Message To NBA Owners: Wait

I’m not sure their specific reasons apply here, though, with Paul being a Seattle native and Cuban concerned with the market size downgrade specifically.

C-webb, Scott Pollard, Vlade Divac, Mike Bibby, and Doug Christie all have official websites with “Contact us” sections. If we spread the word to them they might be able to pass it along to owners and players. It’s worth a shot anyhow. This needs to get the kind of attention Seattle was getting. We need everyone to look at this like the tragedy it is. Then the Maloofs would have an even harder choice to make.

those email addresses appears to work also!

I think it’s a great idea, if we can get it going.

There might even be a vote of confidence for the idea at the April 14-15 owners meeting.

Shared revenues could be a BIG pro…The Kings could make more money in a larger market, and then all owners in the NBA could benefit from it (and small markets will continue to diminish). I’m sure even Stern wants to keep some teams away from the big markets, and will find a way to address this if revenue sharing was passed.

Business 80 westbound between the mall and downtown. Its a Rise Guys billboard promotion if I am not mistaken.

I like this way of approaching the owners. I think the role fans need to play here is to remind all NBA owners, including the Maloofs, how special the Sacramento fan base is, and personalizing your account of what the team means to you. You did a wonderful job of articulating that.

Let’s not think in terms of blocking a move as much as trying to create a win-win-win for all: the league and owners, the Sacramento region, and the Maloofs.

I think by sharing our personal accounts of how much the Kings mean to us and encouraging constructive dialogue, meaningful cooperation, and solution-seeking between Maloofs, owners, and city, we will have done all we can do. This is how to be most persuasive and alter sentiment in our favor.

(I think it is counterproductive to harp on the economy, job loss, the city council. These challenges have been well-chronicled.)

This letter deserves more attention, so if you do not mind I am going to copy and paste it here to assure more of an audience. I think it will inspire others as it has me.

Letter From KFipp to NBA Owners

I attended my first Kings game at the age of 5 in 1985. ARCO 1 was basically a barn with a scoreboard but it seemed like a magic castle to me at the time. I’ve been hooked ever since. When I was younger, you had to be placed on a waiting list to get season tickets. Every game was sold out, and getting to go to a Kings game was an event you had to plan for months in advance. Sadly, at the time, I didn’t get to attend many of those events. I watched every game I could, and while catching a Kings game on TV was rare, I made sure to be sitting in front of the TV anytime they were on. You could often find me in a Bobby Hurley, Brian Grant, Corliss Williamson, Mitch Richmond, or Walt Williams jersey representing the lovable losing franchise from my home town. I was taught that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and the trials and tribulations of this franchise were something to be proud of. After all, my city had a team, and win or lose I would always love them. I would wear those jerseys like a badge of honor longing for the day I could wear a Chris Webber, Jason Williams jersey as a fan of a winning team. I knew one day things would turn around, and when they did all of the losing seasons we had experienced, would make it all the greater. Because of the ticket packages my father and I commonly purchased we had the chance to get PLAYOFF TICKETS in 1996 to rattle the then Seattle Sonics! The atmosphere was indescribable. Imagine shaking a can of soda as hard as you could for 10 years. In 1996, when that can was finally opened…we exploded! From the time the team hit the floor, for pre game warmups, to partway through the first quarter, the ENTIRE arena stood and cheered. Not your run of the mill clapping, this was different. The sound was like a rocket ship. Arco has always been loud but this was special, and I wanted more than anything to be a part of a moment like that again someday. It was magic, I honestly haven’t seen anything like it since but I would see many other great moments in the years to come. That rocket ship known as the Sacramento 6th man comprises a fan base the likes of which are rarley matched in the world of professional sports.

I cried like a baby when we lost that series and no one was going to tell me that it was inevitable (I’d cry a few more times in the years to come). My team was infallible and would always be the greatest in my eyes, despite records or statistics. My father and I finally saw an opportunity at the beginning of the 1999 lockout shortened season to get our season tickets. Little did we know what was about to take place. Vlade, C-Web, J-will all came to town and well…you know the rest. These were obviously the glory years, and I would have paid you all of the money I had, just to sit in the Arco Arena bathroom in an NBA finals. I had to settle for sitting in my normal upper deck seat at the Western Conference Finals and experience a heart break that I would never trade for anything in the world. Through the years I’ve collected many great memories, scars, and souvenirs that could never be sold or relocated. The Kings made Sacramento a place you could be proud to live and tell others you were from. To be able to shout back at a Laker fan knowing your city had gone toe to toe with them is something special. The Kings found a way to bring this city together in a way that only a sports franchise can.

That brings us to today and the promise that we see in our current group of young players. I write this, not only as a love letter to a institution I’ve followed since day 1, but as a way of expressing my distress and the distress of a city. We’ve been told by our mayor that there is nothing we can do. We have been told that the move is inevitable. We’e been told to give up. But, there are many here who have never given up on the Kings, and I ask that you do not give up on Sacramento. Please understand what it would do to this city if the Kings file for relocation. We’ve seen the aftermath of decisions like this, the most recent example being Seattle. The bitterness can never be erased and the impact to the local economy would be unmatched. I suppose what I’m trying to say is…don’t take away the magic. Give us a chance. I hope this letter finds it’s way into the hands the right people and I pray that you would pass this along as well.

As a proud resident of the Sacramento area, I, along with the other members of the Here We Stay movement, offer my support in the decision to allow the David Taylor/ICON team to conduct a 90-day feasibility study. I believe a solution can be found and am willing to back Mayor Kevin Johnson and any other local leaders with any proposal that helps make a new sports and entertainment complex become a reality. The NBA board of governors needs to vote to approve this move as a majority. Please think of Sacramento as you and others are asked to make what would be life altering decisions for 1,394,154 citizens. Thank you for your consideration.

Well written, emotional but relevant. Even if we end up losing this thing, I think it’s important to have our side of it down in black and white for all to see. Thanks for your efforts.

Adam Mendelsohn, a spokesman for developer David Taylor, told my Bee colleague Tony Bizjak this weekend that the study may take “a little longer” than the original 90-day timeframe because of the Kings’ relocation negotiations.

The original news over the weekend about them stopping the feasability study … was that an ICON spokesperson or someone from Taylor?

ended with a vote no on relocation this year and we will consider the leagues debt to us for game 6 paid in full..

didn’t do a whole lot

If it is, I can probably attend. It probably won’t do any good, but hopefully I can at least have someone record me shouting obscenities at Stern and post it here for our enjoyment.

If they thought that the money was there, they just would have file for relocation and let the owners vote. If they were waiting to see what the Taylor group was going to come up with they would have asked for a longer extention.

As far as I’m concerned, they didn’t have a good enough deal, and were hoping that something better could be worked out by the owners meeting at which time they’d ask to relocate. If nothing better is in the works, the owners meeting will come and go with no request to relocate.

Then they’ll playout next season and take the best deal they can get. Here, Anaheim, Kansas City or where ever.