Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "sacramento kings"

U.S. Transportation Secretary checks out intermodal facility

2012-02-10T01:44:17Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson toured the downtown railyards with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Thursday, showing off the site of the future intermodal facility and – if all goes well for Johnson and the Think Big Committee – the site of a new entertainment and sports complex.

LaHood stopped in Sacramento on a tour of California to discuss investments being made in job-creating infrastructure projects in Sacramento and around the country, according to a press release Tuesday.

LaHood spoke to a crowd of more than 50, discussing the importance of high-speed rail in California, as well as job potential from the future intermodal facility.

“This facility is what I believe is a national model for a transit-oriented development opportunity,” LaHood said. “(It will) not only create jobs for people in Sacramento, but create an opportunity to be a magnet – to draw people to a part of the city that many people never thought would be usable.”

Johnson said Thursday that the 245-acre downtown railyards will be home to “two crucial hubs” in one location: the intermodal facility and the entertainment and sports complex.

“We believe this will be one of the busiest intermodal hubs in the country,” Johnson said. “It gets at two things at once: transportation and economic development.”

The intermodal facility will be a transit center that will provide connections between nearly all modes of transportation: bicycle, pedestrian, bus, light rail, taxi and train, according to the city website.

Work on the first phase of the transit project began in May and is expected to be complete by the end of 2013.

The entertainment and sports complex is expected to generate more than $7 billion in economic activity over 30 years and nearly 4,000 jobs to the region, according to the Think Big Sacramento website.

“We believe the entertainment and sports complex is a game-changer for this community,” Johnson said.

“We’re talking about a project that will bring 3 million people to downtown. (We’re talking about) a project that will double the size of downtown and will bring $154 million in additional revenue to our region,” he added.

If a financing plan is worked out before the March 1 relocation deadline and the project comes to fruition, it will be a 700,000-square-foot complex in the southern section of the railyards.

Representatives from the Think Big Committee planned to unveil the newest artist renderings of the entertainment and sports complex at Thursday’s event, but the plan changed at the last minute.

“(The renderings) just weren’t as perfect as we’d wanted them to be,” said Kunal Merchant, Johnson’s chief of staff.

“Really, though, people aren’t as interested in what it will look like right now,” Merchant added, “they just want to know how we’re going to pay for it. That’s the priority.”

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Council: Parking lease issue won't reach June ballot

2012-02-08T22:01:48Z

The push to put a city parking lease to a vote fell flat Tuesday as the City Council rejected a motion to put the question on the June ballot.

It was City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy who first suggested in November that the voters should have a say in whether the city leases its parking inventory to an outside company.

She conducted a city-wide poll on her website in October, which indicated that
70 percent of respondents favored a public vote on a potential 50-year lease, according to Sheedy.

“The (arena) plan hinges on leasing the city’s parking for 50 years,” Sheedy said Tuesday. “I think such a massive public investment warrants a public vote.”

Still, after almost an hour of public discussion, the council voted 5-4 Tuesday not to place the issue on the ballot.

Sheedy and Council members Kevin McCarty, Darrell Fong and Bonnie Pannell voted in favor of the measure.

Council members Angelique Ashby, Steve Cohn, Rob Fong and Jay Schenirer and Mayor Kevin Johnson voted against it.

The City Council is pursuing the possibility of leasing the city’s parking assets as part of a financing plan for a new entertainment and sports complex.

Opponents of a public vote on the issue said a ballot measure would occur after the March 1 deadline for the city to have a solid arena plan – without one, Sacramento Kings’ owners have threatened to relocate the team.

“We owe the NBA an answer by March. The election is in June. In the effort of being timely, I don’t think we should send it to ballot,” Ashby said.

Another point of opposition was the message a possible vote would send to the 13 companies that have expressed interest in leasing the city’s parking inventory.

“If the leasing of parking assets is put on the ballot it would send a signal to the NBA, AEG, and to the business community across the country that this council is indecisive and it would sabotage efforts to this point,” said Sacramento resident James Battle during public comment.

“It’s impossible to separate this issue from the impact of the vote,” City Councilman Steve Cohn said. “Let’s be clear: it would kill the arena deal in its tracks. If that’s what you want to do, then vote for it.”

Johnson said the list of 13 interested lessees would be reviewed and narrowed down to three or four before a financing agreement would be created.

“The goal is to have that term sheet in place before the March 1 deadline,” Johnson said at his weekly press conference Tuesday.

“We are doing all we can to make that happen,” he said.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Second Round Draft Pick Isaiah Thomas Breathing Life Into the Sacramento Kings

2012-02-07T21:51:43Z

If I told you that a rookie guard on the Sacramento Kings was making a significant impact on the team's performance, certainly you'd assume I was talking about Sacramento's prized lottery pick Jimmer Fredette. The reality is the answer is Isaiah Thomas.

The diminutive guard from the University of Washington has overcome a swarm of obstacles to earn playing time and contribute. Kings fans and Kings personnel alike yearned desperately to see Jimmer Fredette play, he a lottery choice and widely considered one of the core players on the roster. Meanwhile Thomas, for all intents and purposes, barely made the team as the 60th and final choice in last summer's NBA Draft. So for the first few weeks of the season Fredette was the third guard in the rotation, taking his rookie lumps and learning on the fly.

In mid-January, a deep thigh contusion to Marcus Thornton freed up minutes in the backcourt for Thomas and he sprinted with the opportunity. Playing alongside either Tyreke Evans or Jimmer Fredette, Isaiah displayed a knack for getting to the rim consistently with wreckless abandon, provided an energy off the Sacramento bench not seen since Bobby Jackson took home the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2002-03, and most importantly, he had the ability to play as a pure point guard and make this roster of shoot first scorers better.

Isaiah's statistics of 7.3 points and 2.4 assists won't blow anyone away, but if you dig deeper you discover the profound impact he's made just six weeks into his NBA career. In the February 6 victory at New Orleans, Thomas lifted a lifeless Kings team that was down 10 at multiple points in the first half to a dramatic comeback. He entered the game midway through the third quarter, with the Kings down 14, and played the remainder of the contest leading his unit to an 8 point win. Isaiah Thomas was a +18 on the NBA's +/- stat, which gauges how the team does when a player is on the court. Granted it's only one game, but this is precisely the type of impact he's had several times already in 2011-12.

He's scored double figures eight times and he has logged at least five assists on six seperate occasions despite his limited minutes. Things that don't show up on the box score are the intensity with which he competes defensively and the considerable change in tempo that the Kings play with when he's in the game. They go from Jabba the Hut to Usain Bolt.

Typically rookies come in and struggle with a number of changes at the NBA level. The speed of the game, the intimidation and awe factor of playing against proven NBA stars which they grew up watching, the physicality, the deeper three point line, etc. But from day one, Thomas has answered the call. The former Huskie is almost always the fastest player on the court, he checked Kobe Bryant for a three or four minute stretch in his first NBA game, and Thomas is connecting on a solid 35% from downtown.

I don't want to get carried away, I realize he's only played in 23 games as a professional, but his game reminds me of a number of standout current and former NBA players. His silky left handed jumper and 5'9" frame conjure memories of Damon Stoudamire. His craftiness and ability to find open teammates upon penetrating the lane remind me of Rajon Rondo. His substantial jumping ability and explosion are eerily reminiscent of Nate Robinson.

Now the Kings as an organization finds itself in a rather enviable, intriguing position. Their backcourt houses four players, all 24 or younger, which the franchise thinks extremely high of. Tyreke Evans is a former Rookie of the Year award winner and has experienced a resurgence since starting the season poorly. Evans' jump shot remains a question mark, but his decision making has developed substantially under interim coach Keith Smart. No longer do you see Evans attempt to go one on three and plow into set defenders in transition. Tyreke also is an outstanding rebounder for his position and has cut his turnovers down appreciably. Ownership looks at Tyreke as a franchise caliber player.

The team re-signed free agent Marcus Thornton to a lucrative four year, $31 million deal just a couple months ago. His performance has fallen off slightly from last season's elite standards, but he is considered the team's best scorer and the organization obviously remains high on him.

Tenth overall pick Jimmer Fredette has been up and down in his young career, like most rookies. Fredette has scored 17 or more three times already and is knocking down a blistering 39% from three and nearly 90% from the free throw line. He is looked at as an integral part of the Kings' rebuilding process and absolutely regarded highly by the team.

And then there's Isaiah Thomas, the wunderkind from the University of Washington, who has thrown off the entire order of operation with his efficient, dynamic play.

What do the Sacramento Kings do with this quagmire? My suggestion would be to start Isaiah Thomas at point guard immediately. He has proven when given minutes that he understands the importance of setting the table and distributing to the congregation of scorers like DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans, Marcus Thornton and John Salmons. He possesses the lateral quickness and the competitive fire to stay in front of his man defensively, two things that cannot be taught. He has the confidence of a seven year veteran, and perhaps most importantly, the belief and trust of his teammates.

Start him alongside Tyreke Evans, where Tyreke can than return to his more natural position of two guard. Thomas can run the half court offense and lead the break, finding the 6'6", 220 lb. locomotive for power finishes in transition. Have Marcus Thornton come off the bench, in the vein of Jamal Crawford, Manu Ginobili, and Jason Terry. Thornton can still score 17-20 points a night, as his minutes and shots will remain high, he'll just do it against the weaker competition of an opponent's second unit.

As for Jimmer, it does become something of a numbers game. There are 96 available minutes between the PG and the SG spots. However, between Evans, Thornton and Thomas the majority of the minutes will be eaten up. Jimmer 4-5 minutes a half, with an obvious increase when injuries/foul trouble come into play or if his production increases and he can earn minutes just as Isaiah has.

Keith Smart has proven he will shake up a starting lineup, benching power forward J.J. Hickson for Jason Thompson just a couple games into his tenure. Will he do the same and bring the lightning rod Thomas to the starting unit? I I guarantee he has thought long and hard about it.

Kings take the game back and beat Warriors 114-106 in OT

2012-02-06T02:42:07Z

Sacramento Kings head coach Keith Smart led his team to victory against the Golden State Warriors at the Power Balance Pavilion on Saturday.

The Warriors started the first quarter off strong. Shooting guard Dorell Wright scored 14 points versus center DeMarcus Cousins’ and shooting guard Marcus Thornton’s eight points each.

By the end of the first half, the Warriors made eight of 12 3-pointers and maintained the lead at 54 points, putting them one point ahead of the Kings.

Thornton, who had trouble shooting in the first half, made his comeback in the third quarter. He made four 3-pointers and scored 18 of the Kings’ 34 points, putting his team eleven points ahead of the Golden State Warriors at 87-76.

At the end of the fourth quarter, the Kings had given up their lead and were trailing by three points, but point guard Tyreke Evans scored a three, his third that quarter, which tied the Kings with the Warriors.

“I got the ball and let it fly,” said Evans when asked about the shot. “It just went in.”

With only a second left in the fourth quarter, Evans missed his final shot within regulation and the game went into overtime.

Cousins pulled the Kings together before they went into overtime and told them that if they were going to win, they would have to play as a team. And that is just what they did.

“For him to step up after the game he’s having,” said Smart at the press conference after, “and pull the guys together and focus on not by themselves but team, that was huge.”

By overtime, the Kings’ defense had worn down the Warriors, who scored on one of nine shots. Evans made five of the Kings’ nine points in overtime, and personally made 26 points by the end of the game.

Cousins was a huge asset to the game, with 21 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in one game. Thornton, who scored 28 points, was the leading scorer for the game.

Wright scored 24 points for the Warriors and made his record-high 16 3-pointers.

This was the third time the Kings made it into the triple-digits and the second time they won consecutive games all season.

“We found the way to win the game,” said Smart. “And we gotta keep doing that.”

Photos courtesy of Darren Hall photography.

Comeback kids pull one out, Kings turn back Blazers 95-92

2012-02-04T02:01:42Z

Since Keith Smart took over coaching duties last month, the Kings have had very little practice time and never had everyone on the roster available for a game.

Things changed this week when the Kings were able to get more time in between games to work on their new game plans. Add that to a healthy Marcus Thornton returning to the lineup and, wham-o!, a team with real possibilities has emerged.

After being down at the half by nine and being throttled by LaMarcus Aldridge the entire time (19 points on 9-of-11 shooting with five rebounds), Smart changed up his formula in guarding the Blazers standout forward which led to a terrific third quarter as the Kings held on the beat the pesky Portland Trailblazers 95-92 on Thursday evening at Power Balance Pavilion.

The Kings came out hustling, but some dumb fouls on the defensive end turned into easy points for the Blazers.

DeMarcus Cousins looked good early but got into foul trouble quickly and didn’t play most of the first quarter.

Aldridge has a great jump shot from inside the circle and put his skills on display early in this one. It didn’t matter who was matched up defensively against him. The way Portland was moving the ball around the court kept Kings players constantly chasing the ball, and Aldridge found himself more open than not for most of the half.

The lone bright spot in the first half for the home team was the ice-cold-as-of-late John Salmons. Salmons had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting that included two three-point bombs.

The wheels almost fell off in the second quarter as a bad mix of players had several defensive breakdowns. With J.J. Hickson, Isaiah Thomas, Travis Outlaw, Thornton and Chuck Hayes on the floor, it seemed that there wasn’t enough leadership or offensive firepower to keep up with Portland.

Smart noticed in time and stopped the bleeding by putting Cousins, Tyreke Evans and Jason Thompson back in the game with about 6:40 left in the second. Down by nine, that adjustment was enough to get Sacramento within three, until several Kings misses let the Blazers get the nine-point lead back before the buzzer.

The Kings scored six straight points as Evans and Cousins came out aggressive to open the third, until Cousins picked up two quick fouls that sent him to the pine early again.

With Cousins on the bench, it was time for Thompson to step up, and he did.

Thompson is having his best year to date and is a real force inside now for the Kings. Thompson finished with 13 points and 12 boards and was very active on the defensive end.

Thompson is fully aware of his improved play but doesn’t see it as a surprise. The way he tells it, if he didn’t have four different coaches in his four campaigns, things may be a little different for the man from Rider.

“It’s tough,” Thompson said after the contest. “Four different systems, and every coach wanted something differently out of me. For me, to keep my head and always staying ready for the future and being positive, then things can work out well.”

Good for J.T.! When you break it down, he’s been the most consistent player so far this season.

Once Evans slammed a ball home to tie the game at 63-63 late in the third, you could feel the momentum change. It seems that every time you just give the hometown faithful some hope, they jump out of their collective seats to show their support.

Thursday was no different.

The fans, who sat on their hands until this point, went crazy when Portland called a timeout to collect themselves.

When Salmons open the final stanza with a three, the fans stayed in the game the rest of the way.

Like the fans, Salmons has been waiting for his game to come around. Thursday, he had his best game of the season.

“It definitely feels good to hit shots,” he said. “When you’re not hitting shots like you’re supposed to, you get frustrated. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated. You just have to stick with it, keep going and try to continue to believe and keep working hard.”

The final moments saw rookie guard Isaiah Thomas get a jaw-dropping block and the Blazers miss two game-tying three-pointers.

Thornton had 20 in his return from a deep thigh contusion and said it’s hard to sit on the bench when you want to contribute so badly.

“It was very, very frustrating knowing I couldn’t get out there and help my team do anything,” he said. “It made me realize that me without basketball, I’m basically dead. Basketball is my life and has been my life since I was little, so I was just so happy to be out there with my teammates.”

KINGS NOTES: Evans had another solid all-around game with 18 points, five boards, five assists . . . Jimmer Fredette, Francisco Garcia and Donte Greene all had DNP-CDs (did not play - coach’s decision) . . . Chuck Hayes said he’s still being careful with his shoulder as any type of collision could dislocate it again . . . Former King Gerald Wallace was held in check and had only eight points and three boards.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF:

Darren Hall at www.darrenhallphotography.net/

Arena, green tech, education: State of the City highlights

2012-01-31T02:20:44Z

A new program to raise $10 million for arena financing and turning Sacramento into an “Emerald Valley” were two key points in Mayor Kevin Johnson’s State of the City address Monday.

Johnson’s speech focused on boosting the local economy in three areas: building an entertainment and sports complex, green-sector jobs and reforming public schools to create a more competitive workforce.

“The economy is bad everywhere, but it’s worse here,” Johnson told the nearly 1,000 people in the audience.

“We have to take bold actions,” Johnson said. “We have to make the impossible possible.”

The mayor delivered the 20th annual speech at the Sacramento Convention Center in an event hosted by the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Johnson introduced a new program aimed at raising $10 million toward the cost of building the entertainment and sports complex.

The “Brick-by-Brick” program will allow individual supporters to buy bricks with their names engraved on them to be placed in the entryway of the new complex.

Johnson said after the event that the program is in the early stages and costs for the bricks have not yet been determined.

The first three honorary bricks were given to City Councilman Steve Cohn and two young Kings fans, Jack O’Brien, 11 and Gil Vechner, 12. The two boys caught Johnson’s attention when they started a lemonade stand last year to raise money for the arena.

“It’s time to finish what we started. It’s crunch time,” Johnson said, referring to the March 1 financing plan deadline to prevent the Kings from relocating.

Johnson turned the discussion to employment concerns, saying he believes one of the biggest problems Sacramento faces is a dependence on state government and real estate for jobs and revenue.

“This sets us up to be the hardest hit in a financial crisis,” Johnson said.

Bringing green technology and green industry jobs to the region is one solution to that problem, Johnson said.

Among the goals Johnson outlined for 2012 are plans to raise $100 million to retrofit schools to make them more energy-efficient and “green,” and joining the Edible Schoolyard Program to bring school gardens, cooking classes and healthy eating to local schools.

“Becoming the Emerald Valley is within our grasp,” Johnson said.

Although he doesn’t have a direct relationship to local schools as the mayor, Johnson said improving education has long been a focus for him – and it should be a focus for the city, he said.

As a way to keep schools accountable to parents – and to make it easier for parents to decide which schools are best for their kids based on performance – Johnson said he is working to establish “report cards” for local schools.

The new rating system will assign a letter grade to every school in the county based on a range of performance criteria including student test scores and whether the schools are meeting academic standards.

Johnson said his office will not be responsible for consequences to a school for getting a low grade – the consequences will come from parents who withdraw their students or choose not to enroll them in low-grade schools.

Some business and civic leaders at the event had a positive reaction to the mayor’s address – former State Assemblyman and current president of the Sacramento Metro Chamber Roger Niello said it was “completely on point,” and County Supervisor Don Nottoli said it was “very well-delivered.”

“I think (Johnson) was absolutely right about the region needing to diversify its economic base,” County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan said after the event.

“I think that’s the most important point he made,” she added.

Michael Ault, Executive Director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, said the mayor did a good job of breaking down what needs to be done for the city into smaller, achievable goals.

“You just can’t have 30 priorities for the coming year. We have to narrow it to a few legitimately reachable goals,” Ault said.

“The sports and entertainment complex is clearly something we think needs to be accomplished in the short term and I think the mayor really highlighted that,” he added.

The current city charter does not require the mayor to give a state of the city address. Johnson has delivered the speech each year he’s been in office – four times.

If the mayor’s charter reform proposal gets on the ballot and is passed by voters, an annual state of the city address would become a requirement for future Sacramento mayors.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Perennial Cellar Dwellars: What Happened to the Sacramento Kings?

2012-01-28T17:44:29Z

No trips to the playoffs since George W. Bush was just beginning his second term. No players on the roster even close to All-Star consideration. No recognition for a franchise that just a few years prior was playing in front of a national television audience seemingly on a weekly basis. Even the most optimistic onlookers have had few positive things to say about the Sacramento Kings for nearly a decade.

The Sacramento Kings have spent their last three drafts, where they selected with the fourth, fifth and 10th overall picks, stockpiling highly touted NCAA stars Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and Jimmer Fredette. The mid-season acquisition of explosive scorer Marcus Thornton last February and an existing roster of capable and athletic ballplayers had legions of Sacramento fans buzzing that finally their beloved team would again be competitive, or at the very least play an exciting brand of basketball.

Just one month into this abbreviated NBA season, neither the former nor the latter ring true. Only four other teams in the league have won fewer games than the Kings, now with six wins in 19 games.

Head coach Paul Westphal was the first casualty by the team's poor performance, getting fired after seven games in early January. The team does hold the distinction of being the youngest in the league. That fact might lend credence to their struggles if not for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are the second youngest team in the NBA, and they currently boast an impressive conference-leading 15-3 mark.

The Kings average a paltry 90.5 points per contest, good for 24th in the league. Defensively the team is yielding 102.6 per game, worst in the NBA. They are ranked 28th in three-point shooting, 24th in free-throw shooting and average just 15.7 assists per game, by far the worst.

Not much positive to draw from those statistics. It is astounding that the Kings have even won six games despite their rank in those key categories.

Excuses are few and far between for this franchise, and there are plenty of places to reasonably place blame. Geoff Petrie, the team's longtime basketball executive, has his fingerprints all over the scene of the crime. Petrie has been solely responsible for the construction of the roster since 1994. The NBA, like all professional sports, is an ultra competitive, “what have you done for me lately” high-stakes poker affair. Consequently, his two NBA Executive of the Year awards won in 1999 and 2001, while a remarkable achievement, feel like ancient history.

To be fair, Petrie can only spend what his owners will allow him to. Petrie has had the enormous burden of attempting to rebuild an aging, talentless roster despite an ownership group that has been pinching pennies since 2007.

The Maloofs continued to invest millions into their crown jewel, the Palms in Las Vegas, just as the recession began to take shape. They have liquified nearly all of their beloved assets, including their WNBA franchise, the Sacramento Monarchs, their beer distributorship in New Mexico and almost all of their stock in the Palms (the family now owns just 2 percent of the hotel they built).

Sacramento has finished among the lowest in team salary the last five years. It's no coincidence that the Maloofs’ financial peril corresponds with the Kings dwindling payroll. Last season, the team was forced to trade for a player (Marquis Daniels) who was nursing a career-threatening neck injury and never even dressed for a single game for the team, simply so the Kings could get to the league's minimum salary.

So while other teams are spending their summers offering multimillion dollar contracts to elite NBA free agents, the Kings are trading for players who can't even step foot on the court. Not exactly the best way to appease your eternally loyal fanbase.

The players themselves, of course, deserve a lion's share of the blame as well. Even if the Kings are less talented than their opponents most nights, at some point professional pride and competitive nature have to rise from within.

Tyreke Evans, the 2008-09 NBA Rookie of the Year, has seen production and efficiency drop at an alarming rate from his rookie year. Evans contributed one of the best rookie seasons in league history, becoming just one of four NBA players to average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in their first year.

His second campaign, which was marred by plantar fasciitis, was abysmal. He saw dips in his scoring, rebounding, assists and field goal percentage. Just 19 games into the current season, Evans has been even worse. All aforementioned stats have dropped even further and his field goal percentage is a pathetic 40.5 percent.

Recent winners of the league's prestigious honor of Rookie of the Year include Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin. Those players have improved considerably every year and, not surprisingly, their teams have as well. Each of those three play for teams that will be in the playoffs and are vying for the ultimate prize. The Kings success, both short and long term, is tied directly to Evans' development.

Second year center DeMarcus Cousins has battled inconsistency and immaturity in his short time with the club. Cousins, just 21 years old, is blessed with outstanding offensive gifts. Soft hands, brilliant footwork in the post, a capable jumpshot that extends to 20 feet and an unusually high basketball IQ for a player who only played collegiately for one season. He also leads the NBA in charges taken and is currently sixth in rebounding, averaging 11 per game.

Cousins has been troubled by bouts of immaturity, however, including two different Kings-sanctioned suspensions for actions detrimental to the team and various other infractions since joining the squad.

Cousins has improved from his rookie year and, without question, has been better than Evans to this point. But if Sacramento is going to improve as a team and eventually return to glory, it is going to be on the strength of these two. The team itself would absolutely acknowledge that sentiment, as just days after drafting Cousins they erected two colossal 35-foot banners of each of the two franchise players. These two must continue to develop their games, but, more importantly, they must learn how to complement one another on the court.

