Seriously.

I don’t understand the sudden “take it easy on K9” backlash. I haven’t read anything here that seems like an attack on him personally, just the fact that his contract is crippling the franchise. It was even mentioned a while back that any negative reference to K9 should be inferred as “Kenny Thomas’ Contract”.

Petrie didn’t give him the contract, but did acquire it. That’s on Geoff.

Kenny didn’t offer himself the contract, but he did sign it. That’s not something we can blame him for (just about EVERYONE has stated that they’d do the same, obviously), but the fact that he’s fallen off the map is something that can be put on his shoulders. (This can also partially be taken off of GP’s end of the blame, because the original plan was to turn Webber’s gigantic contract into smaller, movable pieces . . . unfortunately K9 is not movable.)

Every negative reference I recall reading has been directed towards his albatross contract and how it limits what the franchise can do (see: “Kenny Thomas’ Contract” above), because the amount paid in relation to what he currently provides as a player is so disproportionate that (as Section pointed out) it simply cannot be traded. They couldn’t attach it to Bibby or Artest . . . that’s how poorly he’s performed.

This has nothing to do with Kenneth Cornelius Thomas the man, and everything to do with K9(woof!) the Kings asset.

Since this is a site for discussing the Kings Franchise, I think that’s a completely fair assessment to make. We’re discussing the Kings: who will step up, what are the problems, when will they compete again, where will the next great player come from, why did the player/coach/front office do [insert bad result here], how can the team improve, etc.

Lakers fans don’t care that Kobe is a jerk, they just care that he makes their team better. Likewise, many people don’t care if K9 is a great guy or not, because the only reason that they even known anything about him is because he wears a purple shirt that says “Sacramento” on the front.

Once K9’s done in Sacramento, he will be little more than a footnote to most fans. Until then, his contract will be the topic of many “how can the Kings move forward” discussions, because he is the weakest salary link. All that matters is how players affect the franchise.

We do, after all, root primarily for the laundry.