Didn't make it to the final cut of Master Report, but once again I'm raising the provocative tough questions that a lot of people won't put out there...
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Hidden Agenda?
By Mark Bryant
The Kings NBA franchise has gained an impressive, unprecedented following among sports fans in Sacramento for two decades now. The fan base is renowned for being peerless in the areas of fanaticism and support. Once a perennial loser mired in mediocrity and bad luck, the Kings rise to contender status has intensified the devotion of Arco Arena's cheering throngs. It's a love affair that has been ongoing since Gregg Lukenbill brought them west from Kansas City in 1985.
Yet, in the midst of all this euphoria here in the City that Sleeps Promptly After Quitting Time Downtown, there may be a caveat attached. The Kings, as much as they strive to paint themselves as the league's ultimate fan-friendly franchise with loads of family fun, may have a hidden agenda in terms of acquiring players.
It seems that the Kings organization seeks a certain mix among its roster to placate the season ticketholders. While Sacramento is fairly diverse within the city limits, the fans who plunk down the cash for season tickets tend to come from outlying areas such as Placer and El Dorado counties, Elk Grove and Davis. These areas are mostly rural, white and relatively affluent; consequently, there are few African-Americans that line the coffers of the Kings box office.
The Kings have never been known as an organization with an abundance of black players heavily promoted as superstars. Marginal white players such as Joe Kleine, Jim Les and Bobby Hurley have historically tended idolized as fan favorites in this area. The European invasion in the NBA over the last decade has proven to be a boon for the Kings' fortunes. Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac have been among the European imports who have helped the Kings gain rise to prominence over the last few seasons.
It is obvious that a controversial black superstar such as Allen Iverson will never be welcome here, and fans buzzed over the addition of Bonzi Wells , who to this point has been an underachieving player with a history of insubordination.
Chris Webber's alleged transgressions while at other stops in his career were relatively mild compared to most other high-profile players who find their way onto a police blotter, but his sins were a public debate here for quite some time. Of course, that was a mere whisper compared to when he howled in protest over getting traded here, then criticized the area for its lack of acceptable African-American cuisine—"soul food." You'd have thought he tried to blow up the Capitol or something.
You won't find anyone in the Kings front office or directly employed by the team who will publicly endorse the tactics of deliberate selection of warm, fuzzy, scrappy feel-good (white) players over perceived black troublemakers and thugs for obvious public relations reasons. From a business perspective, however, it makes perfect sense as to why the Kings seek a certain apple cheeked personality rather than a player with a sinister hip-hop image.
Dave Smith, a Kings fan and state worker, says the agenda lies in tailoring the product to what the typical arena-going fan here will most identify with. "The ticketholders and fans who go to the games regularly are higher up on the economic scale and thus are the higher wage earners," says Smith, who is white. "You won't find much diversity among a fan base that comes from places other than Oak Park and south Sacramento."
It is certainly not cheap to attend a Kings game at Arco Arena these days. "My wallet's out at least a couple hundred bucks every time I go (to Arco)," Smith says. "By the time I pay for tickets, parking and food, it gets pretty expensive."
Myron Terrell, who is African-American and also a state worker, echoes the sentiment that the Kings are simply fitting the product to the demographics and clientele. "Anytime you have a city that is not known for being a huge melting pot, you have to have a product which fans will be comfortable with.
"You put a team with this type of makeup in Philadelphia, and fans wouldn't take to it. You put it in L.A., and it wouldn't work. You put it in Utah, it probably would. Sacramento is a white, conservative city with a small-town feeling, and that's reflected in what's on the court."
The architect behind most of the Kings success in recent years has been general manager Geoff Petrie. He is one of the most successful front office men in the NBA with an eagle eye for talent and a knack for pulling off great trades for the Kings.
Thus, the reason for Sacramento's success in recent years may have more to do with the philosophy of play they have embraced.
"(Petrie) loves multiskilled players—passers, shooters, technically sound guys," Smith says. "A lot of the players with those kinds of skills come from Europe. They're more fundamentally sound over there. Here, the emphasis is more on being physical and athleticism."
It falls right in line with the goals of the Maloof family, which bought the Kings six years ago and coincided with the upward trend, according to Smith.
"The Maloofs are not really basketball people," Smith says. "They're about entertainment and family fun. They're going to appeal to the fan base and conduct their marketing right along with that."
It's all fun and games and profit for the Kings and their fans. It's all in the name of extreme partisanship born out of blissful frenzy and a hunger for pro sports identity. Yet in the quest for something to call our own, there is a growing cloud of exclusion.
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