Prized rookie Jimmer Fredette has struggled somewhat finding his place thus far. Offensively he has been hesitant at times, not certain whether to get others involved or look for his shot as he did so often in college. Fredette's offensive production recently has been markedly improved, scoring 19 and 20 points respectively in two of his last three games. Defensively he has struggled staying in front of his man on the perimeter, but that is almost to be expected by a first-year player. Though his turnovers are high, he has shown a penchant and, more importantly, a willingness to get others involved. Fredette hasn't been great, but he hasn't been a disappointment either.

Hard to place a lot of fault on any other individual on the team, as it is by in large a collection of either veteran role players or very green rookies trying their best to learn their way.

So where do the Kings go from here?

The season has just 47 games remaining, and all anyone can hope for is the team plays hard and gets better every night. The hope is interim coach Keith Smart can get the team to play together, play unselfishly, compete defensively and defend their home court.

In all likelihood, Sacramento will again finish among the worst teams in the league and thus will have the right to draft one of the premiere players in college basketball or international competition. Add him to the young nuceleus of talent that the Kings have accrued and fortunes could change quickly.

You often hear the idiom, “Rome wasn't built in a day.” But Sacramento has seen it happen. In just a few weeks following the pitiful 1997-98 season, the Kings traded for troubled All-Star Chris Webber, drafted Jason Williams, signed Vlade Divac as a free agent, and Serbian holdout Peja Stojakovic finally came overseas. In just a matter of weeks, the Kings were transformed from a laughingstock to a powerhouse.

Kings lose to Nuggets 122-93 in blowout, no one happy about effort

2012-01-27T02:49:13Z

The fans weren’t the only ones leaving the old barn early on Wednesday evening.

Quite honestly, they weren’t the only ones leaving embarrassed either.

By the time the press got into the Kings locker room after losing 122-93 in a blowout to the visiting Denver Nuggets, most of Sacramento’s players had left the arena also.

No Cousins, no Tyreke, not even Donte Greene hung out long enough to give their side of this ugly one-sided loss.

Keith Smart, the new coach of the 6-13 Kings, was alone at the podium to explain.

“Not what I expected,” Smart started his post-game press conference. “And I’m sure our fans didn’t expect that either. Kind of an embarrassing moment for our fans to watch us play that way.”

After pulling out to an early 7-3 lead behind a couple of Jimmer Fredette jumpers - who started in place of an banged up Marcus Thornton, the flood gates broke and the Kings end of the paint opened up like Charlton Heston parting the Red Sea.

Way too easy.

Drive after drive after drive after drive to the rack. The Nuggets kept coming like the incoming tide - relentlessly.

And the Kings didn’t even put up a temporary barrier to stop the avalanche.

By the end of the first quarter, the Nuggets already had 22 points in the paint on 11-of-17 shooting. And they weren’t done yet. They would finish with an incredible 92 points in the paint! This is the most since the NBA began keeping track of this statistic!

Wave after wave after wave of Denver big men and small reaching the rim with uncanny ease.

By halftime, Denver lead 66-43 and the boo birds could already be heard in the old Arco rafters.

Danilo Gallinari, Nene, Kosta Koufos, Andre Miller, Al Harrington and even Ty Lawson before he got hurt were slicing through the lane without facing stiff competition or even a good knock down.

By the half, the Nuggets were shooting almost 60 percent and the Kings were just over 42 percent from the floor.

It wasn’t that the Nuggets ran the Kings off the floor, that wasn’t it at all. It was just that it seemed almost every time a Nuggets player went into the paint, he either scored or another Nugget player grabbed the board and tired to score.

The only defense at the rim for the Kings came in the form of DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins ended up with 17 points and 15 boards. The only other King with more than five rebounds was Greene who had six.

The shocking stat of the night had to be that Evans, who is usually good for 4.8 boards a game came away with none. That’s right, a goose egg - zero rebounds.

Not the sign of a team that is throwing everything they have into trying to get a win.

Jason Thompson, one of the only ones left to speak after the tough loss, ended with nine points and five boards but knew much more was needed.

“It’s frustrating,” said Thompson from his space in front of his locker after the game. “We didn’t take care of business. We knew what the game plan was. From the start, usually come out to a good start but this time we just went against the odds. We weren’t rebounding and we weren’t playing unselfish basketball.”

That’s it! Straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

Thompson’s been here since the beginning. He’s unselfish to a fault most of the time and is finally having the kind of season the front office thought he could have when they drafted him four years ago.

Thompson knows the solution to what ails the team and holds out hope that the players can pull it off.

“We all got to look ourselves in the mirror and say how am I going to guard my man and how am I going to stop my man from scoring. At the end of the day, the great teams play team defense. But first you have to be able to stop your man and then worry about the help.”

The former Rutgers standout felt so strong about his case, he said it again.

“We all got to look ourselves in the mirror and not just worry about everyone getting buckets but worry about getting stops and rebounds and just let everything else come to us.”

KINGS NOTES: Fredette ended up with 19 points and had five three-pointers . . . The Nuggets had seven players in double figures scoring including Gallinari (23 points), Nene (16 points), Andre Miller (15 points, 10 assists), Al Harrington (10 points) and Corey Brewer (15 points) . . . Isaiah Thomas had ended with 16 points and had six assists . . . Ty Lawson hurt his foot or ankle and was seen leaving Power Balance Pavilion in a walking boot . . . To their credit, John Salmons, J.T., Thomas and Fredette were ready to answer questions from the media after the game . . . Thornton could miss another week or so with a deep bruise in his left thigh . . . Chuck Hayes should be on the floor again when the Kings travel to Utah to face the Jazz on Saturday

Resilient Kings rally back to defeat Pacers 92-88

2012-01-20T02:52:03Z

The Kings returned home after a tough five-game road trip to beat the Indiana Pacers 92-88 in a hard-fought battle at Power Balance Pavilion Wednesday night.

“I don’t know how, but somehow this group found a way,” Kings head coach Keith Smart said. “I don’t know how we did it, but this group has some resilience. They fought, they found a lineup that got us back into the game, and they closed it out. And that’s what I’m trying to get us to become: a team on any given night.”

On their eventful road trip, the Kings went 1-4 while earning their first road win, along with setting a new franchise record with only 23 points of the first half in a 99-60 rout by the Dallas Mavericks.

Sacramento came into Wednesday night with a 5-9 record, much due to their problem of making shots on the floor, and the league-worst shooting percentage at just 39.6 percent.

Despite their shooting woes continuing and only shooting 30.1 percent from the field against the Pacers, the Kings found a way to come back from a 14-point deficit going into the fourth quarter and come out with the victory.

Much of the win can be attributed to the zone defense that Smart turned to in the fourth, smothering the Pacers and only allowing eight points to be scored in the entire quarter.

“Our staff did a good job this morning in our meeting and saw that we could possibly play a zone,” Smart said after the game. “We were able to pull it out and get in the zone. The zone kind of kept them from posting our guys up, and it kept them from penetrating. It kept them on the perimeter. That’s what turned the game around.”

After trailing 80-66 after three quarters, the Kings eventually took an 88-87 lead when forward Francisco Garcia made two free throws with a little over two minutes remaining in the game.

Up by three at 90-87 with 5.6 seconds left to play, Smart decided to intentionally foul Pacers forward Danny Granger. Granger was called for a free throw violation while trying to intentionally miss the second attempt to get the ball back after making the first.

Garcia then made two free throws to seal the four-point victory for the Kings, ending their three-game losing streak.

Garcia and the rest of the Kings bench played a huge role in the victory, outscoring the Pacers bench 39-20. Garcia led the bench with 16 points, including 10 in the final quarter while rookie point guard Isaiah Thomas once again provided a spark while playing 20 minutes off the bench.

“They respect me. That’s the first and foremost,” Thomas said. “They respect me on and off the court. They know what I can bring, and I can’t let them down when I get in and get significant minutes.”

Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins recognizes the play of Thomas and understands the spark he provides the team every time he enters the game.

“Isaiah has been big for us all season,” Cousins said. “The more he plays, the more big plays he provides us.”

Thomas finished with eight points, one rebound, one assist and two steals. Five of Thomas’ eight points came in the fourth quarter.

Smart made a change in the starting roster, giving fourth-year forward Jason Thompson the nod instead of J.J. Hickson and was rewarded with Thompson’s hustle that provided nine points, nine rebounds and one assist in the first half. Thompson was only able to add one rebound to his numbers in the second half due to limited minutes.

“I’ve been very pleased with him,” Smart said of Thompson. “I’ve given him certain dynamic rules to follow, and he has been very, very good with what he’s doing, very patient. He’s being decisive. If he doesn’t have a move, he gets rid of the basketball and gets into the next play.”

Cousins once again dominated the boards, finishing with 13 points, 19 rebounds and two assists. En route to tying his career-high 19 rebounds, Cousins set a new franchise record for most offensive rebounds in a half with 10 hauled in during the first half.

“Once I’m zoned in, I’m going after everything,” Cousins said. “I’m not out there counting. I’m just trying to get everything that comes my way.”

In total, the Kings hauled in 30 offensive rebounds to go along with their 23 defensive rebounds. The Kings also made it to the free throw line 41 times but only made 68 percent from the line.

The Kings head back on the road for a three-game road trip starting with the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. The team will return home to take on the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.

Photos by John Hernandez

City changes course on parking advisory plan

2012-01-19T02:54:53Z

City Manager John Shirey withdrew a contract Tuesday with two firms that the City Council planned to consider as financial and technical advisers in the search for a potential parking operator lessee, assistant city manager John Dangberg said Wednesday.

“We decided it just wasn’t the right direction to go for the process at this time,” Dangberg said.

The city hired the firms – Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Walker Parking Consultants – in September to take an inventory of the city’s parking and come up with an evaluation of potential profit from leasing out the assets.

Leasing out the city’s parking system is one of a handful of options under consideration for financing a new sports and entertainment center downtown.

The agreement would have allowed the firms to play an advisory role for the city, giving financial advice and technical assistance as the city searches for potential interest in leasing the parking system, according to a city staff report.

The City Council discussed a parking system report Dec. 13, and voted to move forward with a search for interested parties – called “request for qualifications,” or the RFQ process.

The no-fee agreement between the city and the firms would have been contingent on the city keeping the firms as advisers if the council moved on to the request for proposal stage of the game – that is, gathering actual offers.

At that time, the two firms would negotiate a fee agreement with the city for continued services, according to the contract.

Now, Dangberg said, the city is continuing with the RFQ process but will not seek advisers until the RFP stage.

If the firms were hired as exclusive advisers to the city, it would be a conflict of interest for them to respond to the RFQ or to bid on any proposal to lease city parking assets, Jeremiah Jackson, Think Big Sacramento project manager, said Thursday.

The RFQ process is expected to last until the end of January, and – if potential operators are discovered – the city could move on to the request for proposal stage.

Dangberg said that the city will have advisers through the RFP stage, and it’s possible that Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Walker Parking Consultants will be part of the larger advisory team, but final decisions have not been made yet about the number or makeup of a future advisory group.

The city has until March 1 to come up with a solid plan for building a new sports and entertainment complex before the Maloof family – owners of the Sacramento Kings – will have another opportunity to relocate the team.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Arena headlines State of Downtown discussion

2012-01-17T22:43:22Z

San Francisco Giants President and CEO Larry Baer compared Sacramento’s efforts to build a new arena to the campaign to build Pac Bell Park in San Francisco, telling a collection of businesspeople and government officials that there is “tremendous opportunity” for Sacramento going forward.

Baer’s remarks were part of the 2012 State of Downtown address at Memorial Auditorium Tuesday morning, in which Mayor Kevin Johnson, State Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg and other officials stressed the “why” of building a downtown entertainment and sports complex.

Baer said efforts to build the downtown ballpark in San Francisco were under way as early as the 1960s, with four attempts at using public funds defeated by voters. When ground broke on the project in 1997, it was for a privately funded stadium.

If Sacramento uses the resources of private enterprises such as the Sacramento Kings and other corporations along with some public funds that do not impact the city’s general fund, Baer said, it can get support.

The March 1 deadline to have a workable arena plan to present to the National Basketball Association is less than two months away, and Johnson said he is confident.

“We’re going to figure out a way to pull it off,” he said. “I think we’re closer than we’ve ever been.”

Key to any plan that will have both political will and the will of the people, he added, is making a plan that protects taxpayers, the city’s general fund – which has recently been plagued by shortfalls, necessitating layoffs for the past several years – and ensuring job growth.

“If we want to accept and live up to the identity of Sacramento, you’ve gotta have a strong downtown core,” he said.

Baer noted that the area around Pac Bell Park was markedly different just eight years after the ballpark opened.

The area around the park previously held disused land, warehouses and some residential neighborhoods. Today, he said, it is a hive of mixed-use activity including more residential, ground-floor retail and corporate offices.

Some of the notable corporate offices within 10 blocks of the park include the headquarters of Twitter and Zynga as well as the San Francisco offices of Google.

Another aspect of the arena that has worked well in San Francisco and can work in Sacramento, Baer said, is making use of the planned intermodal transit hub that is slated for the downtown railyards, next to the proposed arena site.

Half of the visitors to Pac Bell Park drive, but the other half take public transit, walk, bicycle or come by boat, he said.

Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty spoke to The Sacramento Press after the event, saying that while the two projects have some parallels, there is still much to consider.

“It really has transformed that area of San Francisco, so if we can get that kind of energy here, of course the devil is in the details, but it certainly shows that a venue like that can make a major difference as far as being a catalyst,” McCarty said.

He pointed out that the San Francisco ballpark was privately financed, whereas the Sacramento plan relies on an expected 50/50 public/private partnership.

“We are still trying to figure that out as far as if it is a good decision for the city of Sacramento,” McCarty said.

One of the major decisions for the City Council will be whether it should lease control of the city’s parking for the next 50 years.

The event was hosted by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, and Executive Director Michael Ault commented on a variety of successes in the downtown core over the past year.

Long-term projects such as bringing cars back to K Street and beginning redeveloping the 700 block of K Street happened in 2011. Additionally, 40 new businesses opened downtown, and the ice rink at St. Rose of Lima Park drew an all-time record of more than 30,000 skaters.

Another example of success in the downtown core was the recipient of the annual Visionary Innovators in Building Excellence (VIBE) award: California Musical Theatre Executive Producer and CEO Richard Lewis.

Ault said in a press release that Lewis and CMT are instrumental in attracting hundreds of thousands of people downtown each year, which provides economic activity.

During his acceptance speech, Lewis pointed out that 2012 will be another strong year, with “Wicked” almost sold-out already – only 5,000 tickets remain to be sold of the 75,000 originally available, and he said they will sell quickly.

Photos by Ron Nabity.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Editorial Note: A correction was made to this story after it was published.

Kings late-game struggles lead to 104-97 loss to Magic

2012-01-09T23:09:19Z

The Sacramento Kings failed to close the game as they fell to the Orlando Magic 104-97 on Sunday at Power Balance Pavilion.

The Kings were unable to capitalize on Magic big man Dwight Howard’s foul trouble. Howard started the game but was forced to leave the game at the 10:20 mark in the first quarter after two quick fouls on Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins.

Howard didn’t return until midway through the second but was quickly forced to leave the game once again as he was called for a bump foul on Cousins for his third foul of the night.

Howard only played 20 minutes all game and was held scoreless until he made a layup and made a free throw after the foul at 6:35 remaining in the game for his first points of the game. Howard also didn’t have his first rebound until there was 8:00 remaining in the game.

With Howard out, Cousins was able to make his mark on the court and give the Kings a 21-19 lead after the first quarter. Cousins finished 10 points, five rebounds and one block after the first quarter.

Cousins also found himself in foul trouble, getting called for his third foul with 1:42 remaining in the first half.

Kings fans also had a fright as they saw star point guard Tyreke Evans go to the floor in pain after coming down on his ankle. He was helped into the locker room with just under a minute remaining in the first half. Evans returned to start for the Kings in the second half and led the Kings in scoring with 28 points, eight assists and three assists.

Down 47-49, the Kings were still in the game even with guard Marcus Thornton not recording any points yet. Thornton didn’t make his first basket until the 10:35 mark in the third quarter. Thornton then hit the team’s first three of the night with 6:13 remaining in the third quarter, bringing the Magic’s lead to 65-61.

Thornton finished with 10 points in the third quarter, helping maintain just a two-point deficit as the Magic led 81-79 after three quarters of play.

Sacramento tied the game at 87-87 with 5:39 left in the game, but struggled defensively down the stretch, being outscored 17-10 the remainder of the game to lose 104-97.

“Late in the game we reverted to some bad basketball,” new Kings head coach Keith Smart said. “We stood on one side of the floor, and you can’t do that against good teams like this.”

Cousins also observed problems with how the Kings played late in the game and recognizes that they have some work to do but have already made progress during this young season.

“We have to get better at late-game situations, and keep our composure, and make some more moves,” Cousins said. “We are making a lot of strides. Just from the Knicks game to now, we are a whole different team. We just got to continue to work, and it’ll turn around.”

Kings rookie Jimmer Fredette finished with only two points, one rebound and one assist in 14 minutes of play.

Guard Jason Richardson led the Magic with 22 points, with Sacramento native Ryan Anderson contributing 19 points of his own. Anderson attended Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, Calif. before going to the University of California, Berkeley.

Like Evans, Thornton also went down with an injury early in the fourth quarter but later returned down the stretch.

“That’s the uniqueness of this team,” Smart said. “Guys are hurt, and they want to play. These guys have a heart and a desire to make this franchise better. I commend those guys for being hurt and wanting to come back in and play.”

The Kings now head on the road for eight of their next nine games, including five consecutive games starting on Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Kings are 0-3 on the road this season.

“Getting our first win on the road, getting that monkey off our back — we just got to just come back with positive plan and just get it done,” forward Jason Thompson said. “Just take it one game at a time. It’s going to be a long road trip.”

Photos by David Alvarez

#SmartBall helps Kings overcome 21-point gap, beat Bucks 103-100

2012-01-07T02:25:36Z

Unbelievable! Amazing! Jaw-dropping! Spectacular!

In sports writing, superlatives are greatly overused. Heck, even The Court Jester abuses the Queen’s English occasionally!

In this case, however, I think not!

After being down 58-37 at the half, being outshot from the floor 60.5 percent to 31.8 perccent in the first half and only scoring 12 points in the second quarter, it looked like another lackluster Kings performance would etch another loss in the standings Thursday evening.

Not so fast, my pretty!

After a day of showing Coach Paul Westphal the door, elevating assistant Keith Smart to the position full-time and holding a players-only film study session before the game, the Kings came out in the second half, scored 66 points and played great defense to pull off the improbable win against the Milwaukee Bucks 103-100 in what had to be the greatest home comeback victory in Sacramento Kings history.

Even though the Kings got out to a 13-6 lead, one could just feel that their recent poor play would be extended at least one more night. Eight turnovers in the first quarter and only shooting 25 percent in the second seemed like it would be enough to doom the Kings once again.

But here’s the thing.

The entire game, the Kings were moving the ball, driving to the basket and making the extra pass: everything Smart asked them to do in his first game as the man in charge. It’s just that the shots weren’t falling, and it seemed like every contested jumper by the Bucks was going through the net.

Tyreke Evans (26 points, 10 boards, 5 assists), Marcus Thornton (27 points, 5 boards) and DeMarcus Cousins (19 points, 15 boards, 2 steals) were the stars of the show.

Early in the game, it was Evans that gave the Kings even a small chance of pulling out a much-needed win by scoring 10 points in the first quarter. Other than that, Cousins was being aggressive, but his shots close to the rim were not going in.

The usually hot-starting Thornton was only one of eight from the field at the intermission. He was so displeased with his performance that he came out early from the halftime break and shot something like 30 three-point shots to try to find a rhythm.

It worked!

Thornton went nine of 15 and scored 25 of his 27 in the second half to help propel the comeback.

Even after the third quarter came to a close, the Kings still found themselves down 82-68.

Yet something was different. Was it just the Westphal firing that put extra energy into a team that was playing its third game in three nights and five in six nights?

I’ll let Cousins explain it to you.

“Everybody said it,” the Kings big man said. “You just felt free out there. You didn’t feel like you had 30-pound bags on your back. You felt good that we were having fun even though we were battling back the whole time. We were having fun working!”

Fun. A little three-letter word that might make all the difference in the world this lockout-shortened season for this team.

The fourth quarter was all Kings.

Despite Brandon Jennings killing it with 31 points and hitting six three-pointers along the way, the Kings pushed the ball hard and laid the smack down on defense. In the end, they outscored the Bucks in the fourth 35-18.

It was either Thornton hitting a jumper, Cousins taking it to the rack hard (and scoring) or Evans driving and getting to the free throw line that made the difference.

Sacramento closed the game on a 22-8 run but wouldn’t take their first lead since late in the first quarter until there was 18 seconds left in the game.

“I just told them to play hard,” Smart said in the post-game press conference. “Just play hard first, and after that your game will kick in. That’s all I said to them. I didn’t go in with a rah-rah speech. I just play hard, and things will start to happen.”

Evans agreed with Cousins in saying that things felt a little different against the Bucks.

“We were just out there playing free,” he said. “He’s a great coach. He’s putting in new things to help guys get looks at the rim and at the basket. We just have to work with him.”

It sounds like the start of a beautiful relationship.

Let’s hope the newly coined hash-tag for Twitter (#SmartBall) catches on in more ways than one! [You should explain this more. What does this have to do with the Kings?]

Kings notes: In the second quarter, Chuck Hayes suffered a dislocated left shoulder in a collision and is expected to be out three to four weeks . . . Despite the slow start and most of his jumpers falling short of the rim, John Salmons scored 13 and had six boards . . . J.J. Hickson had 11 rebounds and seven points . . . Kings went from shooting 31.8 percent shooting in the first half to 48.9 percent in the second half . . . Next game is at home versus the Orlando Magic on Sunday.

Keith Smart named Kings head coach

2012-01-06T01:08:08Z

The Sacramento Kings named Keith Smart head coach Thursday, promoting him from his position of assistant coach after firing Paul Westphal Thursday morning.

“Keith will bring a new perspective to the team as we try to move forward with the season,” Geoff Petrie, chief of basketball operations, said in a press release. “He’s very well prepared and will assume the job with some new ideas and new approaches of his own. We’re all excited and looking forward to working with him.”

Westphal was let go after about two and a half seasons where the Kings’ record was 51 wins and 120 losses. This season began with a win over the Los Angeles Lakers Dec. 26, but the Kings had only won two games going into Thursday’s home game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The 47-year-old Smart served as head coach of the Golden State Warriors last year, and he has either played or coached professional basketball for 22 years, according to the release.

“I had a chance to work for Paul Westphal in the brief time that I’ve been here and really enjoyed it,” Smart said. “He was very supportive every step of the way. I want to thank Geoff Petrie and the Maloof family for giving me this opportunity. I’m looking forward to implementing a few new things with what we want to try to do with our basketball team. Hopefully, they’ll respond to what I want them to do, and I believe they will. I think our players will be excited with some of the ideas that I have for our team moving forward.”

In the release, Westphal said he asked for Smart to be added to the coaching staff last year.

“When I asked Geoff to add Keith Smart to our staff, I knew that he would be a tremendous asset going forward,” Westphal said. “Keith has my respect and blessing as he assumes the position he is exceptionally qualified to fill.”

Kings fire Head Coach Paul Westphal

2012-01-05T20:22:00Z

The Sacramento Kings fired Head Coach Paul Westphal Thursday, citing a record of 51 wins and 120 losses in a little more than two seasons, team officials said in a press release.

“I want to thank Paul for all of his effort on behalf of the Kings,” said Geoff Petrie, chief of basketball operations. “Unfortunately, the overall performance level of the team has not approached what we felt was reasonable to expect. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Westphal will be replaced by Assistant Coach Keith ~~Kevin~~ Smart, but Kings officials did not say whether the appointment is permanent.

