Today marks the 7th anniversary of the NBA board of governers voting against relocating the Sacramento Kings to Seattle. It was the culmination of the movement when fans, officials, and whales came together to save basketball in Sacramento. My how time flies.
Just filed to http://t.co/b8H6X2SelB: Sources tell ESPN a committee of NBA owners voted against moving the Kings to Seattle today.
Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) April 29, 2013
It feels not so long ago when we spent our days tracking City Council meetings, Here We Stay efforts, Crown Downtown, Carmichael Dave rallying fans, and all the other fan efforts to keep the Kings. It was certainly the most unified Kings fans have ever been. To this day I remain incredibly proud of the way the fans and the community stepped up and accomplished what no NBA fan base had before.
Seven years later Seattle still doesn’t have an NBA franchise. Honestly that’s a shame. I still think they deserve an expansion team. It would be a very fun rivarly between the Kings and the Sonics.
Every time I stop and think about those days I’m hit with a flood of memories. I remember the pure, visceral anger I felt toward the Maloofs, particularly George. I remember “You’ve got Burkle?” I remember Bap Bap Bap, and “I’m a developer” and finding out there was some new investor named Vivek Ranadive.
The honeymoon period ended a while ago for Vivek and his ownership group. We’re focused on the on-court product these days, and rightfully so. But it’s still nice to take a moment each year to remember how improbable that success was, and how lucky we are to still have our Sacramento Kings.
To Ed Montes, whose energy on Here We Stay night at ARCO was both infectious & inspirational.
I’ve told this story before, but for those who haven’t seen, I can still remember where I was when I heard the news like it was yesterday.
I remember that day I was listening to KHTK because I had heard that the NBA relocation committee was meeting that day and that there could be some news coming out regarding the Kings’ relocation status. At the time, I wasn’t really the Twitter bug that I am now, so I relied alot on radio (and the Seattle relocation saga was also when I discovered Sactown Royalty, but I wasn’t a member yet, so I followed them for Kings news too).
At this time, I was going to college at San Jose State and didn’t have a class until around 3:00 pm that day, so I was in my apartment. I was listening to Jason Ross and Deuce Mason’s noon show (which I still miss to this day), and around the 2:00 hour, when Jason and Deuce announced the relocation committee’s unanimous vote to recommend against relocation, I literally clapped my hands hard, double fist pumped, and shouted “YES!” I immediately proceeded to try to call my Dad to tell him the news, and it took a few tries before I was finally able to get to him because he has a habit of not answering his phone at times.
I still had to go to class at 3:00, but since it was just a GE class (public speaking) and I didn’t have to do any speeches that day, when I got to class I took a seat in the back and was literally on my phone for the whole class. I remember looking at Sactown Royalty and seeing the site explode with GIFs when the news broke.
From that point on, I felt extremely good about the Kings’ chances of staying in Sacramento.
That was the first day I tried Twitter. Bouncing back and forth between Carmichael Dave and Crown Downtown’s Twitter feeds for minute by minute updates during the vote. Amazing day.
#HereWeStayed
Apparently the decision came with a caveat that the Sacramento Kings are not allowed to play NBA basketball in May and June.
Forgoing revenue sharing.
+ Not getting revenue from playoff games because the team can’t make the playoffs.
= Man, no wonder arena beers cost so much.
If anything as earth-shattering as the Kings leaving Sacramento were to happen, in hindsight I believe it would’ve happened in 2020 during the pandemic and all the other crazy things going on.
#hindsightIs2020
Some folks have forgiven Seattle for their attempt at stealing our Kings.
I, for one, have not.
Not after Hansen got busted for helping to fund STOP’s attempt to tank the G1C development. Not after listening to them and reading about how Sacramento was not a NBA market, of some of them telling us we should be grateful that a city like Seattle was going to take such good care of our team. #Cashy. #Binding. Chris Daniels and the rest of the Save Our Sonics crew being dead-wrong about everything, and Sam Amick being dead right about everything – and the level of anger directed at Amick for so consistently being right.
