“I’m not too worried about the Sacramento Queens.”
-Shaquille O’Neal
Tonight’s season finale with the Kings is potentially the end of professional basketball in Sacramento. The Kings are like the really hot girl in high school, who shows up to the reunion 10 years later working a dead-end job and her looks have significantly diminished.
In 2002 the Kings had the best record in the Association at 61-23, backed by one of the most loyal fan bases the league has ever seen; the people of Sacramento sold out ARCO Arena for 497 consecutive home games. Life was good in Sac-town and the Kings were treated as royalty.
The Kings fielded the gritty Mike Bibby, the defensive minded Doug Christie, lights out shooter Peja Stojakovic , complemented by the best passing frontcourt in the league in Chris Webber and Vlade Divac.
They had all the ingredients of a potential dynasty. Sports Illustrated put their starting five on the cover and dubbed them “the Greatest Show on the Court”
There was just one problem: they were never able to get past the Laker team led by Shaq and Kobe. They gave the Lakers all they could handle every year.
The cross-state rivalry between the Lake-show and the Kings was as heated as it gets in the NBA. When the Lakers and Kings hooked up, you expected fireworks and bad blood, an element that is currently missing in the NBA.
I remember in a meaningless pre-season game, Rick Fox elbowed Doug Christie and Christie retaliated with a punch. Both players were ejected, but the fight continued in the tunnel, the two had to be separated by Staples Center security. And this was a pre-season game.
I remember Kobe falling ill to food poisoning before game two of the Western Conference finals against the Kings. Rumors began to swirl on the internet about the hotel staff having tampered with Kobe’s food.
While he missed morning shoot-around and had to receive fluids periodically throughout the day, he recovered in time to start Game 2.
When fans point to Michael Jordan’s flu game as a testament to his mental fortitude, remember Kobe’s food poisoning game as a sign of his. (Last season he also played with a broken finger and a right knee with little cartilage)
I remember game four of that series, with the Kings threatening to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. The Lakers were down 99-97 with one last chance to tie it.
The ball was inbounded to Kobe who drove past Christie and misses a contested layup. Shaq misses the tip-in, the ball is batted out to a wide-open Robert Horry at the top of the three point line.
We know the rest. Webber’s close out comes too late, and Horry’s fling finds the bottom of the net. Horry struts back to the Laker bench knowing he just salvaged the Lakers’ season. It was surreal.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_fhwqXmUMk&feature=related
I watched replays of the shot countless times that night, sitting through the other 58 minutes of Sports Center just waiting for the highlights of that game. (Keep in mind this was before YouTube took off.)
Their rivalry culminated in an epic seven-game series in the Western Conference Finals, when the Lakers escaped ARCO with a 112-106 victory in overtime.
Upon losing Game 7, the NBA on NBC cameras followed the Kings into the locker-room, capturing Chris Webber throwing a lamp against the wall in frustration.
Recently referee Tim Donaghy alleged to favoring the Lakers in Game 6 of that series, tarnishing the legacy of one of the most exciting series I’ve ever witnessed as a Laker fan.
The Lakers went on to win the championship that year, in retrospect even as a die-hard Laker fan, it’s hard not to wonder, what if?
Next: What would happen if the Lakers lost Game 7?
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After winning another division championship by going 59–23 the following year, the Kings lost Webber to a knee injury in the playoffs. He required major knee surgery and he was never the same. Neither were the Kings.
Without Webber, the Kings fell to the Mavericks during the 2003 playoffs. .
Eventually C-Webb and his “fab 5” in Sacramento dispersed. Webber is now an on-air personality for NBA broadcasts, Peja is a shell of his former self in Dallas, Bibby has been relegated to spot-up shooter waiting for LeBron and Wade’s kickouts. At least Mr. Christie is still making good cookies.
Since then the Kings’ success has dwindled significantly. They have missed the playoffs every year since 2007 and have become the Pacific Division’s bottom dwellers.
The fans’ interest has also declined along with the Kings.
This year, Sacramento has hit rock bottom: with budget deficits and heavy job losses during the economic downturn, the Maloof brothers began exploring different options.
It’s likely the Sacramento Kings will be no more. A move to Anaheim seems imminent.
Some, including Lakers’ head coach Phil Jackson, are heavily opposed to the Kings relocating.
“What other metropolitan area has three teams in it? It’s ridiculous to put another franchise in this market,” Jackson said before a March 27 game against the Los Angeles Clippers. “It just doesn’t make sense to do that.”
I agree with the Zen Master but for a different reason.
I don’t care how the Kings re-locating to Anaheim will affect the share of the Lakers’ television deal or merchandise sales. As a fan, that means nothing to me. I’m sure the Orange-County will continue to support the Lakers despite having a team closer to them. Southern California is Laker-land, always have been and always will be.
The city of Sacramento deserves better than this. The Kings are the only major sports team they have. When the Maloof brothers constructed one of the most entertaining products the league has ever seen, the fans were there ringing their cowbells every single night.
Sports is the only business that expects the consumer to continue to purchase the product regardless of its quality. Well, the city of Sacramento wasn’t going to buy into a team that had no hope of making the playoffs.
Their current team is comprised of Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and a guy who comes off the bench named Jeter who’s unrelated to Derek. Sure, second-year shooting guard Marcus Thornton has averaged 20.8 points since arriving in a midseason trade from New Orleans. But are any of those players the Kings can build a franchise around? Only time will tell.
It’s sad to see the Kings leave Sacramento, especially since Sam Presti and the Thunder have laid out a blueprint on how to run a successful franchise in a small-market.
What’s even more saddening is that the great fans of Sacramento are down to their last 48 minutes of basketball to cheer for.
Appropriately, it’s against the team’s most celebrated rival, the Los Angeles Lakers.
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