“I would like to thank the Maloof family for the incredible opportunity they gave me to participate in the attempt to bring the Sacramento Kings back to prominence,” Westphal said in the release. “While the job is far from finished, I am proud of the strides we were able to make.”

The season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 26 was a resounding victory for the Kings, but lackluster performances followed, and a tiff played out in the media between Westphal and the Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins over an alleged request from Cousins to be traded, to much criticism from fans.

“Geoff Petrie and his staff have been nothing but honest and supportive throughout my time here,” Westphal said in the release. “They are first class in every way, and I wish them nothing but success. My hope is to see the fans of the Kings and the city of Sacramento rewarded with many years of great basketball.

“Finally, I want to thank my loyal staff and players for their efforts in attempting to climb out of the hole we shared. Nothing comes easy in the NBA, and I know they will not rest in their efforts to rebuild this team.”

Editorial Note: A spelling correction was made to this article after it was published.

Bulls defense holds strong as Kings rally falls short

2011-12-31T03:30:17Z

The Sacramento Kings suffered their second-straight loss as they fell to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night by 108-98.

Last season’s MVP Derrick Rose finished the game with 19 points, one rebound and eight assists while playing only 32 minutes due to foul trouble for much of the second half. During that time, backup point guard C.J. Watson contributed nicely with eight points, five rebounds and nine assists of his own.

The Kings were once again led by their backcourt Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton. Evans finished with 19 points, two rebounds and two assists, while Thornton finished with 20 points, five rebounds and one assist. Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds but fouled out in the fourth quarter.

Sacramento struggled to find their rhythm and stroke in the first quarter, allowing the Bulls to score 14 straight points and build a lead as great as 15 points, which the Kings cut down to six by the end of the quarter. In a theme that continued all night, the Kings were unable to defend in transition and allowed the Bulls to score 11 fast break points.

Down 15-30 with only 1:39 remaining in the first quarter, Kings guard Thornton started a late rally with a three-pointer. Following multiple misses by the Bulls, rookie Jimmer Fredette was able to hit on a step back jump shot, and J.J. Hickson added a couple more free throws to make the score 21-30 with only 23.7 seconds on the clock.

With the Kings defensive specialists in, Hickson stole Rose’s pass and sent it up court to rookie Isaiah Thomas who found Donte Greene for the layup to bring the score to 24-30 after one quarter of play.

But the Bulls’ lead proved to be too much for the Kings, as they were able to cut the lead to just one multiple times but were unable to ever take back the lead as the Bulls answered with runs of their own.

After trailing 60-53 at halftime, the Kings put on a 7-2 run early in the third quarter. Guard John Salmons hit a three, followed by layups by Cousins and Thornton to cut the lead to 62-60.

There, the Bulls again made a run of their own to extend their lead and keep the Kings behind. The Bulls ended the third quarter on a 11-2 run to lead the Kings 85-75 with just one quarter left to play.

“It was a great run for us,” Fredette said. “They’re a very good team. They know how to win basketball games. They won 62 of them last year. We wanted to take the lead, but they got a couple of easy baskets, a couple in transition and got it back up to 6 or 8, and we had to call a timeout. It’s up to us to get stops so that we can take the lead.”

The Kings missed an opportunity to apply pressure to the Bulls late in the fourth quarter when Salmons missed a three from the corner that would have made it a four-point game with 1:18 left. Instead, Thornton fouled Kings forward Luol Deng who made both free throws to give the Bulls a 105-96 lead with 1:16 remaining.

In the end, it was mostly free throws and transition defense that hurt the Kings once again.

The Kings got to the line 34 times but were only able to make 20 of those attempts — good enough for only 58.8 percent.

After struggling in transition defense against Portland on Tuesday, the Kings once again were tore up in transition by Rose and the Bulls offense. The Kings allowed a staggering 33 fast break points, which has proven to be a problem so far in this young season, causing concern with Kings head coach Paul Westphal.

“We have guys crashing the boards when they have no business doing so, we have guys not rotating back, we have guys going for steals in the back court,” Westphal said after the game. “The Bulls can run. Everybody knows that. We knew that, and we have to do a better job. If you want to win games, don’t give them layups. Make them run some offense.”

Veteran forward and Modesto native Chuck Hayes believes all the Kings had to do was be better in transition and the Kings would have won the game.

“If you get 20 fastbreak points, that’s impressive,” he said in the locker room after the game. “If you cut their 33 fastbreak points in half to 16 or 17, we win the game.”

The Kings are the youngest team in the NBA and currently have two new players in their starting rotation. Because of the lockout, the team has had limited time with each other thus far, a factor that some Kings believe has affected their ability to play together and will get better as the season proceeds.

“It’s just three games into the season and we are still getting a feel for each other,” Thornton said. “We are young, and as the season goes on we will get there.”

Westphal believes this Kings team has everything they need to become a winning team. They just need to commit to playing basketball as a team and not make costly mistakes.

“The guys in the locker room have to decide to go together into this incredibly difficult season that lies ahead, and then we will see how good we can be,” Westphal said. “I think we have everything we need to be a good team, and we should have won this game tonight. Our players need to decide if they’re going to be a good team or if they’re going to be a young team that uses that as their excuse.”

Photos by Ron Nabity

2011 recap: The fight to keep the Kings in Sacramento

2011-12-29T05:17:22Z

The question of whether Sacramento will get a new sports arena heated up this year, as Sacramento Kings owners threatened to relocate the team to Anaheim and potential arena sites – such as a land swap with Cal Expo – came and went.

Despite an emotional rollercoaster ride for Kings fans this year, supporters of the team refused to throw up their hands in defeat. Here’s what 2011 looked like from the bleachers.

As plans for a land swap between the state fairgrounds at Cal Expo and the current Natomas arena site fell through, a task force appointed by Mayor Kevin Johnson recommended that Sacramento developer group ICON-Taylor explore the viability of building an arena in the downtown area.

Business leaders from the Natomas Chamber of Commerce wanted the City Council to reject the task force recommendation, saying they felt Natomas was “fighting an uphill battle” against losing the then-named Arco Arena as the Kings’ home turf.

The owners of the Sacramento Kings, the Maloof family, confirmed suspicions that they were considering relocating the team to Anaheim by requesting a filing extension with the NBA to give the owners until at least April 14 – the day after the Kings season ended – to make a decision.

The NBA granted an extension to 5 p.m. May 2, and Kings fans went into overdrive to convince the Maloofs that the team should stay put.

Between a grassroots “Here We Stay” campaign, “painting the town purple” and sold-out games, there was little question of the importance Sacramentans placed on keeping the Kings in town.

Still, negotiations between the Maloofs and the city of Anaheim seemed to be well under way – until problems with financing emerged.

Anaheim was reportedly making plans to issue $75 million in lease revenue bonds to entice the team to move, but Sacramento city officials intervened, saying that the Maloofs would first have to repay $77 million in bond debt to Sacramento.

A private group successfully halted the issuance of the Anaheim bonds, and Billionaire Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle stepped up with plans to buy the Sacramento Kings from the Maloofs to keep the team in Sacramento.

Just before the final filing deadline to officially request relocating the team, an NBA relocation committee came to town and took over the Kings offices to study the possibility of keeping the Kings in Sacramento. The committee was welcomed with open arms – and plenty of purple.

At almost the same time, tribal leaders from Thunder Valley Casino pledged $1 million toward the effort to stop the Kings from moving to Anaheim, bringing the total of business pledges to keep the Kings in Sacramento to more than $10 million.

In addition to business interests, retired Kings player Chris Webber pledged his support – along with additional financial backing from private investors – to keep the effort going.

Finally, on the day of the filing deadline, the Maloofs announced they would not move the Kings out of Sacramento – this year.

The question of an adequate arena was still open, however, and NBA officials said they would support the team moving next year if a new arena could not be built to replace the Kings’ current facility, Power Balance Pavilion.

After a huge push for ticket sales to the next season, the Maloofs asked Johnson to stand in for them at the NBA draft lottery in New Jersey.

In June, with four months before the start of the 2011-12 basketball season, Kings supporters got down to business formulating a plan for a new arena – this time, with the help of a coalition of interested parties from business, sports, finance and development sectors.

The coalition – called the “Think Big” committee – worked on a self-imposed 100-day deadline to come up with a “menu of options” for financing a new entertainment and sports complex to be built at the railyards site downtown.

The Think Big committee released a series of reports over the 100-day period that discussed financing options including strategic use of public land, user fees and leasing the city’s parking system.

Two opinion polls surfaced – one commissioned by the Think Big committee and one by City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy – to gauge public support of a new sports and entertainment complex. Despite the opposing results of the polls, Johnson and members of the Think Big committee continue to pursue a plan to build an arena and keep the Kings in Sacramento.

The latest aspect of the financing plan – leasing the city’s parking system to a private operator for an up-front lump payment to get construction under way – is in the earliest stages.

What’s next for the Kings and the city of Sacramento?

2012 promises fervent action on the part of supporters, developers and the entire Think Big committee to have a solid arena plan in place before the March 1 deadline for Kings’ owners to once again attempt to relocate the team.

Meanwhile, Kings fans are filling seats for games, staying positive and hanging on for the final loop-de-loop of this wild ride.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Thornton, Kings defeat rival Lakers in season debut

2011-12-28T02:15:43Z

Following a long eight-month hiatus, the Sacramento Kings finally returned to Power Balance Pavilion and provided a sellout crowd with a 100-91 win over the rival Los Angeles Lakers.

After almost seeing their team move to Anaheim last season followed by a labor disagreement that caused a delay to the start of the season, Kings fans filled the arena for the Kings “blackout” game and were rewarded with a hard-fought victory by their new-look Kings.

Fans were loud and into the game before the ball was even tipped off. With the lights off, fans were instructed to activate the purple light sticks that they were given at the door, and continued cheering through much of a tribute video that followed the history of the Kings franchise.

In a game reminiscent of the rivalry from the early 2000’s, the Kings started the game with energy that lasted the entire game, which proved to be too much for a Lakers team that suffered a last-minute loss to the Chicago Bulls the night before.

Kings guard Marcus Thornton and Lakers star Kobe Bryant came out quickly and tried to get their respective teams going, each at seven points in the first quarter.

Kings rookie Jimmer Fredette entered his first regular season NBA game with 6:06 remaining in the first quarter. On his first possession, Fredette double dribbled, turning the ball over, but later scored his first NBA points on a 15-foot fadeaway jump shot that helped give the Kings a 21-20 lead after the first quarter.

Many new members of the Kings team were able to get going in the second quarter and make plays that helped extend the Kings lead in the first half.

At the 8:08 mark of the second quarter, Kings rookie Isaiah Thomas scored his first points in the NBA with a three from the corner that caused the Lakers to call a timeout.

Shortly after, Modesto native and new Kings forward Chuck Hayes was able to find the also newly-acquired Travis Outlaw on a deep outlet pass for an easy layup by Outlaw, who had beaten the Lakers defense. The bucket gave the Kings a 39-33 lead.

With just 20 seconds remaining in the first half, Kings point guard Tyreke Evans took advantage of a missed shot by Bryant and took the ball down the court for a driving layup that gave the Kings a 49-40 lead heading into halftime.

Though the Kings would never relinquish that lead, the Lakers gave their best effort to steal the victory away late in the game.

Metta World Peace, whose name was formerly Ron Artest, scored two consecutive baskets that cut the Kings lead to three at 89-86, but following some costly mistakes by the Lakers and a missed three by World Peace, Thornton was able to come off of a screen and hit a two-point jumper that iced the game and gave the Kings the season-opening 100-91 victory.

The Lakers Kobe Bryant led the game with 29 points. Marcus Thornton led the Kings with 27 points of his own, to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Thornton was also 4-7 from the three point line.

Kings rookie Fredette finished with only six points, but knows that he must keep attacking the basket.

“It is just going out there and trying to be aggressive and looking for my shots or my opportunities,” said Fredette. “It was just a great team effort tonight and a great win.”

The Kings out shot the Lakers from the three-point line, tallying 50 percent efficiency in three-point shooting while the Lakers only made 6.3 percent of their three-point attempts.

Newly acquired King Chuck Hayes finished with seven points and nine rebounds while he provided a solid veteran presence to this young Kings squad.

“Chuck Hayes is the glue of this team. We knew he would be the glue when we signed him,” said Kings head coach Paul Westphal. “He shows it everyday, whether it was guarding Gasol some, Artest some. He gets our defense going and he gets our offense going. He gave us 27 phenomenal minutes.”

Not only does the coach notice the presence that Hayes makes on this team, but Thornton also realizes the importance of having Hayes on the squad.

“Chuck Hayes is every little bit of 6 foot 6 inches. To battle Gasol, seven feet, like he did is great. And that’s what he brings to the team,” said Thornton in the locker room after the game.

The Kings, both old and new players on the squad, were pleased to see a sold-out crowd decked out in black in honor of the Kings “Back in Black” motto this season.

“I’ve heard they’re the greatest fans in the NBA and they showed it tonight,” said Fredette. “It was really loud in there and they really supported us with a packed house for the first game. It was really exciting to be able to go out there and play for the fans and win.”

Coach Westphal hopes to be able to provide a team that can keep the arena full and provide a similar atmosphere throughout the season.

“That’s how it is supposed to be in basketball,” said Westphal. “That’s how it feels when your team has the support behind it and delivers solid basketball. That’s the feeling that this building has had more often than not in its history and we are trying to get that feeling back and we want it every night.”

All photos by Ron Nabity

Mayor: City is at 'critical juncture' on the road to new arena

2011-12-28T01:41:33Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson spoke confidently Tuesday about the possibility of a new entertainment and sports complex becoming a reality for Sacramento – despite the challenges ahead.

“We are at a critical juncture in this process,” Johnson said. “On the court, our team needs to play well. Off the court, I feel good about the progress we’re making on the new entertainment sports complex and the financing.”

Johnson said that – on the public side of the equation – the city is moving forward with its “due diligence” on a plan to lease out the city parking system as part of the financial plan for a new arena.

“On the private side,” Johnson added, “AEG and ICON and all those folks are doing their part, and we are in negotiations now with the NBA and the Maloofs and all the parties involved. We’d like to be in a good position by the March 1 deadline.”

Proponents of a new sports and entertainment complex have until March 1 to solidify a plan to finance the new arena or the Kings owners will have an opportunity to file a request with the NBA to relocate the team.

At the Dec. 13 City Council meeting, Johnson and council members voted to gauge the interest of investors – through a process called “request for qualifications” – in taking over the city’s parking system as a key component of the finance picture for a new arena.

The RFQs were scheduled to be sent Dec. 22, but city consultants suggested holding off until after the new year, creating a delay in the process.

Johnson said that, despite the RFQs being issued later than expected, he has been assured by the city manager’s office that the delay will not affect the city timeline in a significant way.

“I was a little disappointed because I thought we could get (the RFQs) out even with the two weeks (of holidays) so people would know how things are going,” Johnson said Tuesday, “but I’ve been assured that it won’t slow us down at all.”

Once the city receives responses to the RFQs, the city manager and the City Council will have a better idea of how much the city’s parking assets may net. The initial analysis of the plan to lease the parking system showed a range of $170 million to just over $240 million.

Johnson said Tuesday, however, that he believes the gain from the parking assets for the entertainment and sports complex financing plan may be larger than anticipated.

“It’s not deeply rooted in science or empirical data,” Johnson said, “but I do think we can come in higher than we think – and that’s just my gut feeling.”

Johnson said he thinks the city and Kings fans have come a long way from April 13, when it seemed the Kings were about to play their last game in Sacramento.

“I think we are going to get it done, but there’s work to do,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be very challenging, and there are lots of moving parts (in the process), but I think council will step up, the NBA will step up and we will be able to create a win-win-win for all parties.”

The push for a new sports arena has been ramping up since the Sacramento Kings owners, the Maloof family, announced earlier in the year that they might move the team to Anaheim.

The Sacramento Press will take a more in-depth look Wednesday at how Sacramento has faced the possibility of losing the only major professional sports team in the city.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for the Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Kings beat Warriors in last preseason tilt of the season, 95-91

2011-12-22T01:48:51Z

Twelve thousand plus in attendance for a preseason game told you that Kings head honcho Paul Westphal was right.

“It’s nice to have basketball back in this building, isn’t it?,” Westphal started his post game press conference.

It sure was!

A good crowd for the only home preseason game this season saw the Sacramento Kings tighten up the defense in the final minutes of the game and hold on to beat the Golden State Warriors 95-91 at Power Balance Pavilion on Tuesday evening.

Leading the way for the Kings was Marcus Thornton who had 21 points, seven boards and four assists and J.J. Hickson who scored 19 points and had nine rebounds.

Tyreke Evans scored the first basket of the new season on the home court with a net-ripping three to give the Kings an early 3-2 lead.

Tyler Honeycutt, the UCLA product that was one of the Kings second round picks, was hustling all over the court and making the Warriors take tougher shots in his first start as a King. Honeycutt got the start because John Salmons, the projected starter at small forward, is still nursing a thigh contusion.

Both teams love to run. In the first quarter alone, eight of the Warriors 19 points came off of the break.

David Lee was a thorn in the Kings side as the Warriors big man either finished with a dunk on the break or was hacked and sent to the line where he made four of his first five from the stripe. Lee finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds.

Thornton hit a couple of early long balls and a tough layup with two guys draped on him that helped give the Kings the lead after one quarter, 23-19.

With less than a minute to go in the first half, Warrior stud Stephen Curry rolled his ankle while trying to guard Jimmer Fredette. Fredette put a good move on the Warriors point guard and Curry couldn’t keep up and tweaked the same ankle that gave him trouble a good portion of last season. Curry would not return.

One highlight that Kings fans probably didn’t see coming was the two three-point bombs that newly acquired Travis Outlaw made in the second quarter. Outlaw, who is coming off of hand surgery, had a solid game considering he’s only attended a couple of Kings’ practices.

Another was watching Kings guard Isaiah Thomas sprint to the basket, beat two Warriors to the hoop and score on a sweet reverse lay in as the clock expired in the first half.

The second quarter was more of the same as the Kings would outscore the Warriors again by four points and lead at the half by eight, 49-41.

Sloppy play saw the Kings give away their eight point halftime lead in the third quarter. The Kings had 11 turnovers in the third, led by DeMarcus Cousins’ five giveaways.

Cousins has missed some practice time and it showed.

But when it really mattered, Cousins came through.

The second-year big man had a couple of steals and a crucial block in the last minute of the game that made a huge difference.

Cousins knew it was time to contribute in a different way.

“I’m really just trying to find a rhythm, it’s my first game back,” said Cousins after the game. “A tough game for me offensively, so I tried to do some key things on the defensive end to help the team win.”

Evans was another big reason the Kings held off the pesky Warriors. He had 10 points in the final period and, in general, just took over the game.

“It started with defense,” said Evans. I knew they were going to try and go to Monte (Ellis) a lot, so I took on the challenge and tried to make him take tough shots. I think that’s what we have to do to be a good team. We got to play good defense.”

With 27.1 seconds left, Thornton hit a three that blew the roof off of PBP and sealed the game for the Kings.

J.J. Hickson, who also hit seven of nine free throws, said he’s ready to do whatever the Kings need him to do. Whether it’s play the four or the five position, he can handle it.

“With me, I’m the type of player that is going to do whatever it takes to win,” said Hickson. “I’m not complaining what position I play, as long as we get it done. I don’t care who does what, as long as we get better individually and as a team, then that’s all we can ask for.”

KINGS NOTES: All three rookies scored in their home debut . . . Honeycutt had six, Fredette had 12 to accompany three boards and four assists and Thomas had eight points . . . Cousins had 10 boards and nine turnovers, mostly in that horrible third quarter . . . Francisco Garcia, Donte Greene and Hassan Whiteside all could have played but did not due to coach’s decision . . . The home opener is Monday against bitter rivals the Los Angeles Lakers

Photo Essay: Sacramento Kings' Fan Fest - 15 Nov. 2011

2011-12-18T08:43:15Z

The Kings were welcomed to a packed Power Balance Pavilion on Thursday night following their Media Day. They were divided into two teams who played four games up to twenty points each. The crowd was pleasantly delighted by the performance of their Kings, cheering for rookie Isaiah Thomas and Francisco Garcia. The final count of the games broke even at 2-2, but overall the crowd won knowing that their Kings have returned.

The Court Jester - Media Day musings, Cousins keeps 'em laughing

2011-12-16T04:47:25Z

With the season fast approaching, the Sacramento Kings held their annual Media Day on Thursday, December 15 at Power Balance Pavilion.

Every player had various duties on this busy day - multiple media obligations, shooting stand ups and bits for use in-game and even an open scrimmage, where fans across the valley will get their first chance at seeing this version of the new-look Kings.

With the addition of J.J. Hickson (via trade from Cleveland for Omri Casspi), the signing of free agent Chuck Hayes away from Houston and acquiring John Salmons via draft day trade involving Beno Udrih plus the drafting of three rookies in Jimmer Fredette, Isaiah Thomas and Tyler Honeycutt added to the three new assistant coaches added in the offseason. This could be the most changes that any one team has endured during one year.

Everyone that was anyone showed up at center court on the Kings home floor to get their time in front of someone's microphone.

The Court Jester was there and gathered these thoughts about the upcoming season, the new team chemistry and the how the Kings will play during this season.

Coach Westphal on expectations on the season - “We’re going to be better! I don’t have any hesitation in saying that. I like our team and I think we’re headed in the right direction.”

Coach Westphal on the shortened time allowed for camp and the effect of trying to put in his offensive and defensive sets - “There certainly is a lot to put in in a very short period of time. I think it’s important to us not to proceed as if we’re rushed. We need to put everything out there and be solid without rushing all the details. They way I’ve tried to do that is to put in the big picture first and then tweaked the details that need tweaking. If we had a summer and a pre-training camp time and then a month of training camp, we might start with the details and build outward. Now we’re starting with the big picture and building inward. We’re trying to do that so we don’t feel rushed and if we can stay healthy, I think it will work for us.”

Donte Greene on the emotions of the last game of the year last campaign - “A lot of emotions. I had a lot of fans coming up to me crying and saying they hope we stay. I was always one of the guys that was a front-runner for us staying here in Sacramento. I’ve been here going on four years, my family loves it here, it’s a beautiful city, so really wanted to stay. Now that we’re here, we need to make sure we stay here and make sure we start winning.”

Donte Greene on the black uniforms the team gets to sport for a few games this year - “The black uni’s are nice. I think we should have had them before. I ask for them in my second year in the league. We finally got them and I think it’s a perfect time for them.”

Donte Greene on coming into camp in better shape physically and more mature as a person - “Just being a professional athlete. That’s another part of me growing up. Last summer, we weren’t really on top of things, so summer I made sure I staying down on my weight and and in 20 pounds lighter than I did last year. Just trying to stay focused. I’m hungry and I’m trying to get another contract to stay in Sacramento. So hopefully that happens.”

Bobby Jackson on his new role as an assistant coach - “I look forward to it. It’s a learning process for me and I’m willing to learn for both of the Jims (Eyen and Todd), Keith Smart and Coach Paul. For me, I’m the new guy coming in and these guys have years of experience and that’s what I want to gain. Gain that experience, gain that knowledge and just learn from probably the best coaches in the league.”

Tyreke Evans on who has impressed him so far out of the news guys - “John (Salmons) is pretty good. I like the pickup when we got him. He’s a three man who can score the ball and play good defense. I think he is going be a great help to this team. Jimmer and the rookies have come in and played well. So I’m looking forward to see how they will play in a game.”

Tyreke Evans on the improvements the team has made in team speed and overall shooting - “I think that is going to be one of our main focuses this year is to try and run teams out of the gym. It’s a short season so I think the more we push the ball, the better chance we have to win.”