I have enjoyed these last seven years of Seattle not having a NBA team, of watching their dork fanbois dry-humping every possible relocation target (MIL, NOP, MEM), of the failure of Plan Flan and now the Seattle Center Coliseum being reconstructed and purpose-built for a NHL team. All of it.
Looking back on it, I actually ain’t all that mad that the Kings suck so bad, because here’s the thing – they’re the Sacramento Kings, and all the Seattle dweebs can do is watch the Trailblazers on ROOT or LeaguePass and beat off.
I say we go one step further. How about a petition to change the Hanks/Ryan name of the film to “Sleepless in Sacramento”?
They can have Sleepless. We have the better movie.
They may have the legendary Sue Bird,
But we have the more legendary Lady Bird.
I think it was David Bienick at KCRA who was on that daily beat as the tension mounted. I can remember being on twitter hitting refresh-refresh-refresh for what seemed like months, waiting for his next tweet.
Sure doesn’t feel like 7 years ago… well at least the team’s playing at the same level!
Man, that seems like yesterday. FYI my member emoji is from a game I went to to be apart of the Here We Stay movement. As soon as my buddy and I u rolled the banner and handed out signs, they were confiscated by security. Good thing we brought plenty more in some seats a few rows behind us that some more friends were sitting. I got to meet many of you in those days. I am so proud of all of you who helped to keep the team in Sac.
If I remember correctly you had a source that had a lot of inside information regarding the negotiations. Thank you for the updates you provided during those times.
And thank you for your contributions to STR and The Kings Herald.
I’ve been waiting to find the right article for my first post on the new site. Glad to see everyone move over here and glad to see the staff putting out quality material.
I’ll never forget the day the vote happened. I knew Twitter was going to be the quickest way to see the results so I signed up. Haven’t used it since. I sat at the computer, decked out in Kings gear, with my infant daughter (first born) wearing her Kings onesie. We kept reloading Twitter until the news broke, it was probably her first “wtf is wrong with my dad” moment.
I’ll never forget the “Here we stayed” everything, including the “Playing to Win” tour featuring CD with Uriah Faber joining in. I remember pledging money for a brick to build a new arena. I remember driving home from Monterey and listening to Grant’s show deep into the Bay Area (didn’t think I’d get reception that far out) as he did his show just after the news broke about the pending sale.
I’ll never forget watching what could have been the last game the Kings might play in Sacramento.
Despite how memorable the whole situation was and how amazing it ended. I’m happy we still have our Sacramento Kings and I’m happy we’re all still here talking about it.
That’s adorable. Do you take your daughter to games now? Going to games with my dad are some of my favorite memories.
What a disappointing Cake concert
I cant think of a team that is so tied to the city’s morale as the Kings and Sacramento. Big market cities have multiple pro teams in multiple pro sports, bandwagon fans by the thousands, and more money to throw at players than they know what to do with. Sacramento just has the Kings. (Yes I know soon to be MLS but they ain’t here yet). The Kings are Sacramento and Sacramento is the Kings.
Long may we (try to) Reign!
That was a very tense and depressing period. I remember being extremely nervous when someone (I can’t remember who) said that it wasn’t for sure that the Kings were moving, but it was first and goal at the one. I was at the last home game that year, and just soaking up every memory and heartbreak that Arco brought over the years after the game. I didn’t want to leave since it could have been for the last time. But then I saw the crowd gather down near the floor. There was a hopeful energy in that crowd. With whatever voice we had left after the game, there were numerous rounds of Sac-Ra-Men-To chants. It was a surreal experience. I was lucky enough to be at the home opener the following year, and the sheer joy of being able to watch basketball in our city was amazing. It was at that point that my pride in being a Kings fan actually meant something since the early 2000s, other than just being a masochist of a basketball fan. Here we stayed and it’s worth remembering that fight we all fought this time of year.
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