‘Game On: Fight for the Kings’ documentary tells story of Sacramento’s tenacious push to keep team
Oct 9, 2023, 5:30 PM
All eyes are on the Sacramento Kings this year after a successful last season where they ended the longest playoff drought in NBA history. But there was a time when the team’s future in Sacramento was uncertain.
“Game On: Fight for the Kings” is our documentary detailing the months-long battle between Sacramento and Seattle over the NBA franchise. You can watch the full documentary here.
READ MORE FROM KCRA: Timeline: A look at the events when Sacramento, Seattle fought for the Kings
Seattle makes moves for the Kings
Seattle was hard-set on bringing back the SuperSonics after the team was sold to Oklahoma City in 2008.
And in the early part of the 2000s, there were rumors of the Kings’ future in Sacramento not being certain. Part of it had to do with the Sleep Train Arena, the former arena for the team, also known as Arco Arena. It was not considered viable long-term.
There were also talks about the Kings moving to Anaheim in Southern California and also Virginia Beach. The atmosphere felt very much like there was no interest in the Maloof family keeping the team.
In Seattle’s SODO district, a mystery LLC connected to billionaire hedge fund manager Chris Hansen of San Francisco purchased a large parcel of land in that area. Hansen partnered with Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft at the time.
It was the most advanced move and effort in Seattle at the time signaling interest in the Kings.
Both Hansen and Ballmer seemed ready to make an arena deal and purchase agreement and wait until later on in 2013 to make an announcement, according to Chris Daniels, a Seattle-based reporter for KOMO.
The tweet no one was ready for
At the time, the social media platform Twitter, now known as X, was still a relatively new microblogging site. Yet one tweet on Jan. 8, 2013, was enough to cause a whirlwind of emotion and panic as city officials from both states scrambled to verify the post.
“So I hear the Seattle Kings is officially a done deal! The Maloofs finally sold the ailing Sacramento team. #NBA,” a tweet from Daina Falk read.
This post caused confusion to many, who questioned the food blogger’s connection to either city’s sports programs, but then some wondered if she had inside information because of her father David Falk. David is a well-known sports agent who’s counted the likes of Michael Jordan among his clientele.
While fans in Sacramento were distraught, excitement bubbled over in Seattle. In October 2013, Seattle approved a new $490 million facility.
But Daniels with KOMO explained the tweet was also not necessarily good for Seattle, throwing a wrench in plans before everything was finalized.
Read more about the Tweet from Daina Falk here.
California’s legislative efforts to keep the Kings
A presentation was set at New York’s St. Regis Hotel for April 18, 2013. There, both cities would have to pitch why they should keep the team.
However, two setbacks would happen for Sacramento. It was announced that Ron Burkle, who was a potential majority owner and a “whale,” could not be part of the team or arena efforts because of his business dealings with players. That was considered a violation of NBA policies.
What’s more, that April 18 meeting was no more. Instead, a meeting was set for April 3, and it would become a series of meetings to decide the Kings’ fate.
NBA Commissioner David Stern, who had caught wind of what would happen to Burkle sometime before it was officially announced on April 8, had pulled in Vivek Ranadivé. Ranadivé was already a minority owner at the time when he was asked to become the new majority owner.
On April 2, 2013, the day before the first meeting, Stern spoke with then-Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson about enlisting the help of Darrell Steinberg, who was California Senate Pro Tem at the time.
Steinberg took a red-eye flight to make it in time for the April 3 meeting.
According to Steinberg, he said Stern asked him if he could pass a bill in the Legislature that would prohibit opponents of the proposed arena from being able to stop or halt the project.
While Steinberg agreed to make that effort, there were challenges. It was already pretty far in the legislative session to propose a late bill, and there were opponents.
To accomplish this, Steinberg abandoned one California Environmental Quality Act bill for another: the one he promised David Stern. That bill would streamline the CEQA process for the Kings and have significant impacts on how that environmental system worked in California.
In the end, Steinberg made good on his promise.
Click here for a detailed relocation timeline.
Superfan Support
Some Sacramento fans arrived in New York for a massive show of support that included a superbus. Sacramento sportscaster Dave Weiglein, better known in the area as “Carmichael Dave,” on Sactown Sports spoke with KCRA 3 before embarking on the cross-country drive in a souped-up purple RV full of Kings pride and spirit.
Carmichael Dave made it ahead of the April 3 meeting in New York, where the NBA Board of Governors would begin considering team relocation requests.
We’re the good guys,” Weiglein told KCRA about his trip. “We just want to make sure that other people understand that.”
The RV visited more than 20 cities, including 12 with an NBA franchise at the time, and its exterior was signed by Sacramento Kings fans all along the way.
Click here to read more about Carmichael Dave’s RV adventures.
The final decision
April 29, 2013, felt like a huge victory for Sacramento. While the final decision was not made at this meeting, a small NBA committee voted unanimously to send a recommendation that the team not move to Seattle.
The last big nail in the coffin for Seattle’s efforts came on May 15, 2013, in Dallas. Despite Seattle’s Chris Hansen increasing his bid and offering a major relocation fee for the Kings to move, the Stern-led NBA board decided the Kings should not move and that the Maloofs should entertain the bid from the Ranadivé group.
This official victory spurred Sacramento officials to get to work roughly a year after the Seattle saga began. On May 20, 2014, city council members approved actions to begin demolition of Sacramento’s Downtown Plaza — now known as DOCO — for the arena that would come to be known as the Golden 1 Center.
That arena would open in 2016, and Paul McCartney headlined the first two nights.
The Sacramento Kings today
While 2013 marked a big year for die-hard Sacramento Kings fans, it would be several years before the team would deliver on a season even casual fans could take pride in. On March 29, 2023, the Kings defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 120-80, ending 16 seasons of playoff drought.
The Kings then faced the Golden State Warriors in Round 1 of the playoffs, and while Sacramento ultimately lost the round, those games were full of thrills.
Game 1 is where Kings fans felt a huge rush of energy after beating the Warriors 126-123 in a tooth-and-nail game. Sacramento won its second game before the Warriors won the next two, tying the round to 2-2.
Another Kings loss at Game 5 could have spelled the end of the Kings’ run, but they rallied and beat Golden State in Game 6 and forced a thrilling but heartbreaking Game 7.
While the Warriors won Game 7, the game was not easy for either team as a strong showing by the Kings was only shut down after Golden State’s Stephen Curry scored 50 points, which at the time was the most points scored by a player in a Game 7 playoffs match.
The Kings begin their 2023-24 season on the road against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 25 before having their home opener against Golden State on Oct. 27 in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
One place they won’t be playing — Seattle.
This story was first published by our partner KCRA. Thank you for reading SactownSports.com. Follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