Francisco Garcia on his early training camp impressions - “We look pretty good in training camp. Everybody is in pretty good shape. We’re growing well together and think we are going to surprise a lot of people this year.”

Francisco Garcia on how good this year’s group of guys are - “This is the most talent we’ve ever had since I’ve been here. We have a lot of talent. We’re learning how to play together and are doing a pretty good job in training camp right now. We’re focussing a lot on defense.”

Jimmer Fredette on getting some early time to impress in the scrimmage and maybe the first preseason game after Tyreke slightly tweaked an ankle - “I’m just going to do whatever the coaches want me to do and I’ll just try and earn my spot with the playing time given by showing them that I can play with this team and do whatever it is that they want me to in order for this team to win.”

Jimmer Fredette on early comparisons to Tim Tebow - “I’ve heard comparisons, but I still haven’t stepped foot on an NBA floor. I did some good things in college and he did some great things in college as well. I think one thing that is a little bit similar is the naysayers saying what type of position we are. That we can’t do what we did in college in the NBA or the NFL. That remains to be seen from me, but he’s been proving that the last seven or eight weeks with what he’s been doing. I’m just trying to out there and play well, play me game and be a great player for this organization.”
J.J. Hickson on leadership - “I think I lead by example. I think I’m going to take it upon myself to be more vocal this year. Being that I played in the playoffs and got to the Eastern Conference finals, I know what it takes to be that type of team, to be a playoff team and to be a championship caliber type team. I’m in practice going hard in every drill, getting my shots up before and after practice and just doing things a leader is supposed to do.”

Marcus Thornton on the happiness he shared with his mom after signing the Kings offer - “Tears of joy, not that boo hoo crap. It’s great to have an organization that wants you for long term.”

Marcus Thornton on making a splash last year - “It was great timing. I just tried to sieze every moment of it. I just tried to go out there and play hard and to the best of my ability.”

Marcus Thornton on what he needs to improve in his game - “It’s going to start with my conditioning. Getting myself ready to play night in and night out. Getting my conditioning to where it needs to be. Playing against these guys in this league, there are no days off. I’m just going to get my conditioning better and things will fall into place after that.”

Chuck Hayes on showing the Kings players what it means to be tough - “It’s my will to win. I’m a competitive person and I try my best to teach these guys just the little things - the importance of them. We all have talent and can all play this game, but late in the game, our concentration and execution is going to help us win games and we have to make winning plays.”

Chuck Hayes on his game resembling Charles Barkley’s game - “Charles Barkley was my favorite basketball player. Every since I was younger, I was always built like him. I used to follow C-Webb a lot because I lived in Oakland when he was with the Warriors. Then when I moved to Modesto, he went to the Kings so it seemed like I followed his career as well. I’ve always been an undersized guy, a very powerful player - it’s just the way I am. I’ve played the big position since I was little and I’m going to finish playing this game by playing the big position.”

DeMarcus Cousins on, well, whatever he wanted to talk about. He opened the media session by cracking on the media guys and jokingly answering the early questions directed his way - “So, you gonna all stare at me or ask me questions?”

Someone asked him what the biggest difference between last year and this year has been - “We got black jerseys, hello?? Next question! You can’t scare no one with purple - running down the court looking all majestic.”

Once Cousins settled in, he was his typical charming self.

Cousins on differences between being a rookie and now - “Feels good. I don’t have to carry that pick bag anymore.” (referring to his pink Hollie Hobbie backpack) “We’ve got a talented group. We’ve got some veteran leadership. There is a lot of positive energy in the locker room and around the city, so it’s gonna be a new look, a new year for us.”

Cousins on how he tweak his ankle in practice the other day - “I stepped on the midget’s foot - Isaiah. He was definitely in the way,” he jokingly said.

Cousins on how he stayed in shape during the offseason - “Why would I tell you all my secrets? I’m in shape, that’s all that matters. We good!”

Every time he opens his mouth, the gathered masses are ready to burst out laughing. The guy is extremely funny and intelligent at the same time and a real treat to get to cover.

Council agrees to seek lessee for city parking operations

2011-12-14T07:39:27Z

The City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to pursue an agreement that could potentially bring in $250 million for a new arena by leasing the city’s parking system to a private operator.

“This is just one piece – a very important piece – in our ability to build an entertainment sports complex,” City Manager John Shirey said Tuesday.

Council members Darrell Fong and Sandy Sheedy were the only “no” votes.

A recent analysis of the city’s parking system concluded that the city could lease the parking system to a private operator for 50 years – releasing all revenue and control of the system for the life of the lease – and receive an up-front lump payment of nearly $250 million.

With an ongoing city budget shortfall of more than $20 million, a lump sum of more than 12 times that amount is appealing – but some council members expressed concerns.

Fong said he sees Sacramento carrying the biggest burden to get an arena financed, but he wants other cities in the region that will benefit from the arena to pitch in, too.

“I’d like (Sacramento) to make a real effort to see which other cities in the region would be our partners and would contribute to this in a real way,” Fong said.

“I just wonder why other cities in the region aren’t looking at monetizing their parking, or selling surplus land.” Fong said. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. We aren’t going to get anywhere without some real contributions from our partners.”

Sheedy asked staff to come back to the council in February with a measure to put on the June ballot for the voters to decide of they want the city to pursue a lease of the city’s parking system.

“We cannot continue to ignore the voice of the voters,” Sheedy said. “We are just sitting here not paying attention to that elephant in the room.”

According to a city staff report, a private operator does not face the same political constraints in raising parking rates or extending chargeable parking hours.

A private operator could also reduce staffing or employee benefits – a concern voiced at the council meeting by labor representatives.

“Some call it ‘monetizing parking’,” said Steve Crouch, district representative for the Local 39 labor union. “We call it stealing from the public treasury to fund an arena for the Maloofs.”

Crouch said letting go of parking revenue for years to come would deepen the city’s budget hole, forcing additional cuts to police, fire, parks and community centers.

“The numbers just don’t add up,” Crouch said. “To move forward with this absurd concept of financing is a mistake.”

Kunal Merchant, chief of staff to Mayor Kevin Johnson, said Tuesday that concerns about staffing, rates and other nuances of a lease would be hammered out once potential operators have expressed interest in taking over the city’s parking system.

The city’s parking system includes 7,200 spaces located in seven parking structures, 5,500 on-street metered spaces and revenue from parking citations from the city’s enforcement program.

With the council’s vote Tuesday, staff will start a “request for qualifications” process to gauge the interest of potential private operators.

“(RFQs) ask potential private operators, ‘Are you qualified to take over our parking, and what are you willing to pay?’ ” Merchant said.

Once interest is established, Merchant said, then the process moves forward to gathering proposals and looking for the best lease agreement for the city.

“If (a lease bid) makes economic sense, then the city should do it,” Merchant said. “If not, then, no, it shouldn’t.”

Merchant said it’s too early in the process to determine what the final terms of any parking lease might contain.

Dangberg told council members that RFQs will be sent out by Dec. 22, and responses will be expected by the third week in January.

City staff will return to council in February with recommendations for possible bid proposals, Shirey said.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

The Court Jester - A Smart addition to staff brings lots of experience

2011-12-14T01:36:08Z

Trust me, Keith Smart had options.

It was just the way Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal struck him during Westphal’s visit to his Bay Area home.

“Coach Paul was incredible as far as the process of trying to get me to come here,” said Smart after the first of two practices on Monday afternoon. “I mean, he came to my house and we sat in my living room for three hours talking about basketball philosophy. And he didn’t have to do that. When the decision came for them to come talk to me, I thought I would have had to come up to Sacramento. He said, ‘Hey, I’ll come visit with you.’ He came up and we sat and talked and I thought that was pretty good. This worked out perfect because it’s right down the highway from my home and I can see my family. My kids in high school and everything. Just being here and having a chance to get back into it again relatively quickly. When you get let go as a head coach, sometimes it doesn’t happen that fast, but I’m back in the teaching fold and learning mode again.”

“I’ve been fortunate to be around coaches that allow you to coach and Paul is one of those coaches as well. He takes input and information that you have and what you want to add to the team and he’s open to all that. It’s a good fit and it worked out really well with me coming here.”

The former head coach of the Golden State Warriors had a record last season of 36-46. But a worse than the Kings road record of 9-32 and the fact that the team never really got newly signed big man and solid rebounder David Lee to fit into what they were trying to accomplish in the East Bay led to his dismissal.

If you remember, Smart is probably known best for his 1987 Final Four heroics when he made a game-winning shot to lead Indiana to a National Championship over highly-touted Syracuse.

Smart has already looked back at what he could have done different in Oakland and intends on learning from past mistakes.

“You look at that you could have went with plays for guys at a certain situations of the game. Percentage-wise, if you go back and look at all the data from the year, you look at that maybe this guy could have done a little bit better in that situation than another guy that I had at that position from time to time. Maybe I should have gone to a particular player in a post up area a little bit more to kind of force the defense to adjust to us a little more. Little things like that.”

“But from managing the team and running a team, which I had a great coach that allowed me to to do a lot of work in Don Nelson, who gave me freedom to run the team and run practice. To have that experience already, that was a plus for me.”

Keith Smart has coaching in his blood.

Even before Don Nelson let him share the pine with him on an NBA bench, Smart was cutting his teeth in the CBA. In his first year as a head coach at any level, he led the Fort Wayne Fury to a franchise-record 31-win season and a spot in the playoffs.

The next season, he did it again. Playoff bound!

While in the CBA, he had an incredible 21 players signed away to NBA contracts. That just screams great coaching.

Smart, who is 47 now, then spent seven years alongside Don Nelson with the Warriors - the longest assistant coaching stint in Golden State history.

Smart knows he has a lot to offer the young Kings’ roster.

“I think that a coach really needs to be hands on in this environment,” said Smart. “Especially with the young players these days leaving school so early. They are still used to a coach being hands on. Until you get to a veteran team to where they pretty much know what they need to do. We need to make sure that we are holding these guys hands to help them to understand how to be a pro. And when they get to that point of being a pro, most of the time your team is going to be better.”

He also thinks that it’s great timing for him because of the influx of so many new players to the team. Another reason is that he can set an example going forward without having to revisit the past.

“I come in blind to everything that may have gone on,” said Smart. “I come in with the idea of teaching and going forward, not so much of looking back because I wasn’t here last year. We have some new pieces, some new players come in and everything fells like its brand new. So for me, I’m able to come in and just look at it from a coaching standpoint and say okay guys I need to do this, I want to do this and move from there as opposed to what went on and what happened and focusing on the negatives. I’m looking at what we can probably do this year to help turn things around and Coach Westphal has been great with all that.”

Coach Smart already sees that this team is unselfish and it started with the teachings of Coach Westphal.

“I think what Coach has done is try and get this team to share the ball, said Smart. “With a young team, that’s always hard because everyone is looking for their own identity. So what he’s tried to do is try and get the players to share and get the coaching staff to have a philosophy of getting them to play with each other and become a team. If they grow as a team, they will get better as a unit and start winning games. If they can understand how important the next guy is, that’s only going to help the team in the long run. And that is what this training camp here is all about.”

Coach Smart and the rest of the coaching staff will first get to see the impact they’ve had on this young team on Saturday, when the Kings travel to Oakland to play Golden State in their first of two preseason games.

On Friday, a look at Thursday’s Media Day and more insight to the season from Kings players.

The Court Jester - Better late than never, training camp begins anew

2011-12-13T02:43:47Z

The long-awaited, lockout-shortened Kings’ season is finally underway as training camp has opened in Natomas at Sacramento’s training facility in the Power Balance Pavilion parking lot.

Here are some observations from the second and third day of the two-week training camp.

State of the Kings Address

Each training camp, Geoff Petrie, the Kings’ President of Basketball Operations, addresses the media to discuss the offseason and his early training camp observations. This year was a lot different for Petrie as he and the staff are having to cram over a months worth of moves, discussions and preparation for the upcoming season in a two-week period.

Here are Petrie’s comments regarding various items during his stand up before the gathered media.

On how he likes the current makeup of the team - “I think at the moment, we are happy where we are. The team has been reconfigured from the last season, so a new group with the potential for what we think is improvement. They all came into camp in pretty good shape considering what turned out to be a very lengthy offseason. They seem focused and energetic and everybody’s glad to be back playing basketball.”

On major differences from last year’s campaign - “I think we are going to be a better shooting team. We’re going to be a better passing team. And I think we will be better able to attack teams offensively in more ways than we were last year.”

On how much room does the team still have under the salary cap considering the signing of Marcus Thornton (4 years, $31 million) and Chuck Hayes (4 years, $21.3 million) as well as rookies Jimmer Fredette, Tyler Honeycutt and Isaiah Thomas to contracts - “We’re still about a million dollars and change away from the minimum salary.”

On how happy he was with the general shape the players came into camp in - “Yeah, I am. In general, there are probably a couple of guys that need to lose a little bit of weight, but overall DeMarcus is ten pounds lighter than he was at the beginning of training camp a year ago. Tyreke is in better shape than he was at the start of camp last year. Marcus is within a few pounds of his game weight. John (Salmons) is in terrific shape. Fredette and all the rookies are fine. Again, considering the amount of time, we are pretty good shape that way.”

Geoff Petrie also emphasized that the team has a couple of offers out there and wouldn’t be surprised if they added another piece or two to the puzzle. At this point, it seems a backup point guard and maybe another big man could be in the mix.

He also sees the amnesty dominos to fall slowly considering that many teams are waiting to see who drops who and what other late deals some teams may be able to throw together.

The Curtain Rises

At some point during each practice, the long canvas shade that keeps the media shielded from the team’s on-court activities rises to allow the gathered newsmen and women to gaze upon the balance of Coach Paul Westpahl’s training drills.

So far this season, the curtain has risen early to allow the media a long look at will be this year’s incarnation of the Sacramento Kings.

Once practice is over, Coach Westphal give his thoughts on the days workout. Here are some of those thoughts from the second and third days of training camp.

On a potential three-guard set with Jimmer, Tyreke and Marcus Thornton and how it’s looked in practice - “It really worked well. At one point, they ran off about 12 or 15 points in a row. We were picking up full court - we’ll be doing a lot more of that this year - and creating some turnovers and early shots and they got out and were explosive. So that’s a combination that can be real effective.”

On how the young guys have looks so far - “Probably the best of everybody. I thought Whiteside had his moments, and Jimmer, Isaiah and Tyler all were excellent.”

On what might be missing from last year that you’ll need this year’s team to step up and get done - “I just think we are trying to grow as a team. We’ve added some players with some experience and some versatility and ball-handling ability. We’ll be a better shooting team. Hopefully healthier and we’ll have a little more depth.”

On whether the Kings will be more of a running team the season - “I think our personnel dictates that can extend the defense a little more effectively and I think we’re doing to try and do that.”

On how John Salmons is fitting in so far - “I think he’s doing an outstanding job! He’s a real pro and he knows where he’s supposed to be and why and he’s helping the other guys. He’s been real good at both ends.”

On J.J. Hickson - “I see a real athletic, dynamic player. He’s still feeling his way with where he’s supposed to be and why, but I think he’s somebody who can bring an element of athleticism to the game every time he comes in.”

Words from the Crown Keepers

Here are some comment from various players after a couple of workouts under their belts.

Isaiah Thomas on being a leader in college and now learning from leaders in the pros - “Because (in college) I was always was the one to lead and was telling people what to do, but now they’re telling me what to do. At the same time, when I do tell them what to do, they are listening too so it’s a mutual thing with all of us. I’m just trying to learn on the flow and learn everything from the vets and the guys that have been here a while.”

Isaiah Thomas on what the coaches are looking for from him - “Just to play hard and come in and bring energy and that’s what I’m going to do whether it’s score for myself or make plays for my teammates, I’m gonna do whatever I can to help the team win and get more wins. That’s my job!”

Isaiah Thomas on getting acclimated to the Sacramento area - “I’m trying to get lost just to see if I can find my way back to the hotel and things like that. I’m just trying to get more comfortable on the court and off.”

John Salmons on his expected leadership role with the team - “I’m just being myself man. I’m not the real vocal type. I just try to come in and be a professional and lead by example. I try and come in everyday and work hard and play the right way.”

John Salmons on what has impressed him the most so far in camp - “They way they share the ball. They are all looking to find the open guy, hitting cutters. I’ve been surprised by that the most.”

John Salmons on having a former teammate - Bobby Jackson - as a coach now - “I guess the longer you play, the more ex-teammates you have as coaches (laughs). Bobby’s cool. Bobby was cool when I was here. We always got along well so we’ll get along well with him as a coach.”

J.J. Hickson on putting in extra time after practice working on his shot - “It’s very important. I’m trying to get better every day. I’m trying to get better with the team so I think it starts with the individual first. I’m gonna get my extra work in when I need to.”

J.J. Hickson on being traded from Cleveland - “I was real surprised. I started in Cleveland. They taught me everything I know up to now. I’m gonna try and come here and let my defensive principals from Mike Brown and Byron Scott roll over into this team.”

J.J. Hickson on what his best attributes are - “I think I’m best when I’m running the floor. Setting screens against the offense real quick. The scoring is icing on the cake but I’m going to do what I have to do to make me and my teammates better.”

Tyler Honeycutt on what he’s already picked up on from the veteran players - “The movement on the floor, reading screens, staying in space and running. (Francisco) Garcia’s been talking to me a lot so I’m listening to him.”

Tyler Honeycutt on Garcia’s mentorship - “He’s been kind of looking over me like a big brother telling me where to go and making sure I’m on the right spots on the floor.”

Tyler Honeycutt on the speed of the game - “It’s like going from high school to college, now it’s college to the big boys. Everybody’s taller, faster, stronger, smarter and more athletic so I’m just trying to get used to that. Getting in the weight room to get stronger.”

Jason Thompson on the new crop of talent and the future of the Kings - “It’s starting to be good. It’s good that everyone is here and healthy. We’re just getting the reps in and putting in the offense, getting used to our defensive principals and get some continuity.”

Jason Thompson on helping the young guys - “Everyone started mature. We’re easing into things with Jimmer and Tyler and Isaiah and just giving them tips and helping them out as we’re learning as well.”

Chuck Hayes on settling in - “There is a lot of energy in the building with the youth and the excitement. I’m learning. I feel like a rookie. I’m learning guys style of play. Learning where they like to shoot the ball, their strength, their weaknesses and trying to get some kind of chemistry with them on the court.”

Chuck Hayes on if he’s, at 6’6”, always played in the middle - “I’ve always been the center from elementary to junior high a little bit in high school and a little bit in college. So playing the position was never foreign to me. I’ve always been the big kid. If you asked to me play point guard, I’d look terrible, but playing center to me is something I’ve been doing my whole life.”

Chuck Hayes on his defensive mindset going against bigger guys night after night - “Every game is a marathon. It’s a 48-minute game. The point is I just try to outwork and outlast my opponent, my guy individually. I try and wear him down and make him uncomfortable. There will be some moments where he’ll get the best of me, but you got to expect that because everybody is a professional. But throughout the 48-minute game, I have to be able to outlast him when it matters.”

Jimmer Fredette on the rush to get ready - “It’s been really exciting to start my first training camp and to start with the team. Everything is pretty accelerated because our first exhibition game is coming up real soon, but we’re doing a great job of trying to stay focused, get the plays down and get our defensive scheme down and all the terminology. It’s a learning process right now, but it’s going well.”

Jimmer Fredette on what about his game will help this team and it’s cohesiveness - “The biggest thing is just to go out there and play my game. If you show them respect, they’ll show respect back to you. Get them the ball when they’re open and take your open shots and hopefully you make them. That’s how you gain respect by going out there and playing as hard as you can, making the right decisions and being a good teammate.”

Tomorrow in The Court Jester, a conversation with the former head honcho of the Golden State Warriors and new Kings' assistant Keith Smart.

NBA lockout ends and hundreds return to work

2011-11-30T00:03:59Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Tuesday that with the NBA lockout over – and the Sacramento Kings resuming their season – more than 700 workers at the Power Balance Pavilion will be able to return to their jobs.

“We are excited. With the lockout ended you will see people returning to work,” Johnson said.

Since the lockout began, Power Balance Pavilion employees have lost a significant amount of work, and businesses that rely on the traffic that NBA games bring in have suffered financially.

With the four-plus month lockout and all pre-season games cancelled and a shortened season ahead, employees have missed out on a substantial amount of work.

On Del Paso Boulevard, businesses have reported 20-30 percent losses in revenue due to the NBA lockout, Johnson said. “We need people to be working and we know money needs to be spent,” he added.

The range of employees feeling the impact of the NBA lockout is widespread.

The Hyatt Regency Sacramento, for example, is losing what Johnson speculated to be $50,000 a month due to NBA teams not visiting Sacramento for games and staying at the hotel.

The Kings will start their shortened 66-game season in late December.

Millions of dollars would have been lost if the lockout continued, Johnson said.

“We will be able to say ‘go Kings,’again,” he added.

Plans for the new arena in Sacramento continue to develop as the NBA season kicks off. Johnson said he hopes to get up to speed on all the components of the new entertainment and sports complex this week.

March 1, 2012 marks the date when Sacramento must have its plans finalized for the new arena. If not, the Maloof family, owner of the Sacramento Kings, has permission by the NBA to take the Kings elsewhere.

Dec. 13 is an important deadline in the planning process. According to the City of Sacramento website, the Sacramento Entertainment and Sports Complex must have finalized its “research, evaluations, negotiations on the finance (and) development and operation” plans by the Dec. 13 City Council meeting.

“We are excited the lockout is over and the city will do its best to step up and make a new sports entertainment center,” Johnson said.

Kings Donte Greene excites basketball fans with Goon Squad Classic

2011-11-24T07:07:56Z

With no end in sight to the NBA lockout, Sacramento Kings forward Donte Greene gave Kings and NBA fans something to cheer about on Sunday evening at the Pavilion at UC Davis as he hosted the Goon Squad Classic.

Greene came up with the name because him and fellow teammates Jason Thompson and Pooh Jeter are known as the “Goon Squad,” as they jump up and down before Kings games to help pump up the crowd.

Since there has not been a labor agreement between the players and the owners of the NBA, Greene decided to host the Goon Squad Classic, a charity game that benefited numerous charities both locally and nationally.

It was the first time that the Sacramento region had seen professional basketball since the Kings played their last game in April, which left fans in fear that their team would be heading down south to Anaheim.

Greene’s main goal when putting together the exhibition game was to give Sacramento basketball fans something to cheer about again, along with making money for a good cause. In association with Greene, the Circle of Success Foundation helped organize the game, along with fellow Sacramento King Jason Thompson.

Although stars such as Oklahoma City Thunder Kevin Durant was not able to make it, and Washington Wizard John Wall was unable to play, the game featured many stars and solid lineups on both teams.

Greene was featured on the black squad, featuring players such as 76er’s big man and former King Spencer Hawes, Jason Thompson and Kings rookie Jimmer Fredette.

This exhibition game marked the first time Kings fans were able to see their new rookie and 10th overall pick Fredette play in front of the hometown crowd, and he didn’t disappoint. Seemingly every time after he dribbled the ball over half court, the crowd shouted at him in an attempt to show off his “Jimmer range.” The rookie appeased the hometown crowd, draining numerous shots from well behind the three-point arc.

The purple team featured Kings Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, Hassan Whiteside, rookie Isaiah Thomas and Los Angeles Laker Matt Barnes, who was greeted to an uproar of boos when he was introduced.

As expected, the exhibition game featured little defense but was a showcase of the players athleticism, featuring numerous alley-oops and long-distance threes that continued to draw “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd.

But Greene did not just give the fans an opportunity to watch basketball again — he also gave the crowd numerous free shirts, with players available for autographs after the game. Greene also took the three different pairs of shoes he wore during the game, signed them and also threw those into the crowd.

Following little defense, the game ended with Greene’s team on top 167-164 as Tyreke Evans failed to make a desperation three-point attempt that would have tied the game at the end of the first regulation.

