena to be built by Comcast.

The Biz Journal report is here. I almost want this to happen by tomorrow just to get this topic put to bed for good. I am 100% ready to root for my first NBA love, the Golden State Warriors, who I think have an exciting roster and are poised for good things. And I don’t even care if I’m jinxing things by jumping ship at this point. It seems pretty clear that between the Maloofs being checked out and Kevin Johnson and the city’s inept attempt at keeping the Kings, we should just prepare for the inevitable.