We didn't ask for much. It was a simple request, really. We wanted:

* the city to make a substantial financial commitment to building a new arena in downtown Sacramento without raising taxes.

* an investor group to spend a record amount on one of the worst-run franchises in the NBA.

* NBA owners to determine that it was better to keep the Kings in Sacramento instead of moving them to Seattle.

* the Maloof family to act reasonable for a change.

* the Kings to be infused with awesome basketball and entertainment minds.

Simple request. It's no wonder we got it all.

***

We're lucky Vivek Ranadivé got a taste of NBA ownership in Oakland. We're lucky he liked it. We're lucky he wanted more power, a bigger role, a team of his own. We're lucky he's built a fantastic, brilliant company from the ground up to finance his interests. We're lucky his friend Roger Craig called KJ. We're lucky he has friends like the Jacobs brothers. We're lucky he's enough of a visionary to convince 22 very successful businessmen to buy into his vision and vote to keep the Kings in Sacramento. We're lucky he could sway David Stern and Adam Silver. We're lucky to have him rebuilding this franchise from the ground up. Man, we're lucky.

We're lucky the Jacobs brothers, Mark Mastrov, Mark Friedman, Andy Miller, Chris Kelly, Phil Oates and dozens more stepped up. We're lucky the local business community stepped up with sponsorships, rally help and everything else every single time they were asked. We're lucky to have some incredible employees within the Kings organization who put their jobs on the line to help us over the past three years. We're lucky that the players and coaches consistently supported our efforts at the risk of alienating the folks who signed their checks.

We're lucky the Maloofs were not capable enough to screw us over with finality. We're lucky Chris Hansen overplayed his hand.

Sure, we have a crummy team. We've had a crummy team. We may take over the longest active playoff drought this season. Despite the massive improvements the new management has put in place, we still have a pretty horrid arena. And we still have a fight on our hands to get the new one built. We still have 45, 50, maybe 55 losses ahead of us over the next five months.

But damn we're lucky.