In addition to benefiting the Circle of Success Foundation, a portion of the proceeds also benefited the Save Ourselves Foundation for Breast Cancer, Sacramento Food and Clothing Bank, Crocker Riverside 4th R and Shriners Hospital for Children.

Power Balance files for bankruptcy

2011-11-21T20:32:45Z

The company that sold plastic wristbands with bold claims of health benefits and then bought the naming rights for the arena where the Sacramento Kings play (or would be playing if there wasn’t currently an ongoing labor dispute) has filed for bankruptcy, according to reports.

Power Balance, who sold the completely useless trinkets for as much as $30 a pop, recently settled a $57.4 million dollar class-action lawsuit with its customers for false advertising. Under terms of the agreement, anybody who was foolish enough to pay for a Power Balance Bracelet can get their money back plus up to $5 to cover the costs of shipping and handling.

A spokesman for the Kings was quoted in the Sacramento Bee as saying that “we expect to continue our productive partnership through this process and into the future.” How the company can be expected to continue any partnerships remains to be seen, as it is expected that very soon the company will cease to exist.

For more history on Power Balance and their relationship with Sacramento see:

http://gawker.com/5733694/company-admits-its-a-scam-promptly-buys-nba-stadium-naming-rights

http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/43464/OPINION_Proposed_Renaming_Of_Arco_Arena_Disrespectful_To_Citizens_Of_Sacramento

Think Big announces Citizen Architect winner

2011-11-10T21:55:14Z

Local sporting goods store manager Troy Bedal walked away as the big winner Tuesday in the Think Big Sacramento Citizen Architect competition with a personalized brick Walk of Fame design inspired by a similar design at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Bedal and the two runners-up – Shaun Baland, 42, a state worker from Lincoln, and Gary Bladen, 24, a recent UC Davis graduate working on sustainable development – gathered at City Hall for the announcement Tuesday along with Think Big committee members Greg Hayes and Carla Collins Mixon and local artist and competition judge David Garibaldi.

The competition – a contest to design a portion of the planned entertainment and sports complex – opened in July, and the top 20 field of design entries was narrowed to three in September.

Voting for the final winner concluded the first week of November.

Bedal, 30, said his design idea was meant to be a simple, cost-effective and eco-friendly way to commemorate everyone involved in making the arena a reality – starting with the members of the grassroots group that served as the support for the project.

“My heart is deeply with this community and with the die-hard movement that’s taken us to this point,” Bedal said. “It’s exciting to have something named after myself, something that I got involved in and put time and effort into. It’s unbelievable.”

According to the design description from the Think Big website, Bedal’s Walk of Fame will consist of bricks inscribed with each member’s name along with the name of the local grassroot campaigns they were involved with such as: Here We Stay, Here We Build, SacTown Royalty and citizen architects of Think Big Sacramento.

Bedal’s design was selected as the winner after more than 600 members of the public voted in the competition on the Think Big Facebook page, Mixon said.

Garibaldi said that what set Bedal’s design apart from the other entries was that it allowed for expansion beyond the initial installation.

“We can start with people being recognized for their work on the arena project,” Garibaldi said, “and then, throughout the years, we can recognize other people in the Sacramento region on the new Walk of Fame for their accomplishments, too.”

Runners-up Baland and Bladen both said they felt Bedal’s winning idea was a good one and they are happy for his success.

“The design contest was great, but it’s really secondary to the larger project,” Baland said after the announcement. “We just want to see an arena built. If our designs were there, great, if not we’ll go to watch a game.”

The next step toward getting a new entertainment sports complex in Sacramento is having a finalized financing plan to present to the City Council, according to Jeremiah Jackson, Think Big Sacramento project manager.

“(The Think Big team) has a lot of work to do still,” Jackson said Thursday. “We’re preparing a completed finance package for the council with all the details nailed down. There is a lot involved in that, but we’re committed to getting it lined out and ready to go.”

Jackson said Think Big representatives will make their next presentation on the proposed entertainment sports complex to the City Council Dec. 13.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Sheedy faces allegations of wrongdoing with recent poll

2011-11-01T01:20:23Z

A complaint filed Friday with the Fair Political Practices Commission against Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy alleges election law violations stemming from a recent poll authorized through her office.

The Oct. 24 poll was conducted by a polling firm hired by Sheedy to determine public opinion on potential financing plans for the proposed entertainment and sports complex.

According to the complaint filed by Sacramento resident Robert Langdon, Jr., Sheedy may have violated sections of the Political Reform Act of 1974 related to telephone advocacy and misuse of a public figure’s official position.

“(Langdon’s) allegations are completely without merit,” Joann Cummins, Sheedy’s district director, said Monday.

Langdon is a court liaison for the Sacramento county family court – and a longtime Kings fan, according to his mother, Mary Jo Langdon.

Langdon, 31, alleges in the complaint that, by paying for a telephonic “push poll” with campaign re-election funds and failing to advise the people called that the poll was paid for by her campaign, Sheedy violated the act.

According to the FPPC website, if the FPPC finds a violation, it may issue warning letters, impose fines up to $5,000 per violation or pursue civil penalties.

A “push poll" is a seemingly unbiased telephone survey conducted by a particular candidate or his or her supporters that spreads negative information about an opponent or an opposing issue.

“The poll was unfair,” Langdon said Monday. “(Sheedy) has always had issues with the (Sacramento Kings).”

Langdon said he filed the complaint because he felt the use of campaign funds was a violation of “fair practices” in elections.

The act states that when a political candidate expends campaign funds to pay for a telephone call, a disclosure is required that identifies who (or what organization) is paying for or authorizing the call.

The disclosure must specifically state that the call is "paid for" or "authorized" by the identified candidate, committee or organization.

Langdon’s FPPC complaint states that the text of Sheedy’s poll also fails to mention that it was paid for by her campaign.

By posting the results of the political poll on her official city website, Sheedy illegally used her “official position” in an attempt to foster her re-election campaign, violating the telephone advocacy and misuse of official position sections of the act, Langdon said in the complaint.

Those sections of the act state that public officials cannot use their position to influence decisions that are – or may come – before them in their official capacity by contacting any “member, officer, employee or consultant” of the agency that the official represents.

“Everybody pays for polls with campaign funds,” Cummins said. “Polling is a perfectly legitimate use of campaign funds.”

Cummins said Sheedy put the results of the poll on her official city webpage only after clearing it with the city attorney.

Sheedy and her staff will “take a look at the complaint,” Cummins said.

Langdon included news article from The Sacramento Bee in the complaint as evidence, however, according to Gary Winuk, FPPC Enforcement Division chief, a newspaper article is not considered evidence of a violation.

Tara Stock, FPPC spokeswoman, said Monday that after a complaint is received, FPPC Enforcement Division staff will notify the respondent – in this case Sheedy – within three days.

Sheedy will have 10 days to respond, and a determination will be made within 14 days whether the allegations in the complaint merit a full investigation.

“The length of any investigation will vary from case to case,” Stock said. “Timeframes depend on the specific allegations, the level of cooperation from all parties and whether witnesses need to be interviewed or subpoenas need to be issued.”

Sheedy was elected to the City Council for District 2 in 2000 and retained the council seat through the last two elections. She is up for re-election again in 2012.

Opponents vying for the seat have already come forward, including former Midtown Business Association executive director Rob Kerth and Kim Mack, 2008 local campaign organizer for President Barack Obama.

Local businessman Allen Wayne Warren has indicated interest in running for the District 2 council seat but has not made a formal announcement of candidacy.

Although the FPPC complaint challenges Sheedy’s re-election motives with the recent phone poll, Langdon is not a resident of District 2 and did not file the complaint as a constituent or as a potential opponent.

The FPPC was created by the Political Reform Act of 1974 as the enforcement agency for election laws.

Some areas of regulation that full under the FPPC authority include campaign financing and spending, financial conflicts of interest, lobbyist registration and reporting, mass mailings at public expense and gifts given to public officials.

Read the full FPPC complaint here.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter with The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

No NBA no problem: Heatwave basketball revs up to start season

2011-10-19T01:59:34Z

While the National Basketball Association is on lockout and preseason and regular season games are canceled, the Heatwave, the Sacramento professional American Basketball Association team, revs up for a full season.

The season will open on Nov. 12 with an exciting double-header against the Richmond Rockets, which defeated the Heatwave in the first round of playoffs last season, and the Bay Area Matrix, last year’s Pacific North Division champions.

“With the NBA lockout, we have a good opportunity to put on some great basketball for the city. We can entertain the people of Sacramento and get them excited about basketball again. No NBA, no problem,” said assistant coach Brandon Smith. “I am looking forward to giving people a reason to believe in basketball again.”

The Heatwave is hosting open tryouts at 10 a.m. on Sunday at Sierra College, 5000 Rocklin Rd., and plans to have its roster put together by the end of October.

The Heatwave has gone to division playoffs for the past two years and is known to have “the noisiest crowds around,” said Reggie Davis, CEO, owner and head coach of the Heatwave. “We are excited about finding new talent and to deliver affordable professional basketball to Sacramento.”

Last year the Heatwave had “a great group of shooters,” Davis said. “This year, we are looking for a balance of defensive and offensive players.”

“We are going to be searching for all kinds of guys this year. We will be looking for maturity, good work ethic, natural leadership, great shooting and some good young legs,” Davis said.

The coaches are looking at players from both Sacramento community colleges as well as players from African and European basketball teams.

“We will put the best professional product on the floor in the region,” Smith said. “Fans can expect high scoring and excitement at every game. People will be on their feet, and it is a family-friendly environment.”

The ABA, founded in 1967, is known for its signature red, white and blue basketball and is the origin of many rules that have been adapted by the NBA, such as the three-point shot.

The ABA also has other unique rules, including the “3D Rule.” This is a rule that rewards a team for having good defense. If a team scores a layup after stealing a ball in the back court, it receives an extra point for stealing the ball before making the shot.

“No lead is ever safe with the 3D Rule,” Davis said. “Even if you are down 20 points, the game can change in the last minutes. Fans stick around until the last seconds of ABA games because a 3-point shot on a stolen ball is 4-points right there.”

The NBA and the ABA serve different markets, Davis said.

“The ticket prices and cost of the overall experience are vastly different,” he added. “You pay $10 for an ABA game and can meet the players and have great seats or pay three times as much to sit in the nosebleeds at an NBA game.”

The Sacramento Kings games start at $13.50 per ticket and go up to $200 while Heatwave tickets start at $5 and go up to $25.

The ABA is less commercialized and more community-oriented. The team hopes to get involved in the community this season and give back any way that they can, said Davis.

“The skill levels and ages of the players are very similar between the ABA and NBA,” he said. “There are many players and teams from the ABA who have gone on to play for the NBA.”

The San Antonio Spurs, New York Nets, Denver Nuggets and the Indiana Pacers are just a few of the teams that were once ABA teams before becoming a part of the NBA.

NBA players are welcome to come play with Heatwave during the lockout. The coaches hope to have a few join the team for the duration of the lockout, Davis said.

Freshii caters for home games at Natomas High School and will provide healthy food options for customers, including various salads and wraps. Classic game food such as burgers, fries and sodas are also available.

The Heatwave is hosting a meet, greet, and eat event at Laughs Unlimited,1207 Front St., at 1 p.m. on Nov. 6. The community is invited to enjoy free food and drinks as well as meet the dancers and players of the Heatwave before the season starts.

Heatwave tickets can be purchased at the door or online. Home games are held at Natomas High School, 3301 Fong Ranch Road. For more information about the Heatwave and to purchase tickets, visit the website here.

City Council to vote on $550,000 in consultant fees for arena financing

2011-09-27T01:17:07Z

The City Council will consider approving $550,000 in fees Tuesday to bring in experts on sports finance, parking, investment banking and municipal finance to help dig through the details of a complex – and uncertain – arena financing plan.

At the Sept. 13 council meeting, City Manager John Shirey told council members that, in order to “proceed with due diligence” on the proposed arena project, the city would need the help of outside professional services.

“The City Council and the public deserve to have good information in order to make good decisions,” Assistant City Manager John Dangberg said Monday.

Members of the arena focus group, Think Big Sacramento, presented a much-anticipated 100-Day Report to the City Council on Sept. 13 that outlined a “menu” of financing options for the proposed entertainment and sports complex.

Although the report covered nearly 60 possible funding streams, it left many questions unanswered about specifics of the financing.

To get the needed answers, Shirey, Dangberg and city staff are turning to consultants – industry-specific experts in specialized fields related to arena financing and contract negotiation.

“We are in the process of trying to make a very big decision on a large piece of public infrastructure that will have lasting impact on the city if it goes forward,” Dangberg said.

If the City Council directs the city manager to negotiate the proposed contracts, Dangberg – who is taking the lead on the project for the City Manager’s office – and the consultants will have a lot of work ahead of them, Dangberg said.

“We will study the revenue and finance option streams that were identified in the Think Big (100-day) report,” Dangberg said, “including legal and policy issues and the capacity to carry debt.”

Consultants will also analyze the value of city parking assets and determine if the city can leverage those into a significant contribution to the project as outlined in the Think Big report.

Dangeberg said they will concurrently start discussing the “framework” for a feasible project with the ICON-Taylor group and the NBA.

The proposed consultant contracts total $550,000, including $75,000 for contingencies. The terms of the contracts will vary from two to six months, depending on the nature of the contract, Dangberg said.

One of the consultant contracts being recommended to the City Council is a $125,000 contract with Barrett Sports Group.

Barrett’s expertise is exclusively in sports finance consulting, Dangberg said, and the firm has been evaluating the sports complex proposal and providing advice to city staff since late June.

“The history and knowledge that (Barrett) has on the project is so valuable,” Dangberg said. “They have specific and specialized knowledge of this particular project, so it wouldn’t make sense to bring anyone else in at this point.”

Other consultants have not been selected yet.

$180,000 of the total funding will come from the city’s Parking Fund and the remaining $375,000 will come from the Capitol Improvement Project (CIP) Fund balance, according to city staff. The CIP fund is money left over from capital improvement projects that is made available for one-time uses.

One time funding is not something generally used to add staff or programs because it is not ongoing funding, city spokeswoman Amy Williams said Monday.

“Our guiding principal has always been protecting the taxpayers,” Jeremiah Jackson, Think Big Sacramento project manager, said Monday. “That’s what these consultants are being hired to do.”

“When you buy a house, you hire experts like roof inspectors, pest inspectors and home inspectors to make sure that you get what you’re paying for,” Jackson said. “If you don’t get experts then you’re negotiating from blindness.”

Jackson said that, when dealing with groups like the NBA and the Sacramento Kings’ owners who will have experts in their corners, it makes sense for the city to have experts in its corner too.

“We have great city staff, but they don’t do big stadium deals day in and day out,” Jackson said. “If we can bring in (people) who have that experience, we’re doing the smart thing.”

R.E. Graswich, special assistant to the mayor, said Monday that, from the mayor’s standpoint, the proposed entertainment and sports complex is a project worth 4,100 jobs and $7 billion in economic activity over 30 years.

“Is it worth the $550,000 to get to that point?” Graswich added. “We think so.”

The City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers at City Hall, 925 I St.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

NBA cancels 43 preseason games, postpones training camps

2011-09-23T20:19:47Z

The NBA announced Friday that it would be postponing player training camps "indefinitely" and canceling 43 preseason games for the 2011-12 basketball season in a press release.

The text of the press release is below:

The NBA announced today that player training camps for the 2011-12 season have been postponed indefinitely because a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached with the National Basketball Players Association. Training camps were scheduled to open on October 3.

In addition, the league canceled all preseason games scheduled from October 9 through October 15.

“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. “We will make further decisions as warranted.”

A spokesperson for The Sacramento Kings said Friday he could not comment on the announcement.

City Council receives, reviews arena reports

2011-09-14T05:58:28Z

City staff and Think Big Sacramento representatives presented the City Council with technical and financial option reports on the proposed entertainment and sports complex Tuesday, and asked council to direct them where to go next.

“We have a lot of work to do in the next six months,” said City Manager John Shirey, “and we need both internal and external resources to do it.”

To keep things moving forward, though, Shirey told council members that he plans to deliver three things: “a game plan with a timeline, a list of the consultant work we need and a list of how we’ll pay for those things.”

Although the technical report presented Tuesday included more detail than previous reports, Shirey said it will take some time to “dig deeper and determine if the project is really feasible.”

Shirey said he and his staff will need “special help” from outside resources to do that digging. That means turning to consultants, investment bankers and outside council for the “due diligence” necessary to thoroughly review the entertainment sports complex proposal, Shirey said.

One of the aspects of the ESC project discussed Tuesday was the potential for re-use of the current Power Balance Pavillion site in Natomas.

“Natomas re-use possibilities present tremendous opportunity,” said Rachel Hazlewood, Economic Development Department senior project manager. “We need to develop a plan of action to bring (the space) to its highest and best use.”

Hazlewood said that, because the building moratorium in Natomas will be lifted in 2013, the large site may allow for multiple users and will require rezoning – aspects of the “total arena plan” that need to be considered.

“We will need to identify potential business prospects and get the site shovel-ready for development,” Hazlewood said, “before we can re-use the Natomas site for something other than the arena that is already there.”

Arena finance expert Dan Barrett outlined the recently released Nexus report of finance “menu” options.

Barrett told council members that a public-private partnership is essential to the success of the project.

“When you structure a deal like this, it has to work for all parties,” Barrett said. “It’s clear that the public cannot fund this facility on its own, and the team cannot fund it on its own.”

Barrett said that parking income potential discussed in the Nexus report is “not a standalone financing solution,” and the Kings’ loan has to be part of the solution.

“The $387 million cost (in the initial feasibility report) may change,” said John Dangberg, assistant city manager.

Dangberg noted that infrastructure costs are not included in the estimated $387 million cost of the facility.

Dangberg urged council members to direct staff to look at financial, legal and practical aspects of the project.

“As we come up with a definitive financing plan,” Dangberg said, “we want to include enough resources to cover the real cost of the project as it becomes clearer.”

Barrett said it will be important for council members to explore parking opportunities “aggressively,” and to “critically evaluate” other public funding options.

“We’ll work together with you and staff to prepare a definitive financing plan by the end of December,” Barrett said.

Although Mayor Kevin Johnson acknowledged that the reports presented to council were preliminary reports and not a “final proposal” for a new complex, he said they were a good place to start.

“We did our best to protect taxpayers with this plan,” Johnson said. “This is about jobs – 4,100 jobs – for our region.”

Johnson said the project is in “a very critical stage,” and he hopes City Council and the Think Big committee can finalize as much as possible by January so the city can be in the best position possible by the March deadline.

Councilman Rob Fong said he supports the arena project and that there needs to be “a closer look” taken at all of the financing options suggested in the Nexus report.

“It’s really important that we thoroughly vet what we are hearing,” Fong said. “We have to make sure the general fund is held harmless, and figure out if there’s a way for us to go forward with the project”

For Think Big, the challenge remains to keep going “until we reach a point where we know for sure that we can do this – or that we can’t,” Fong said.

The City Council asked staff to take the reports back for more review. Council will discuss arena options further at its next meeting, on Sept. 20.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Think Big 100-day report: Immigrant investors and parking potential

2011-09-09T05:17:02Z

A federal funding program allowing foreign investors to provide low-interest loans in return for green cards was one potential arena funding source highlighted in the long-awaited Think Big Sacramento Committee report, which was revealed to the public at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon Thursday.

The program, while not a solution in its own right, could buy time, allowing publicly owned land to increase in value for sale at a higher rate, according to officials. Both of those options are parts of the “menu of options” the Think Big Sacramento group was tasked with providing earlier this year.

More than 120 business leaders, a few Kings fans and most of Sacramento’s media gathered for the presentation of the 50-page report detailing financing options to build an entertainment and sports complex in Sacramento’s railyards.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and many of the 72 members of the region-wide committee known as Think Big Sacramento, including co-chairs state Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento and State Senator Ted Gaines of Roseville, were present to speak and to hear from arena finance expert Dan Barrett about various ways to build an arena in a challenging economy.

And Barrett had to do that within strict parameters set by the mayor to acknowledge that the public is in no mood for new, broad taxes.

The Nexus Report – so-named because each financing method on the menu has a direct connection to the new complex – identifies three main revenue categories: private investment, public participation and user fees.

Included among the many options discussed in the report are the sale of city property, the introduction of ticket surcharges and public-private partnerships for lease-back payments and private investment money.

None of that is new, though – Think Big has put out one report after another over the past four months describing those aspects of the project.

What was new Thursday was a proposed funding mechanism called EB5 – a federal program that allows foreign investors to provide low-interest loans in return for green cards.

The EB5 program has been around for 20 years, and it has been a successful means of getting up-front investment capital for public projects.

According to the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services, the EB5 program is a pathway for an immigrant investor to “gain lawful permanent residence for themselves and their immediate family.”

The program requires a minimum capital investment of $500,000 to $1 million, and the projects funded must “create or preserve 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers” within two years.

“EB5 is a mechanism, not a source,” Jackson said. “Its a loan – the money has to be paid back, so it doesn’t really solve the problem.”

But it does buy time.

If the market isn’t quite right to sell public property, EB5 funding can bridge the gap until actual revenues start to flow from what is now being called the Entertainment and Sports Complex, or ESC for short, according to Chris Lehane, Think Big executive director.

“It allows us the flexibility to move forward with the project,” Lehane said.

EB5 funding works something like a “bridge loan” in residential financing: a short-term, low-interest loan that makes money immediately available for initial construction.

“It isn’t a silver bullet,” said Barrett, founder of Barrett Sports Group, a sports management consulting firm. “Multiple revenue streams are still going to be required to make (a new arena) a reality.”

One of those “multiple streams” discussed in Thursday’s report comes from the income potential of parking opportunities in the downtown area.

“The city has a few options (on parking),” Jackson said, “and depending on which way (City Council) decides to go, we could get a good amount of money from it.”

Parking options under consideration include selling the city parking inventory to a private party, or leasing the city’s parking assets to a third party and collecting lease payments.

“A public-private partnership with parking would give us money up front,” Jackson said, “and we could maintain control long-term. That puts less pressure on (the city) having to get bonds to help pay for the (sports) complex.”

Jackson said that, although the specifics of parking revenue options still need to be hammered out, “it does have a lot of potential to help solve funding issues.”

The Think Big Sacramento initiative was launched in June and includes a group of 72 business, community and public leaders from the Sacramento region.

The report released Thursday is the result of the committee researching financing options and gathering support for the project under a self-imposed deadline of 100 days.

Think Big Sacramento has until March to firm up a plan for a new arena or the Sacramento Kings will have another opportunity to file a request with the NBA to relocate the team.

Think Big Sacramento committee members will make a formal presentation to the City Council Sept. 13, setting the stage for the next step toward building a new entertainment sports complex in Sacramento.

“This is an innovative approach to financing a project like this,” said Jeremiah Jackson, Think Big Sacramento project manager.

“Other cities just pass a sales tax and pay for an arena,” Jackson said, “That’s simple, but it doesn’t have a direct connection to the facility.”

If the last attempt to get taxpayers to foot the bill is any indication, it’s not what the public wants, either: In 2006, a quarter-cent sales tax to help pay for an arena was overwhelmingly voted down by Sacramento county voters.

Still, public enthusiasm has remained solidly in favor of a new sports and entertainment complex in Sacramento.

“Five months ago, it was all but certain the Kings would be moving to Anaheim,” Johnson said. “But, the community stepped up and said, ‘We aren’t going to sit on our hands and do nothing.’ ”

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

New Think Big report: strategic use of public land

2011-09-02T04:36:31Z

Take some vacant, unused city-owned land, sell the land to investors for development and reap the benefits of construction jobs, economic growth and money to help finance a new downtown arena.

That’s the latest idea being considered by the Think Big Sacramento committee, according to a report released at a press conference Thursday.

The press conference was held at a city-owned dirt lot at the corner of Front and V streets, which is one of the examples cited in the report of public land that could be sold for profit – and would result in jobs related to the development of the property.

“Properties like this could be put in the mix to draw and generate money from developers,” said Think Big Sacramento Executive Director Chris Lehane.

“That (money) could help with the development and construction costs of building an arena,” Lehane said.

The city of Sacramento owns approximately 2,400 pieces of land that are currently undeveloped, vacant or producing very little revenue to the public, according to the report.

Two other examples in the report included an empty lot at Second Street and Capitol Mall – with an estimated value between $8.5 and $14.8 million – and the Plaza Office Building at 921 Tenth St. – with an estimated value between $480,000 and $1.2 million, despite the presence of hazardous materials that make the building less desirable for buyers.

Selling some of that land to private developers is one potential financing option that the committee is considering to build a new entertainment sports complex downtown.

Lehane and the Think Big Sacramento committee have been working under a self-imposed 100 day deadline to put together a final “menu” of funding options for the arena project.

“Our core focus has been on identifying revenue streams that have a relationship to the actual facility,” Lehane said.

By “relationship,” Lehane said he means revenue that would come from businesses that benefit from being located near the new complex, or from people who use the facility (such as ticket holders or event sponsors).

Lehane also included entities within the public domain that “would not otherwise exist except for the arena or are enhanced because of the arena,” such as hotels that build near the arena for out of town visitors to the arena, or new businesses that are built as part of the development of public land bought from the city.

Jack Reynan, a homebuilder with Artisan Communities and a Think Big Sacramento committee member, said that development of the sold property would do more than bring short-term construction jobs during the development stages.

“The creation of a modern arena and facilities would unquestionably revitalize the surrounding areas,” Reynan said, “creating more jobs which would, in turn, almost certainly increase demand for housing.”

The Think Big committee report said city-owned land located near the proposed arena site could see a high demand and increased value when an arena is built – a demand that will turn into long-term benefits for the city.

“A facility that creates jobs in construction, generates revenue for the city and has people working here day in and day out,” Lehane said, “that’s the sort of thing that leads to a transformation in economic development for the city.”

Think Big committee members are already seeking private developers who might be interested in buying and developing city-owned properties, said David Taylor, a developer and investor with David S. Taylor Interests.

“(Private investors) will be more willing to invest more money into development (in the area),” Taylor said, “as long as the public sector is willing to bring money to create the infrastructure.”

If the public will invest in the private-public partnership of a new arena, Taylor said, the city could “get their money back plus some” over the next 20 to 30 years.

“That’s worth it in my view,” Taylor added.

In total, the Think Big committee has reviewed more than 70 funding options for private-public partnerships to make it possible to build the new sports entertainment complex.

Final funding recommendations from the Think Big committee will be released Sept. 8 at a luncheon hosted by The Sacramento Press Club.

Lehane said the committee pared down the list of possible properties to sell from 2,400 to about 19 or 20. Details of those properties will be released as part of the Sept. 8 report.

Think Big Sacramento committee members will present a follow-up report to the City Council on Sept. 13.

Read the Think Big Sacramento report here.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Think Big says 'pay to play' is another way to go for arena financing

2011-08-25T04:11:51Z

At the upcoming meeting of the Think Big Sacramento committee Friday, committee members will discuss construction loans for a new arena/sports complex and yet another potential financing idea: user fees.

For a project that organizers believe will bring regional public benefits of $7 billion in revenue over 30 years and 4,100 new jobs, working out the kinks of financing everything is a challenge.

The Think Big committee has been under a self-imposed deadline to come up with a “menu” of financing options – essentially, a 100-day brainstorm session that committee members hope will result in finding a viable way to pay for the $387 million endeavor.

Think Big has already determined that financing will require public-private partnership, and committee members have focused that definition to include private participation, public participation and – according to a report released Aug. 18 – user fees.

“User fees are ways to identify revenue sources from entities that will be benefiting from the arena,” said Think Big Sacramento Executive Director Chris Lehane in an email Wednesday.

Entities such as attendees who will go to the arena and pay a ticket fee, Lehane said, or businesses in the proximity of the arena that will benefit from 300,000 more people coming to the city.

The reasoning for this, simply put, is that “the people who use it should bear the greatest responsibility of paying for it,” said Think Big Sacramento project manager, Jeremiah Jackson.

User fees could be arena fees that are included in the price of things sold at the venue, such as food, drinks and merchandise, or it could be ticket fees – a $1 to $3 surcharge on the price of a ticket, for example.

User fees could also come in the form of naming rights (think: Power Balance Pavilion, AT&T Park, Staples Center), or the creation of Business Improvement Districts (BID).

The core of a BID is self-assessment – businesses and restaurants agree to pay a certain percentage on top of whatever else they’re selling, because they know they’re going to get a certain amount of increased business from being near the arena.

“With 3.1 million new visitors to downtown each year,” Jackson said, “we’ll expect to see increased spending at all of the businesses nearby.”

This concept of a BID has seen some success in areas like Portland, where the BID contributed about $21.5 M to the construction of a streetcar system, and in San Francisco, where 11 BIDs funded a variety of downtown revitalization projects around the ballpark.

Michael Ault, president of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, which represents 56 blocks in the downtown core including 800 property owners and merchants, said he is not entirely sold on the idea for Sacramento, however.

“If business and restaurant owners can readily identify an upside that justifies an assessment district,” Ault said Wednesday, “it could be a good thing.”

Ault said the the Downtown Sacramento Partnership hasn’t yet been engaged in any discussion of “real numbers” with the Think Big team yet, so he is hesitant to say how much support the idea would get.

“How much (fee assessment) are we talking about? For how long? At what level?” Ault said. “Until we know any of that, it’s hard to really say anything.”

According to a poll conducted for the Think Big committee, public support for user fees is strong.

Seventy-four percent of people polled said they would support the idea of charging for naming rights on the facility, and 57 percent supported a ticket surcharge and/or arena fees, the recent Think Big report states.

Ticket fees are common at similar entertainment and sports complexes, said Think Big representatives.

“Staples Center in Los Angeles has had them for years,” Jackson said Wednesday. “The Staples Center even has a contract with the NBA that allows them to raise it up to about $3 per seat.”

The Think Big report estimates user fees from ticket surcharges could total to about $20 million a year in revenue.

Naming rights have netted huge benefits for similar arena projects, too, arena representatives said.

For example, Amway Center in Orlando opened in 2010, and the city gets about $6.5 million annually from the naming rights contract with Amway. In Memphis, there’s the FedEx Forum that brings an average of $4.5 million annually.

“The name of the game,” Jackson said, “is to determine who are the parties that benefit from (the complex) and how can we spread some responsibility (for paying for it) across that group?”

Jackson said the Think Big committee is considering numerous ideas on financing, and incorporating user fees is just one part of that.

The 100-day summary report – including the full menu of financing options for a new sports/entertainment complex – is scheduled to be presented at the Sacramento Press Club luncheon on Sept. 8.

A follow-up report will be made to City Council at the council meeting on Sept. 13.

Read the user fees report here.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Arena opinion poll released, showing support

2011-08-05T06:00:08Z

A public opinion poll delivered to the City Council Thursday shows support for both the downtown arena and several public funding options.

That poll came in with 33 days remaining in the Think Big Sacramento committee’s 100-day timeline to come up with a “menu of options” for financing an entertainment and sports complex, said Kunal Merchant, chief of staff to Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Paul Maslin, of the public opinion research and strategy organization Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, said his company did more than 700 phone interviews with residents of Sacramento, Sacramento County, El Dorado County, Placer County and Yuba County. The polls were completed two weeks ago.

The findings, he said, showed that about two thirds of those interviewed support the downtown Sacramento arena proposal, with most citing job creation and economic development as reasons.

The margin of error for the poll was about 3.5 percent.

“Almost 90 percent of voters had some knowledge of the proposal before the survey,” he said, adding that that number is very high for a local issue.

The poll also found that 75 percent of respondents said they preferred having a public/private partnership to fund the arena rather than not having a downtown arena at all.

“Economic concerns are front-and-center,” he said during his report to the council, adding that political party affiliation had no bearing on the issue, with Republicans, Democrats and those who decline to state their affiliation all supporting the proposal by a two-thirds majority.

Numerous funding options showed approval from levels of more than 70 percent to just over 50 percent.

“We rarely find any funding source for any major project that gets a majority (positive) response,” Maslin said.

Maslin added after his presentation to the council that the level of support is some of the highest he’s seen, noting that his firm has previously worked with a football stadium and a baseball stadium in Detroit, which required ballot measures to pass, and a regional effort for an airport in Denver in which several suburban areas agreed to give up land for a regional airport.

Funding sources that got widespread support included digital billboards, mounting a cell tower on top of the building and selling naming rights.

Other funding methods, though still showing support, were not as enthusiastically supported: Those included parking revenue from existing city parking garages that would otherwise be less-than-full during events, sales tax applied to goods sold within the arena and a $2 fee to all tickets to events in the arena.

A tax on hotels to fund the arena showed a 51 percent approval.

“We have about a dozen or more of these funding devices that have a majority of support,” Maslin said, noting that any specific taxes are “tougher to sell.”

The idea of charging a toll on drivers passing though the region received very little support.

“I think there is some momentum building,” he said. “There’s a lot of support for a lot of different ways to build it.”

Merchant told the City Council that a lot of progress has been made since July 2, noting the four-county bus tour and the approval of the arena by multiple local chambers of commerce.

“We have all (funding) options on the table at this point,” he said. “By the 100th day (just after Labor Day), we want to have a menu of options to present to the mayor and council.”

Merchant said that no funding decisions have been made at this point.

Councilman Kevin McCarty said he is concerned that the approval to use city land might have been overrode by people living outside Sacramento, but Maslin said there was no significant difference between the groups surveyed.

McCarty also said he was surprised to see approval of a hotel tax and ticket fees because, typically, voters prefer for others – such as the National Basketball Association or basketball players – to pay for arenas.

Cellphone and billboard ideas are innovative, McCarty added, but he said he sees logistical issues with both, since cell tower revenues – about $20,000 per tower per year – currently go into the city’s general fund or council discretionary funds, and there are already contracts on the books for digital billboards that might preclude their revenues going to the arena.

Another issue he brought up was with one of the other funding sources that has been talked about over the past few months – selling city land. He said he is not sure that putting any revenues from selling city property toward an arena is the best idea, when those funds could also go to the general fund, of which a large part is spent on public safety and parks.

Johnson said after the meeting in a press conference that McCarty asked some good questions that need to be considered, but he is happy to see the high level of support from the community.

“Overall, it just showed there is such strong support in the city and county and region if we approach it the right way,” he said. “We still have a long way to go, but I think that was a good first down for us.”

Two town hall meetings will be held next week for arena-related issues. The first will be held at 6 p.m. Monday night at the Amtrak station at Fourth and I streets and will include a site overview and address how the arena and intermodal transit facility will work together.

The second town hall meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Natomas Charter School, 4600 Blackrock Drive, and will focus on the future of Natomas when the downtown arena is finished.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Think BIG committee looks at revenue potential of public assets

2011-07-29T01:59:49Z

Think Big Sacramento committee members met at the West Sacramento City Hall Thursday to review a report identifying publicly owned assets that could potentially increase in value with the development of an entertainment/sports complex.

The “Public Synergies Report,” prepared by the Think Big executive committee, outlined four asset areas with potential for increased revenue: the use of existing parking structures, new billboards and digital signage near the facility, the sale or development of some publicly owned land and the placement of cellular phone towers near the facility.

“We are identifying revenue that would not otherwise exist if not for the development of this facility,” said Think Big Sacramento Executive Director Chris Lehane.

The committee has been exploring ways to fund the new complex using a variety of public and private options, public-private partnerships and the use of new development to leverage the ability to get construction bonds.

“There are 1,900 property assets that the city controls,” Lehane said. “We are specifically looking at 19 or 20 properties that have some real value.”

Lehane said that the properties being considered were selected because of their proximity to the proposed downtown complex site and because they have the greatest overall potential for value increase and creating consistent revenue.

Lehane said the committee is looking at assets that are owned by the city that will increase in value “because of the very fact that the arena will exist downtown.”

Lehane added that maximizing publicly-owned assets such as parking structures, billboards and new cell towers, would not increase costs to the public or have any impact on other funding because revenues would result from increased use – the more cars parking in available spaces, the more money that comes from parking fees paid.

Sen. Ted Gaines (R-Roseville) said that the real focus of discussion for the committee is exploring options without resorting to new taxes or tax increases for the public.

“We don’t want to burden taxpayers throughout the region,” Gaines said. “The question is how to find the sweet spot where (we are) generating enough revenue to justify the bonds to complete the construction.”

Gaines said there is “a lot of solid evidence” indicating that non-tax-related revenue options are possible, and the committee is making it a priority to find them.

Tom Friery, former Sacramento treasurer and head of the Think Big Sacramento finance committee, said the completed financing picture for a new entertainment/sports complex will not be “just one big pie,” but a variety of revenue streams put together to create a sustainable project.

“We’ve looked at eight different revenue sources so far,” Friery said, “and we’ve got seven weeks to go and 49 more (options) to look at. When we finish that, we’ll be focusing on which ones make the most sense.”

In June, the committee released a 37-page report on the expected impact to the region of a new entertainment/sports complex. According to that report, the new complex could draw 3.1 million visitors to the Sacramento area each year and bring the region more than $7 billion over 30 years.

The 72-member Think Big Sacramento committee is about halfway through a 100-day research timeline established in June, during which committee members hope to organize funding options and secure funding sources for the proposed entertainment/sports complex.

The committee is preparing for a March 2012 deadline when Sacramento Kings owners are expected to decide whether to relocate their organization.

Read the “Public Synergies” report here.
Read the previous “Economic Engines” report here.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Arena bus tour rolls out to region

2011-07-15T01:15:02Z

The arena campaign committee, Think BIG Sacramento, hosted a four-county bus tour Thursday to spread the message that a new sports and entertainment facility will benefit not just the city of Sacramento but the entire region.

The group released a "Capitol Corridor Impact Report" showing 55 percent of the people going to basketball games and other events at the Sacramento Kings' current facility come from outside Sacramento County. And almost 75 percent live outside the city, committee Executive Director Chris Lehane said Thursday at a press conference in El Dorado Hills.

The report was compiled using three years' statistics from the National Basketball Association. Actual numbers of arena customers weren't provided, Lehane said.

In addition, new funding concepts are being considered by the group’s finance committee. One might tie agreements for corporate sponsorships, ads and luxury seats with contracts for those businesses to sell regional products such as wine, fruit or nuts at the facility, committee member Kevin Nagle said.

"Remember to 'Think BIG,' buy regional and fight on so we can make this a reality," said Nagle, president of Ohio-based Envision Pharmaceutical Services, which has a location in El Dorado Hills.

The press conference was held in front of the tour bus, pulled up outside the El Dorado Hills Chamber of Commerce in the El Dorado Hills Town Center. Thursday morning, about 30 people took the black limo bus from the Kings arena, Power Balance Pavilion, in Natomas to El Dorado Hills.

The group was made up of Lehane and one other Think BIG member, Kings sponsors, community and business leaders, Mayor Kevin Johnson's staff, a Maloof Sports and Entertainment employee, Kings dance team members and two new members of the committee's citizens' initiative, dubbed "citizen architects."

The figures provided in the report show many people who live outside Sacramento would benefit from a new arena. People living outside the city are also expected to get a large share of the 3,700 construction jobs that would be created, because local construction companies will be used, Lehane said.

Power Balance Pavilion draws about 55 percent of its customers from 15 counties outside Sacramento County.

About 29 percent live in the other five counties in the six-county region. However, a large number come from elsewhere in Northern California. Residents of San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus and Contra Costa counties make up 22 percent of the people at games and other events, according to the report.

Johnson and other elected officials, as well as arena campaign committee members, believe more people will be drawn from outside the region if a new arena with more plush facilities is built, Lehane said.

A ticket fee is being considered as one of many options to help fund the arena through a combination of public and private investment, Nagle and Lehane said.

One of the newest ideas is to showcase products and services from businesses located throughout the region at the new arena in exchange for financial support. That financial support might be given by businesses that advertise or become corporate sponsors at the new arena, or that buy club seats or luxury suites, Nagle said.

Arena contracts for products and services could lead to more jobs throughout the area, he said.

Lehane described Nagle as a "key" member of the arena campaign committee – someone who stepped up to offer financial support to keep the Kings in Sacramento at the start of the effort last winter, when Johnson went before the NBA. Nagle was one of the first to view a new arena as a regional asset, and he has encouraged community support at arena meetings, Lehane said.

“Not only has he talked the talk. He has walked the walk,” Lehane added. “This is someone who, in and of himself, has helped make a huge difference in this effort. (He) and the mayor have run a pretty good two-man game over the course of this process."

Two people on the bus were "citizen architect" Troy Bedal and his 8-year-old daughter, Saraya. The Roseville residents were celebrating birthdays Thursday.

A Sports Authority store manager, Bedal said he's been a Kings fan since birth 30 years ago. His parents were Kings fans who watched games on TV and took him to his first game at Arco Arena when he was just 6 or 7. He talks about the need for a new arena to friends and coworkers all the time, he said.

City officials have initiated an effort to integrate plans for a new arena with an adjacent future regional transit center.

The bus later stopped at a construction site at UC Davis, the Fountains at Roseville shopping center and Vision Service Providers in Rancho Cordova. A town hall meeting was held there late Thursday afternoon.

The arena campaign committee will hold more meetings, a design contest and a town hall meeting in Natomas later this summer to continue reaching out to people about the impact an arena could have throughout the area, Lehane said.

“At the end of the day, it’s obviously critical to keep the Kings in Sacramento because they are a lynchpin to hopefully being able to develop this facility,” he said. “But this has always been much more than just about a single professional basketball team or a single professional sports franchise. This has been about an economic opportunity to transform the region.”

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

City officials merging plans for arena, transit center

2011-07-14T01:22:16Z

Sacramento officials believe a new arena can be integrated with a future regional transit center in the historic downtown railyards – making this one of the country's most eco-friendly sports and entertainment facilities, Assistant City Manager John Dangberg said Tuesday.

At Tuesday night's City Council meeting, Dangberg gave council members a status report nearly halfway into a 100-day technical review of a proposed arena. The $387 million project is on an expedited schedule to be in operation by May 2015.

One of the most critical issues being reviewed is the need to coordinate construction of an arena with the previously planned transit center. Both structures would be built on a site constrained by railroad tracks to the north, the freeway to the west, I Street to the south and downtown buildings to the east.

Building two "very intense pieces of infrastructure" on the 33-acre site poses challenges, partly because they are both so big, Dangberg said.

"We believe we can integrate these two," he said. "If and when we successfully do that, we have the opportunity to create one of the most sustainable, green, interesting entertainment and sports facilities in the country, if we can successfully integrate these uses and have transit right there at the facility and many modes of transit right there," Dangberg said.

The city has set up technical review teams that are focused on the site itself. The teams are looking at transportation and transit issues, community development issues, economic development and how to reuse the Power Balance Pavilion site.

A town hall meeting on the future of the Natomas site is scheduled for Aug. 11, at a time and place to be announced.

Mayor Kevin Johnson's office and his arena committee, Think BIG Sacramento, are working on financing options with support from a consultant, Barrett Sports Group, and a finance team made up of staff from the city treasurer's office and Goldman Sachs.

The city is also looking at urban design issues with the goal of preserving and playing up historic assets at the site, such as the Sacramento Valley Station historic train depot, the Railway Express Agency Building and the historic Southern Pacific Railroad central shops.

City staff wants to create a legacy project that uses urban design elements to connect to those assets and new opportunities for downtown revitalization, he said.

"We have a very, very rich history on the site as the terminus of the Transcontinental (Railroad). And we need to treat it in a very special way that creates a development that is uniquely Sacramento and distinctly Sacramento," Dangberg said.

"It is not another disposable arena that we see in so many cities, but something that will be here for many, many decades or a hundred years as our central shops have remained in place and really a permanent part of our urban fabric and history,” he added.

For example, city staff wants to keep key site lines between the central shops and the depot and take other steps to ensure historical compatibility throughout the project, he added.

A downtown location without a large addition of surface parking on-site will allow the city and businesses to create a "street-to-seat" experience. By using existing parking located away from the site, people will see restaurants, bars, shops and establishments with entertainment on their way to the facility. This would provide more opportunities to stay downtown before and after games and other events. This is expected to help revitalize and activate downtown, a key element of the project, he said.

"If we don't achieve that with the amount of investment that we're putting into this, we might as well not bother putting it in the downtown," Dangberg said.

City staff will present the 100-day technical review on Sept. 13, rather than Sept. 6, because of the Labor Day holiday.

At that time, staff will discuss predevelopment costs the city will incur and provide a critical path and preliminary schedule to the City Council. Dangberg also has been talking with the city attorney about the process to select a development team. Think BIG Sacramento will provide a list of financing options.

Johnson's chief of staff, Kunal Merchant, gave a presentation on the mayor's arena committee, Think BIG Sacramento, and an update on the group's work.

Think BIG Sacramento is a 72-person committee brought together to facilitate arena development before the National Basketball Association's March 1, 2012, deadline for teams to file for relocation next year, he said.

An estimated 3,700 temporary construction jobs and 400 jobs for facility operation are expected to be created by the project, he said.

However, Sacramento resident Mac Worthy, one of two people who provided public comments on the issue at City Hall Tuesday, called into question the number of jobs the project would bring and predicted civil unrest if more people don't get jobs and improve their living conditions soon.

"We need jobs here. This thing ain't going to give us no jobs," he said. "The next two years (are) going to be the critical part, here…. Wake up, people. People (are) tired of being down, without a roof over their head, without enough money to go to the grocery store and buy food, can't even buy gas."

Think BIG Sacramento will host a four-county bus tour and town hall meeting Thursday to tell regional residents about the possible benefits of a new arena. A "Capitol Corridor Impact Report" will also be released.

The tour will start at 10 a.m. at the California Welcome Center, 2085 Vine St. in El Dorado Hills, then make stops in Davis and Roseville. A town hall meeting at 3:30 p.m. at Vision Service Plan, 3333 Quality Drive in Rancho Cordova, will be the last stop, according to a press advisory sent out Wednesday afternoon.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Immense railyards project gets manager

2011-07-09T00:56:46Z

New Sacramento Railyards Project Manager Fran Lee Halbakken said she became a civil engineer because she loves solving problems.

Halbakken is now tackling challenges with one of the city's and country's largest redevelopment projects after starting in her new role June 27. At nearly 240 acres of combined private and city land, the railyards project is so big it will virtually double the size of the central business district.

The key position was created at a critical stage of the massive undertaking. The private portion of the site has a new owner and the projects’ housing plan must be revised in light of the recession. Also, plans for a new regional transit center must be coordinated with efforts to make serious headway on financing an adjacent arena by next spring.

Halbakken got her civil engineering degree at Sacramento State. After college, she went to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and found working in the public sector suited her.

"I always knew I was going to be a public servant," said Halbakken, sitting in her City Hall office. "That was a huge appeal, knowing you could make the world better."

She’s worked for the city for 25 years.

Since 2004, she'd worked as operations manager for the city's Department of Transportation. In that post, Halbakken oversaw transportation policy development and planning. Key projects included co-managing development of a strategic plan for Sacramento River crossings and managing development of the central city parking plan.

She also played a key role in obtaining $225 million in local, state and federal funding for railyards infrastructure such as bridges, roads and railroad track relocation. The funding was gathered after the city and private railyards developer Thomas Enterprises developed the project's land use plan in 2006 and 2007. The money will finance work that will continue into 2015.

After Inland American Real Estate Trust took possession of most of the railyards site last fall, Halbakken led the transfer of ownership and agreements of the property, according to transportation department spokeswoman Linda Tucker.

In her new position, Halbakken has been loaned out to the City Manager's office to work on the railyards project full-time. She now oversees all aspects of the city's end in the enterprise, including planning, funding efforts and coordination with private developers.

Urban development experts recommended smaller-scale, market-driven development of the railyards in January.

The city needed to create the new post at this time because city staff must now work with Inland to revise plans for housing that must be built as a requirement of some of the funding already acquired.

Much has changed in the housing market since the land use plan was approved by the Sacramento City Council in December 2007. The start of housing construction hasn't been scheduled, but should be within five years, Halbakken said.

The new post was also created as an attempt to build a new sports and entertainment complex downtown is kicking into high gear at the mayor's office. Halbakken is overseeing coordination of plans for a future transit center with the developing plans for a Sacramento Kings arena.

The two facilities are expected to sit adjacent to each other on 33 acres of railyards land the city bought from Thomas Enterprises. She's working with a city-wide team to answer questions about how to ensure both facilities are high-quality, she added.

They're also looking at how to promote secondary development around the site, from downtown to the historic Southern Pacific Railroad central shops and the area to the east.

Halbakken is already working to keep current railyards infrastructure projects on schedule. Those include track relocation, which is phase 1 of transit center construction, and construction of bridges to extend Fifth and Sixth streets over the tracks north of H Street.

She's not directly involved, but the city is now gearing up for infrastructure work that will improve highway access to the site and nearby Township 9: a $10 million off-ramp and road expansion and improvement project at the Richards Boulevard interchange at Interstate 5 slated to start next week.

Off ramps will each gain another lane. Richards Boulevard will be expanded with two more lanes in the interchange. Other improvements will be made to Richards Boulevard, Jibboom Street and Bercut Drive, which will be extended into the railyards site.

Bike lanes, sidewalks and planter strips will be added to Jibboom Street and Bercut Drive. The work on the I-5/Richards to Railyards Access Improvements project is expected to be done in the fall of 2012 and will prepare the area for the first phase or two of railyards and Township 9 development.

Tucker said in 10 to 20 years, the intersection will be redesigned to accommodate more traffic.

Halbakken is also starting preliminary planning for other aspects of the railyards project that are at least five years away, such as the transit center's second phase – improvements to the adjacent historic Sacramento Valley Station train depot.

City officials are still trying to determine the impact California's new state budget may have on the railyards finance plan, Tucker added.

The budget may cause an $80 million funding gap for the railyards' planned $745 million in infrastructure if redevelopment agencies are no longer allowed to keep tax increments – the extra property tax revenue generated by development of the site, Halbakken said.

The Sacramento native worked as an engineer managing and designing facilities and high-level engineering projects with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers until joining the city’s Department of Public Works in 1986.

She said she feels lucky to work on a legacy project that will lay the groundwork for the growth of her hometown's central business district in years to come.

"I think this is really important to the city," she said. "One of the reasons I left the federal government was to work for the city where I was born and raised – and to give back."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Arena committee kicks off community rallying effort

2011-07-08T01:18:21Z

Think BIG Sacramento launched an effort Thursday to recruit 1,000 people from Merced to Redding to rally support for a new arena.

The arena campaign committee also announced plans to hold a public design contest for a space adjacent to the new facility as part of that effort.

The committee is asking regional residents and community leaders to help spread information and gather supporters for the drive to build a new sports and entertainment complex, state Senate staffer Greg Hayes, a member of the arena committee, said in a Thursday morning press conference outside the MARRS Building at 1050 20th St.

Later this month, the committee will announce full details of a contest that could enable the winner to design something for an open, public space adjacent to the new arena.

Those who volunteer to rally support will be dubbed "citizen architects" for their role in helping to construct a new arena to replace Power Balance Pavilion, Hayes added.

"It is their support and momentum that has been built that will make this new sports and entertainment complex a reality," he said. "Ultimately, this sports and entertainment complex is, in effect, the civic center for this region – a gathering place for events, meetings and conventions."

During the press conference, Sports 1140 KHTK host "Carmichael Dave" Weiglein, also an arena committee member, applauded the mayor, his staff and the committee for listening to Kings fans' "grassroots efforts" to support an arena and allowing input from the community.

"These promises are being fulfilled, and the trust that is so difficult sometimes to have between citizens and city leaders that was given out in the last few months – that trust is absolutely being backed up by the actions and also the listening to the counsel of the grassroots efforts," Weiglein said.

The committee created by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson wants to attract a diverse group from throughout the six-county region to be part of the citizens' initiative. The deadline to apply online is 5 p.m. July 18. People began signing up on the Think BIG Sacramento website before the announcement, said Hayes, communications director for state Sen. Kevin de León.

Kings fans and others have approached Weiglein to ask how they can support a new facility for National Basketball Association games, concerts, ice skating shows and other events. The citizens' group will be a "fantastic conduit" for people to get involved in a project that will make the area a better place to live, Weiglein said.

"It's something that just expands on the quality of life in this lovely city, (and) it's very difficult to put a dollar amount on," he said.

The NBA and the Maloofs, who own a majority share of the Kings, have given the region until March 1 to undertake a serious effort to build a new arena.

Hayes said residents' most important contribution would be to take part in a design competition, which the committee believes has never been used at another sports or entertainment facility in the country.

Details haven't been fully worked out. However, the contest will be open to everyone, including residents, architects and artists, when it’s officially announced near the end of July.

The committee will ask participants to design some type of feature in an open space set aside next to the arena. Residents will then vote on three design ideas.

Just what that component will be – public art or something else – will be up to participants, Hayes said.

"This truly must be reflective of what the people in this region decide, because this movement was really born out of the grassroots, and as Dave said, it got the leaders' attention," he said.

Report: Arena could bring $7 billion

2011-07-01T00:43:32Z

A new downtown arena could draw 3.1 million visitors to the central city each year and bring the region more than $7 billion over 30 years, according to a report released Thursday by an arena campaign committee.

The 37-page report on an arena’s expected impact to the region was released to reporters at a press conference at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel.

"In downtown Sacramento, there's a considerable economic boost, just by the fact that there really isn't a facility like that," said Cathleen Dominico, author of "The Economic Engine Report: An Economic Analysis on the Regional Impact of an Entertainment and Sports Complex," during the press conference.

"If you can create a downtown core that is a destination, it boosts not only the downtown itself but trickles out to the outlying regions," she added.

Dominico, managing partner at Capitol Public Finance Group, was joined at the press conference by arena committee Chairman Chris Lehane, who also chaired the mayor's arena task force; committee members who included City Councilman Rob Fong, City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby, state assemblymen Roger Dickinson and Richard Pan, Downtown Sacramento Partnership Executive Director Michael Ault; and past DSP Chairman Kipp Blewett of Rubicon Partners.

The press conference was held after a report summary was first presented to members of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's arena campaign committee in a closed-door meeting at the hotel. The meeting was announced two weeks ago as one of seven public meetings set this summer for the committee.

The number of visitors was estimated with an average 17,300 people attending 45 Sacramento Kings events and an average 15,000 people at more than 155 other events annually.

Visitors would be expected to spend an average of $20 each, before and after events, on food, drinks, travel and other retail. About 10 percent of them could spend another $102 to stay overnight.

Total spending outside the sports facility, before and after games and other events, was estimated at $93.6 million annually, according to the economic impact report called for by Johnson.

However, after subtracting spending by existing residents and annual spending at the Kings' current arena, net annual spending in the six-county Sacramento region is expected to total only about $24.6 million, according to Dominico and the report.

The arena's operating costs would be covered by revenue generated inside the arena, according to the report, which did not look at arena revenue.

ICON Venue Group President Tim Romani and Sacramento developer David Taylor estimate an arena facility would cost $241 million, with a total project cost of $387 million.

The cost of arena construction will be financed by a combination of public and private investment, which is expected to include Sacramento Kings annual tenant fees.

The ICON-Taylor group is developing an arena financing plan with input from Johnson's 70-member regional arena campaign committe e. The group was introduced a month ago as the Here We Build coalition. The committee's name was changed this week to Think BIG Sacramento.

The ICON-Taylor group was given a late-May deadline to present an arena financing plan to the Sacramento City Council. But that didn’t happen after the Kings’ owners didn’t provide revenue information in time.

The arena campaign committee was then given until Sept. 8 to provide the council with a plan.

The Maloof family, which owns a majority share of the Kings, agreed on May 2 not to move the team if the region would undertake a serious effort to replace Power Balance Pavilion, which was constructed in outlying Natomas in 1988. The National Basketball Association and the Maloofs gave the region until March 1, 2012, to do so.

The drive to build a new arena also creates an opportunity to redevelop the existing arena, Ault said.

"We feel very strongly that this is not about a downtown versus Natomas issue," Ault said. "This is about an opportunity to activate and engage the central city. It's an opportunity to make sure that we're doing everything we can to develop something that is a replacement in Natomas that keeps them whole.

"This is something I think the region will look back on as we finally are having the right discussions and the right opportunity to really engage in a facility that's going to make a difference in this region," he said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

NBA Draft Party in Folsom

2011-06-27T00:22:39Z

At the 2011 NBA draft, Commissioner David Stern came to the microphone, during the ESPN televised event, to announce the 7th overall pick of the draft. Stern said, “With the 7th pick in the 2000 and 11 draft, the Sacramento Kings select Bizmac Binbo from the Democratic Republic of Congo.” The crowd reaction at Hacienda Del Rio in Folsom was mixed.

Thursday night Hacienda restaurant on Sutter Street in Folsom hosted an NBA Draft viewing party. Before the draft Sacramento, Charlotte and Milwaukee had maneuvered a 3 team trade that many fans at the restaurant were not aware of.

Here’s a summary of the pre-draft trade. The Charlotte Bobcats received the 7th (from the Kings) overall pick and forward Corey Maggnette. The Milwaukee Bucks acquired the 19th overall pick in the NBA draft and guards Steven Jackson, Shaun Livingston and Beno Uldrih. The Kings received the 10th overall pick and forward John Salmons.

As Stern announced the number 7 draft choice, bewildered fans did not know if they should cheer or not. As the trade was discussed fans began to understand that the Kings’ real number 1 pick would be the 10th overall selection.

Armon Newton was on hand representing the Kings to welcome guests. He came with other Kings representatives to give away gifts and entertain fans that showed up to the NBA Draft viewing party. This was actually one of seven locations around the Sacramento region that hosted the draft parties. All sites had a Kings player attend the event along with radio DJs and Kings Dance team members.

Armon kept the party alive by giving away Kings’ t-shirts, min basketballs, hats and other merchandise. Radio personality Wayne Wayne was on hand with several helpers from radio station KSFM 102.5.

Kings fans were given raffle tickets and a merchandise table was set up selling hats, t-shirts and other Kings items. Armon’s winning personality and give away prizes were much appreciated by the fans. He asked for a volunteer to sing the Star-Spangled Banner but at that time no-one volunteered.

Armon at one point gave Wayne Wayne a Kings jersey with the number 102. Both of them read off raffle tickets and tossed t-shirts at the crowd in between draft choices.

Donte Greene showed up at Hacienda before the draft began. There was a table set up by KSFM as they raffled some concert tickets. This setting was also going to be used by Donte to autograph items fans brought up.

Armon asked Donte to say a few words. “I just want to thank everybody for coming out and for your continued support for the Kings and putting up with the little transition we had this year but I was one of the players who vowed to keep the Kings in Sacramento. I love you guys, I love the areas surrounding Sacramento,” Donte said.

Once a volunteer was found to sing the Star-Spangled Banner everyone stood up. Noel Riggs sang a very nice rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner and received a great ovation.

Donte Greene continued to sign autographs and pose for pictures. At one point one of the guests in line waiting to get an autograph was wearing a Cavaliers #23 jersey and Donte kiddingly gave him a hard time. Donte asked for the microphone and said “Can I have your attention please. I’m a little bit upset right now; does anybody know why I’m upset right now?” Someone yelled out an inaudible answer. Donte said, “No, anybody else know why I’m upset?” The guy with the #23 jersey tried to sneak away. Donte asked the guy to come back saying, “Yeah, you’re in big trouble. First of all what do we say to a LeBron James jersey?” The crowd replied with boos. Donte said, “Seriously we have to give him something to cover it up,” the fan was given a Kings shirt.

Armon asked Donte to toss a shirt to the audience. Donte almost knocked someone out when he threw a fast ball with the t-shirt. Everyone laughed and enjoyed the draft party with Donte on hand.

The volume was turned up on ESPN as Stern came up to the microphone to announce the 10th overall NBA draft choice which would end up being Sacramento’s draft. Stern announced, “With the 10th pick in the 2000 and 11 draft the Milwaukee Bucks select Jimmer Fredette from Brigham Young University.”

As Fredette’s name was called, big cheers were heard from the crowd. This was a popular choice and someone started a chant of “Jimmer! Jimmer! Jimmer!” ESPN analysts talked about Fredette’s scoring abilities and how he would fit in the Kings lineup.

The fun continued as the party began to wind down. Outside the Hacienda a large crowd was growing for Folsom’s Thursday Night Market event. We’ll see what other changes, if any, happen before the 2011-2012 NBA tip-off in October. Season and individual tickets are on sale now.

Opinion: Kings draft pick and trade analysis

2011-06-26T00:06:10Z

Here We Whimper?

Is this really what we fought to keep this spring? Is this why we dished up more hoop heart and dedication than Sacramento has seen in nearly a decade?

Is this why we had the rallies, the signs in our homes and businesses, the cheerleading, and above all, the renewed hope?

Two things right off the bat. One, I hope I’m wrong about this. Two, I don’t claim to be an expert in the X's and O's of basketball, and I know even less about scouting and player development. I’m coming from the perspective of an average fan here.

But it’s average fans like me that the Sacramento Kings are banking on to fill Power Balance Pavilion’s seats next year, and looking ahead, to hopefully fill the seats at a new arena in Sacramento.

Here’s a memo to the Kings from the average fan: You blew it.

You blew it big time.

Let’s examine what transpired in this trade. First, the Kings gave up Beno Udrih, shipping him over to the Milwaukee Bucks. No real surprise there; although he was a scrappy and intermittently fiery player, he never quite lived up to that contract year a few seasons ago where he was looking like the next (insert player name here).

What did we get back? John Salmons.

Hey, there’s not much of an issue with that on paper. He had some fine years in a Kings uniform, when his line would seemingly read 20 points every night like clockwork - although his production has been noticably down in the couple of years since being traded to Chicago along with Brad Miller.

But regardless of his point production, we already traded him away once, and now he's back? He will always be a part of Sacramento Kings history that the majority of fans will only be able to remember as the post-Webber/Bibby/Peja/Vlade years, the teams that gradually pulled us father and farther away from that trip to the NBA Finals that at one point in time was only two quarters of free throw-shooting Hell away.

He’s not the veteran saving grace of a franchise in desperate need of a spark. He’s a been-there, done-that.

The Kings ended up with pick number seven in the NBA Draft, falling victim to a tussling bucket of ping pong balls that never really seems to float in our direction. So what did they do? They moved down.

Down? Down?!

Is that what a city and its team on the brink need? To move down?

And who did they move down as part of a three-team trade to get? Jimmer Fredette.

He’s the guy who went by only one name during the NCAA Tournament (Cher, Madonna or Seal-style), was the coolest thing associated with Utah since Keanu Reeves in “Point Break,” took more shots than a frat boy on his 21st birthday…and is widely regarded as the biggest question mark in this year’s draft.

Hey, Petrie & Co. We didn’t need a question mark. We needed an exclamation point.

It gets real simple real fast: As a professional sports franchise looking for a new home, you cannot ask for a new floor if you demonstrate absolutely no steadfast, shout-it-from-the-rooftops commitment to put a winning team on that floor - and to do it now.

Sure, Fredette has a ton of potential, but he’s a gamble. It’s very possible we’re looking at the next Adam Morrison here, but without the ‘stache. That still equates to a potential career modeling warm-ups on TNT for 41 minutes a night.

We knew it was going to be a tough year, and arena talks have been heavy since the Kings announced they would stay at least one more season. But, lockout issues aside, this draft was Sacramento’s first real crack at getting on-court matters back on track, a night to make “Here We Stay” really mean something.

It wasn’t a night to roll the dice and gamble.

The pit boss of public opinion will tell the Kings that they currently have about as much credit with the house as George W. Bush at a Greenpeace convention.

Let me reiterate that I really hope I’m wrong about this. I hope that once the season starts, Jimmer and Salmons 2.0 come out blazing, and I get served a nice fat helping of crow, stuffed with purple cabbage and seasoned with Steph Curry.

But the fact remains that the selection of “Jimmer” and the trade that led to it was a "wait and see" move. It was a "time will tell" draft day deal.

Waiting is something the Kings don’t have the luxury of doing right now, and time is one thing they don’t have a lot of.

Kings' Tyreke Evans hosts basketball camp for kids

2011-06-25T17:51:39Z

Sacramento Kings star Tyreke Evans, along with VSP Vision Care, hosted a basketball camp for kids Thursday and Friday.

The two-day camp was held for underprivileged kids in the Sacramento area, giving them a chance to meet Evans and have their eyes examined for free in a 41-foot mobile eye clinic brought by VSP Vision Care.

The camp was a collaboration among VSP Vision Care’s Diversity Council, Positive Coaching Alliance, Dr. Ephraim Williams Family Life Center and Chris Johnson Basketball Academy. Event co-sponsors Family Life Center and VSP Vision ~~Asian Resources Inc. and the Greater Sacramento Area Urban League~~ selected over 200 kids to attend the camp at the Dr. Ephraim Williams Family Life Center in Oak Park.

Inside the basketball gym, kids had the opportunity to play popular basketball games such as Around the World and Knockout with Evans.

“This camp was for the kids,” Evans said. “They don’t see too many NBA players come down and talk to them and play games with them. .It was fun playing games out there with them and answering their questions. It was great to see them smiling and having a good time.”

Following the games, Evans answered questions and signed autographs for the kids and parents. VSP opened up their mobile eye clinic for free eye exams for the kids, offering free glasses if needed.

“VSP has an awesome diversity council, and they inspired this event to get this camp going,” VSP operations manager Niki Myers said. “We have three mobile eye clinics, and we do free eye exams and free glasses for low-income, under-insured members of communities all over the United States.”

Myers stressed the importance of these eye exams to the kids and parents.

“Parents should give eye exams as early as six months and then ever couple of years,” she said. “Vision can change, and there are over 30 different eye diseases. Eye exams will help, and if glasses are needed it’ll help kids to do better in school and achieve their full potential.”

Evans recognized the efforts of VSP Vision Care and also understands the importance of having good vision.

“Some of them probably haven’t had their eyes checked since they were born,” he said. “You need to know how your eyes are going, especially if you’re going to play sports. To get them checked out here for free, you can’t beat that.”

May I have your attention please Sacramento - The Jimmer has landed

2011-06-25T06:27:49Z

As he made his way down the escalator in the inside Terminal One at Sacramento International Airport Friday afternoon, his eye-catching smile was happily stretched across his face upon seeing the masses awaiting his arrival into the Capitol City.

That’s right Kings fans, along with the other two draft picks selected this week, the Jimmer has landed!

A couple of hundred of the Kings faithful patiently waited for the slightly delayed flight and they weren’t disappointed when 2011 draft picks Jimmer Fredette, Tyler Honeycutt and Isaiah Thomas made their way through the crowd - high-fiving fans and shaking hands all along the way.

The Kings had to do some wheeling and dealing to land Fredette. A draft day trade that sent Beno Udrih and the seventh pick in the draft to Milwaukee for former King John Salmons and the tenth pick. Moving down allowed the Kings to land the Fredette with the tenth pick where they may have felt they could pick him without looking like they were reaching.

Even though Jimmer had some off-the-chart numbers in his senior season at BYU - 28.9 points per game, 3.4 boards, 4.3 assists and shot almost 40% from beyond the arc - Fredette was slotted to go somewhere between the eleventh and sixteenth pick in the first round. But after Kings executives saw his impressive workout, they moved him up their draft board and happily took him with the tenth overall pick.

Many Kings fans made their way to the airport to greet the college star and Fredette was very happy to see the large welcoming committee.

“I’m really excited to be here,” started Jimmer. “To be a Sacramento King and to see the reception is really exciting for all of us here.”

Moments later he would say what everyone in KingsLand wanted to hear.

“I’m excited to be a King!”, exclaimed Jimmer.

The moment wasn’t lost on Jimmer’s girlfriend as she was seen looking back at the police behind her in awe of the crowd as she and Fredette made their way down the moving staircase.

Fredette, the consensus Player of the Year in college basketball last season, brings a smooth shot, amazing range and a nifty little crossover move to a team that will be looking to run and gun this campaign.

Also arriving were 2nd round picks Tyler Honeycutt (UCLA) and Isaiah Thomas (Washington). With the three new additions, the Kings become more athletic and will have more guys that can create their own shot. This team could become impossible to guard defensively.

The Kings brass were somewhat shocked when they realized the UCLA product was still around come the 35th overall pick.

Honeycutt talked about leaving school early considering he was projected to be a first round pick if he had stayed for his junior year.

“I felt like I had a solid year and I thought it was the right time for me,” said Honeycutt. “I felt parts of my game were ready to go to that next level.”

From what the scouts are saying, Honeycutt has a great basketball IQ, is an excellent passer and can block a lot of shots for his size.

With the last pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, the Kings selected Isaiah Thomas. He’s only 5’10” but can jump out of the building. With a 39.5-inch vertical leap, it’s easy to see why the Kings thought he has a shot at making the roster.

Thomas, who averaged 16.8 points and 6.1 assists a contest, really improved his passing skills between his sophomore and junior years.

In his second year in the Northwest, he only averaged 3.2 assists, but by the end of his third season with the Huskies, he increased that average substantially.

Thomas was very happy he was able to stay on the West Coast. He was also a little shocked to see how much Kings fans love their basketball.

“I’m very excited,” started Thomas. “I think everything worked out perfectly. I get to stay home in California. As you can see, we got great fans. I don’t know how many other teams this (airport gathering) is happening to!”

Thomas didn’t stop there when declaring how happy he was to be picked by Sacramento.

“It’s a blessing! It’s a great organization. You can already tell the fans are second to none. This is just unbelieveble!”

For those of you that missed the airport arrival, you can catch the three new draftees at the Rookie Rally at the Arden Fair Mall in front of Nordstrom at 2:30 on this Saturday.

Sweet Dreams Community

2011-06-23T21:31:59Z

Sweet Dreams Foundation recently completed a dream room for Jackson Grant. Jackson is a resilient little boy who has endured leukemia and here is his story as described by the Sweet Dreams Foundation.

In the spring of 2009, Hayley and Lance Grant noticed a severe change in their son Jackson. He started moving slow, wanting to be held all the time and the little light in his eyes began to fade. They went to the pediatrician and were given antibiotics to clear up any infections. Jackson awoke the next morning to his left eye swollen shut! After their visit to Mercy Folsom ER they were informed that their son had leukemia and needed to be immediately transferred by ambulance to UC Davis Children’s Hospital. Jackson has endured so much from lumbar punctures, bone marrow biopsies and intensive chemotherapy. His parents said "His strength and patience though this was truly amazing. No child should ever go through this; no parent should have to watch while their child fights for their life!" Jackson is now in remission and currently leukemia free. He continues a less intensive chemotherapy every day.

It has been such a blessing to get to know Jackson and his family! As we have gone over to his house to play we have learned that his dream is to have an Auburn University football and basketball room! We can't wait to create his dream room where he can pass a football to his favorite player, Cam Newton, and practice making baskets from his bed! Jackson also loves watching movies so we want to give him a comfortable place to watch movies with his family when he isn't feeling too well.

Sacramento native Jennifer Richards has put together a group of sponsors and people who care about the Sweet Dreams Foundation and the families that it helps. When they looked to help construct a room for Jackson they evaluated what he liked and created the perfect room for him.

Jackson’s love of sports, specially the Auburn University (AU) sports program (where his dad attended) gave him a dream room fit for a sports enthusiast. Jackson’s room is the latest room created by Sweet Dreams and they will soon be selecting the next recipient for a dream room.

Jackson’s bedroom was transformed over the course of several months. He has an arcade style basketball hoop where he can practice his skills. Auburn University collectables are all around such as an autographed Auburn football in an enclosed case.

Hanging on one wall is an autographed picture of the Auburn Cheer Squad. On another wall is a flat screen TV that allows him to watch his favorite TV shows and videos.

The room was painted in Auburn colors and the bedding fits the décor along with some throw pillows with the AU logo. The pièce de résistance is the closet made to look like lockers in a locker room and an autographed poster signed by 2010 AU Heisman Memorial Trophy winner Cam Newton.

When I went to photograph his room Jackson was very rambunctious and enjoyed having people in his room to play with or watch him play. Daniel Donchenko of Caviar Crew Construction and Jennifer Richards also played with Jackson.

I met with Jennifer Richards once more earlier this week to see how things were going and ask about future Sweet Dreams Foundation fundraisers. The result was the interview below.

Sacramento Press: Can you tell me what you’ve been up to the last couple of months with Sweet Dreams?

Jennifer Richards: One of the things we’ve done is expand the Sweet Dreams Foundation board. We added Virginia Quintal to the board and she’s been an awesome addition. She’s been going to events while I was attending a yoga teacher training program. The yoga training will allow us to do more fundraising. We’re looking at more fundraising opportunities to create more rooms.

SP: You’ve been doing this for 5 years, any idea on how much longer you’ll keep doing this?

JR: Hopefully forever. As long as we can continue to fundraise I’ll continue to design.

SP: Are you looking to expand, reduce in size or keep Sweet Dreams in status quo?

JR: We’ve been slowly expanding especially when you look at the first year with Virginia and her son Braycen. I hope we continue to expand to where we can design more rooms a year. However I don’t want to get to the point where we’re not putting the heart into it. Right now we are able to go back and spend time with the families. For instance spending time with Jackson and spending time with Aimee allowed us to grow a personal relationship and I love that type of relationship in our projects.

SP: What do you find the most rewarding in the job you do and what challenges do you face?

JR: The most rewarding aspect is seeing how it affects the entire family. It’s not just the child but how it affects the family and how it brings everyone closer and everyone is so excited. For instance even with Jackson’s room he has so many brothers and sisters but to see them all in his room playing basketball and just have that quality family time I would say that is the most rewarding. Creating that healing space relieves stress in the family and I enjoy seeing that. The most challenging, I would say, is funding each project, to raise enough money and get donations to create these rooms.

SP: Did you find anything more challenging in creating Jackson’s room than with any of the others?

JR: With him having leukemia, he is in remission now, there’s always that scary chance of it coming back. While Aimee’s condition wasn’t terminal it was just as challenging.

SP: I’ve noticed you’ve surrounded yourself and Sweet Dreams with some really amazing people how have you managed to do that?

JR: A lot of it is based on a feeling like with Braycen’s mom and noticing how much she’s become involved. Virginia has shown up to every one of our events. She speaks out at different events such as speaking at Monte Carlo, the Designing Dreams Fashion Show and it’s been great seeing her growth. Also our contractor Daniel, he’s been at every single project since day one and never made a dime so for me to bring those types of people to our board and to expand is rewarding. Thanks to them we’ve been able to expand. Also, Niki Gamboa, she’s on every single project just donating her time. To feel the goodness in their heart, they just want to give and be a part of something like this. That’s what I’m looking for. Don’t get me wrong if we had someone to just give us money we would love for them to come on board. We really look for lifelong people that want to see Sweet Dreams expand.

SP: What are you expecting to come out of your collaboration with the Designing Dreams Fashion Show this year?

JR: I’m expecting to raise enough money to design a room. Last year we probably made about $2,500. I’m hoping this year to expand a lot and be able to complete a room. The rooms take anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000 to create so to be able to raise that kind of money would be really nice so that we can give somebody their dream room.

SP: Anything else regarding the Designing Dreams Fashion Show?

JR: Tiana and Dave have been amazing to work with. Both of them have so much passion for Sweet Dreams as well. It all started last year when we were just sitting and talking what we should name the benefit fashion show. We ended calling it Designing Dreams and that’s where we go back to who do you surround yourself with. To see their passion for Sweet Dreams it makes me want to work with them more. Their hearts are amazing it’s been such a blessing.

SP: Speaking of fashion where do you shop?

JR: It’s such a mix I’m everything from, oh goodness, everything from dresses to cowboy boots. I love the cowboy boots. I love Urban Outfitters and Guess so that’s two different types of fashion but for me it’s whatever mood I’m in and it depends where I’m going.

SP: How did you become involved in creating Sweet Dreams? What was the driving force?

JR: I was going through design school and while I was sitting there during one of the lectures I was daydreaming about how I could help children. My grandpa died of mesothelioma, lung cancer caused by asbestos, and when I was 11 years old my mother and I lived with him. We were taking care of him the last month he was alive and he couldn’t move even from the bed to the bathroom. My mom had to get up and help him and I remember one time I had to run and grab his oxygen tank because he almost died, my mom wasn’t there and I was taking care of him. It was very scary and I remember looking around his room and saw how while his walls were. That was one of the things that got to me. I told myself that if I could create a space where people who have to spend so much time in recovery, like many of these kids after their surgeries, I would create a space to help with recovery and make it more enjoyable. For me to be able to create a space for them where they can play and love where they’re at and not feel like they can’t go anywhere. That’s what made me get started in this project, my passion for children and design so that was the beginning of Sweet Dreams.

SP: Have you selected the next recipient for a room?

JR: I haven’t selected one yet; I’ve been talking with Virginia a lot about it. I want to make sure that we raise enough money before we select a child. It’s very scary because of how long it takes to finish a room it may take up to 6 months. Aimee’s room took a couple of fundraisers because of the depth of her project. Hopefully this time with Designing Dreams we’ll be able to get things done faster and be able to get in contact with different stores about donating. Companies like Grainger donate every single time. They donated with Aimee’s and Jackson’s room. So this time more and more companies are donating. The larger we become the easier things become when getting sponsors and donations. We finally got Home Depot to donate. We have Grainger and Sherwin Williams who are there every single time so the more people know about Sweet Dreams the easier it is for us to get donations.

The interview ended at this point and her endless enthusiasm continued. Jennifer Richards along with Tiana Vega and Dave Icarangal are in close communication regarding the next Designing Dreams Fashion Show and other events that lead up to it. This event is the major fundraising event for Sweet Dreams.

To create Jackson’s room Caviar Crew Construction, Zimmerman Re-roofing, Grainger, Niki Gamboa, Email Direct, Amerimax Building Products, PIIB Insurance, Silva Electric, River City Paper, Elite Fitness and Performance, Wellness International, Home Depot, JennaRae Photography, Sherwin Williams, Vandemark Enterprises, Auburn University, the Sacramento Kings and others were all involved in making this dream room.

The Sweet Dreams Foundation continues to look for sponsors and accepts donations find more about the organization by logging on to their web site. Look for the Designing Dreams Fashion Show coming in August.

There are many people in Sacramento like Jennifer Richards who do things for people in our community and who receive great satisfaction out of helping others. Volunteers are a very valuable resource to a non-profit organization and I believe that these types of organizations are great for young people to get job experience, during summer break from school, and they can make a difference in their community. Jennifer Richards and her Sweet Dreams Foundation are fine examples of unsung heroes giving back to the community.

Arena coalition studies financing options

2011-06-17T02:06:56Z

The Sacramento region will have to get creative to come up with a public-private financing plan that might work to build a new arena – possibly coming up with funding sources never tried in other cities before, a prominent sports financing expert said Thursday.

Sacramento will need a unique financing model, partly due to the community's "limitations" in size and past efforts to gain voter support for public arena funding, Barrett Sports Group owner Dan Barrett told a crowd gathered for a town hall meeting at the Central Library.

The media market is relatively small, which makes it less lucrative, and there aren't a lot of potential corporate sponsors here. Other challenges come from difficulties getting sports facilities built in California and the lack of more than one sports team tenant for the building, he added.

A regional Here We Build arena coalition has been given until Sept. 8 to come up with a funding plan that appeals to the public and the Maloofs, the Sacramento Kings’ majority owners. The coalition held its first public meeting Thursday.

City Councilman Steve Cohn, a member of the arena coalition, asked whether any successful financing models have been used to build new sports facilities since the recession began.

"There's no cookie-cutter model, unfortunately. You've got to be real creative, particularly in California," Barrett said.

Barrett did not share what new options are being considered. It's "too early in the process" to say what even some of those might be, he said.

The coalition will be working with sports facility gurus, city staff, Mayor Kevin Johnson's arena task force finance subcommittee, the ICON-Taylor Group, the Maloofs and others. At least 65 coalition members and others from the community turned out for the presentation.

Their work follows on the heels of the ICON-Taylor Group, which was given until late May to present financing options as part of a feasibility study. The group told the Sacramento City Council May 26 that it had not been able to include financing in the analysis after the Maloofs didn't turn over financial information soon enough.

Barrett and coalition chair Chris Lehane led a meeting on public-private partnerships to fund arena construction downtown. Barrett explored a range of options that have been used to build facilities in other cities.

Public funding options that have been used include sales tax, hotel tax, rental car tax, food and beverage tax, tax increment financing, land sales, and parking revenues and surcharges.

Private funding options have included equity and cash or facility-related revenue streams such as naming rights, club seats, advertising, sponsorships and corporate investment, he said.

The Maloofs announced earlier this week they have given up controlling interest in the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas to private investment firms, Texas-based TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners. The Maloofs agreed to turn a $400 million debt into equity by giving up a controlling share in the resort, according to various sources.

The Maloofs did not respond to requests for comment.

On the East Coast, some have used EB-5 money, which trades temporary visas for the financing of American ventures by foreign investors.

Barrett said they don't know if any of those options will be viable in this region.

Broad-based tax increases haven't been used in California. Public financing for sports facilities in this state tend to be targeted taxes, such as hotel or rental car taxes, he said.

The coalition is now trying to identify public funding options that wouldn't require a vote, said former city Treasurer Tom Friery, a member of the coalition's executive committee who helped lead the town hall presentation.

Arenas and stadiums in bigger markets – the Giants' AT&T Park in San Francisco and the Lakers' Staples Center in Los Angeles – have been paid for entirely by sports team owners. That hasn't worked for smaller markets, because the teams don't see as much revenue coming in from media deals and corporate supporters once the facilities are built, Barrett said.

"It's critical to structure a deal that makes sense financially for both parties," Barrett said. "Both parties need to come away with a deal that works."

The Here We Build Coalition and Mayor Kevin Johnson's office will hold public meetings roughly every two weeks throughout the summer. Most meetings will be held at the Central Library, 828 I St., probably at 11 a.m. But exact times and locations are still being determined, according to the arena coalition and the mayor's office.

Economic Impact on Downtown : Thursday, June 30, Time and Location TBD

Regional Impact Event : Thursday, July 14, Time and Location TBD

Leveraging Existing Assets To Create Jobs : Thursday, July 28, Time and Location TBD

Town Hall: The Future of Natomas : Thursday, Aug. 11, Time and Location TBD

Job Opportunities Directly Related to the Project : Thursday, Aug. 25, Time and Location TBD

Release 100 Day Report : Thursday, Sept. 8, Time and Location TBD

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Arena coalition members named

2011-06-14T01:35:04Z

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson released the names of his regional arena coalition Monday, amid hopes the Here We Build campaign will be able to figure out financing options.

But the absence of a representative of Natomas, where Power Balance Pavilion sits, raised protests from the Natomas Chamber of Commerce.

Johnson announced the members of a bipartisan, 15-member executive committee Monday morning. The remaining 45 members of the community coalition were expected to be announced Monday evening, according to the mayor’s office.

No one from the Natomas Chamber of Commerce, which has led a campaign to keep the arena there, had been asked to be part of the coalition as of 5:30 p.m. No Natomas representatives are expected to be in the coalition, Johnson spokesman Joaquin McPeek said.

Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna was named to the executive committee. He lives in Natomas and represents the area in his supervisor role. But he hasn’t represented Natomas economic interests in the arena process, Natomas Chamber President Ed Koop said.

"He's never been the voice of anything we've been trying to do here, as far as the economic impact,” Koop said. "In my opinion, that's not a good representation of what we've got going on here."

Frustrated chamber members are refusing to provide a letter of support for the arena effort after Johnson recently asked for one. To be asked for support is "absurd," because building a new arena downtown will "cannibalize" Natomas, said Koop, adding chamber members feel their community has been ignored throughout the arena process.

"Natomas seems to be constantly put in the back seat. We're not asked to participate in any of these things going forward," he said.

Chamber officials want the city to set up a task force to focus on reuse of the Natomas site. But no one from the mayor's office has reached out to talk about the site's future, Koop said.

"I don't believe anyone's seriously looking at what's going to happen to Natomas if this arena leaves," he said.

Johnson asked for letters of support at a regional chamber coalition meeting at Sacramento Metro Chamber headquarters on June 3 – a few days after officially announcing the coalition's formation. Representatives of all six counties were there, Koop said.

The mayor and the mayor's office followed up last week with emails asking to get the letters, which were to be addressed to the city, by June 17.

The Here We Build executive committee will be chaired by state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento, and State Sen. Ted Gaines, a Republican from Roseville.

Other members of the committee include state Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon and Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong.

Also on the committee is San Francisco investor Darius Anderson. He told Johnson at the National Basketball Association team owners' meeting in April he and billionaire Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle wanted to buy the Sacramento Kings or bring another team here if the Kings left.

The full coalition will consist of stakeholders from around the region: elected officials, labor leaders, corporate and small business owners, grassroots organization leaders, developers and religious leaders.

Johnson said in a press conference Monday that the coalition was put together to equitably represent the metropolitan area.

“We knew if we had 22 cities and six counties, we knew we had to have about 30 electeds and maybe 30 non-electeds,” he said. “So, when it came down to the executive committee, we knew we wanted 12 to 15 members – half elected, half non-elected.”

The mayor's office cast "a wider net" to involve a broad base of the community, McPeek said.

"We want to make sure we have a nice cross section, across the board," he said.

The mayor's office is setting up the arena coalition's first public meeting for Thursday. The time and location are still being determined.

The group will be meeting to explore arena funding options and determine the "critical pathway" to financing a new arena, McPeek said.

McPeek could not say what work the ICON-Taylor group is doing to come up with arena funding options, which were due at their presentation to the City Council in late May. It's not clear how the arena experts will work with regional Here We Build coalition members to answer the funding question.

The Roseville Chamber of Commerce has sent in a letter of support commending the mayor for reaching beyond his borders to promote a regional discussion on a new arena, Roseville Chamber Chief Executive Officer Wendy Gerig said.

"It's not just about the Kings and basketball. It's about economic development and the jobs that will not only go to businesses in Sacramento, but to El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Yuba and Sutter counties," she said. "Our region is deserving of such a facility."

A link to the other coalition member names will be added in the comment section below.

Sacramento Press staff reporter Kathleen Haley contributed to this report. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Twitter, trunk of the tree for #HereWeBuild

2011-06-10T07:12:58Z

What began with an adult beverage and a frustrated Twitter post quickly led to a series of grassroots efforts to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

Radio personality Carmichael Dave, founder of #HereWeBuild, was relaxing in his backyard when he discovered that the Anaheim City Council had voted to pursue efforts to bring the Sacramento Kings to Anaheim.

“I thought this is frustrating and I’m ticked off and I want to let people know,” Carmichael Dave said. “So I tweeted out, ‘Carmichael Dave votes one-to-nothing to issue $200 into a fund to build a new arena. Whose with me?’”

Then the explosion happened which soon resulted in the HereWeBuild, HereWeStay and SacDeflated.com campaigns, and their spinoff campaigns HereWeSit and HereWePurple.

Founders of the movements spoke Thursday evening at the Sacramento Social Media Club #HereWeMeme event at The Citizen Hotel in Sacramento.

“Meme is basically a trend associated with something happening on the internet,” Laura Good, executive director of the club, said. “We wanted this event to focus on just that.”

Approximately 150 social media enthusiasts and Kings fans attended the event where they heard the stories of the major contributors to the campaigns, and learned how to apply similar strategies.

“We were just a bunch of regular people who saw what was happening and wanted to do something,” Carmichael Dave said.

Event panelist and blogger James Ham said the success of their campaigns couldn’t have been accomplished without the efforts of everyone involved.

“No matter what we did, we did it together,” Ham said. “We didn’t model our plan after anything, we just knew something bad was going to happen if we didn’t do something.”

With the help of their efforts leveraging on blogs, digital billboards and Twitter, enough public pressure was built in the community to result in the Kings staying in Sacramento for another year.

Matt Graham, marketing and fleet director for Jiffy Lube, followed the progression of Carmichael Dave’s tweets and the many pledges by the community in the first few hours. Graham quickly knew he had to act, pledging to be a major financial contributor to the HereWeBuild campaign.

“I felt that (pledging) was the only way to continue the voice and the passion of the efforts,” Graham said. “While we acted nimble and quickly, we were not prepared. But sometimes you just need to react, so that’s what we did.”

To watch the video of the event, visit http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15279047.

###

About the Social Media Club: The Sacramento Social Media Club was founded in March 2009 by local social media activists. Its monthly events bring together journalists, publishers, students, communicators and other interested collaborators to facilitate discussions about the key issues facing our society as technologies transform the way we connect, communicate, collaborate and relate. The Social Media Club’s primary mission is to promote media literacy and standard technologies, encourage ethical behavior and share best practices. To find out more, join their groups on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

About the author: Brittany Wesely is a member of the all-volunteer leadership team for the Sacramento Social Media Club. To find out more about her, visit her website or follow her on Twitter @brittanywesely.

Kings reunion provides fans entertainment on a rainy Saturday

2011-06-07T03:31:27Z

Editor's Note: A correction has been made to one of the quotes in this story after it was published.

Kings past and present were reunited on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Power Balance Pavilion, the latest in a series of events showing appreciation for potential and current season ticket holders.

An estimated 6,000 fans filed in to the dimly-lit arena and stood in line for their complimentary barbeque lunch and hours of entertainment that would follow, a bigger showing than some games last season.

Former NBA all-star Mitch Richmond, lock-down defender Doug Christie, Brad Miller and fan-favorite Bobby Jackson all made appearances, as well as current players Tyreke Evans and Donte Greene.

The show started with Christie, who looked back on his time in Sacramento with the fans. Highlights played on the video board and you could feel the buzz amongst Kings faithful as they reminisced.

Donte Greene joined Christie as they faced-off in a game of Family Feud, modified with Kings-related categories and questions.

Next up, Kings all-time great Mitch Richmond or, “The Rock,” as some Kings fans remember him, was reintroduced to Sacramento. Fans rose to their feet to give the six-time all-star a standing ovation.

Richmond, who led the Kings in scoring in each of his seven seasons in Sacramento, had his best season in 1996, averaging 25.6 points per game, 4.2 assists per game and 3.9 rebounds per game. In that same season, he made the all-star team and led the Kings to their first playoff appearance since their inaugural season in Northern California.

“I felt like it was my duty to get back here and show my support. I hope they stay. The city of Sacramento needs them. Just get an arena built, this one has been here a long time,” said Richmond.

Mayor Kevin Johnson and Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof followed and expressed their gratitude for the ongoing support throughout this time of uncertainty.

“We have had a great 26 years here in Sacramento and look to have another 26 great years here,” the Mayor declared to the delight of the crowd.

Apart from the action on the floor, fans could make their way to the concourse and get their face painted or have their picture taken with the Kings Dance Team. Kings analyst Jerry Reynolds was also present and was more than happy to take pictures and talk to his fans.

Saturday marked yet another gathering for Kings season ticket holders designed to recapture the buzz around town, which has dwindled in the last few seasons. Aside from drafting DeMarcus Cousins last year and Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans the year prior, there hasn’t been much to be excited about as the Kings have strung together five consecutive losing seasons.

Attendance numbers have followed suit, plummeting each year and putting the franchise in danger of being relocated. Over the last five years, there have been more and more vacant seats at games, despite the more than reasonable ticket prices. During the franchise’s most successful stretch from 2000 to 2006, Kings tickets were in high demand, as they sold out for six consecutive seasons.

After it was announced that the Kings would be staying in town for another season, NBA Commissioner David Stern sent a group of officials to Sacramento to take over the ticket sales and marketing operations this offseason.

NBA official Chris Granger was in attendance on Saturday and talked about his experience in the river city.

“It has been great so far. These are the most loyal fans in the league and it has been a pleasure to be around.”

Granger has overseen the season ticket sales campaign and expects to be around for a while.

Season ticket sales this offseason are well ahead of the pace from the last few seasons. Events like these are expected to continue all summer to raise awareness around the city.

Normally, the only action you would see in an NBA arena in June would be the Finals. For Kings fans, this is uncharted territory. They know it is their duty to rally together and answer the challenge posed before them. Be heard and everything else should fall into place.

'Here We Build' arena campaign announced

2011-06-01T00:35:54Z

A regional campaign to finance a new arena officially launched Tuesday.

A coalition called "Here We Build" will work within a tight, 100-day deadline to evaluate what kind of financing mechanisms, fees or taxes might be used. While the list of 60 leaders is still being finalized this week, the coalition is expected to meet for the first time within about two weeks.

The group will be co-chaired by state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento, and State Sen. Ted Gaines, a Republican from Roseville. Steinberg called on the region to unite behind the campaign to boost jobs, economic development and pride in the greater Sacramento area.

"It's time for everyone to get on board," he said in a press conference Tuesday. "It's time after a decade of talk and of work to finally get this done for the future of our great region."

Steinberg, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and nearly 20 supporters – including Gaines and many others who will serve in the coalition – gathered at the California State Railroad Museum to make the announcement.

The event was held in a cavernous exhibit hall with huge locomotives serving as a backdrop to symbolize the same attitude that built the first transcontinental railroad with Sacramento as the western terminus, Johnson and other speakers said.

Participants will be recruited from throughout the six-county region and represent a range of political, government and business interests on what Steinberg described as a nonpartisan issue.

"This is an issue that brings Democrats and Republicans together. That connects organized labor and business. That brings together the city of Sacramento and the six-county region – because it means something to all of us: Jobs, civic needs and sports, which brings us all together," Steinberg said.

San Francisco political strategist Chris Lehane, who co-chaired a mayoral arena task force, will serve as the entity's executive director. He'll oversee public outreach and organize community forums on the issue.

Regional supporters first gathered on the issue in April during Sacramento's effort to keep the Kings from moving to Anaheim. Those at Tuesday's press conference included Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna, Yolo County Supervisor Jimmie Yee, West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon, Downtown Sacramento Partnership Executive Director Michael Ault, Pat Fong Kushida from the Sacramento Asian Chamber of Commerce, Willie Pelote of AFSCME International, arena task force co-chair Lina Fat, Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn and Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby.

On May 2, the Kings' co-owners, the Maloofs, announced they would give Sacramento until next March to make real headway on an effort to build a new arena.

The coalition's task will be to determine within about three months how to fund a new arena in order to keep construction on track for a 2015 completion date presented to the City Council last week.

The coalition will need to identify revenue streams and how much of a public contribution would need to be made, while staying away from any type of general tax increase, Steinberg added later.

Its members will work with an arena development team headed by ICON Venue Group and David Taylor, the National Basketball Association and the Maloofs, Johnson said.

"The clock is ticking," he said. "We know there is a deadline looming of March 1, 2012."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Kings owners, NBA await arena next steps

2011-05-27T02:03:57Z

The Sacramento Kings' majority owners reacted positively to a new plan for a proposed $387 million arena project unveiled Thursday, but admitted they're anxious to see whether the plan can be turned into reality.

Developers told the Sacramento City Council a $241 million arena, with a total project cost of $387 million, could be built by early 2015 if a mix of public and private funding can be pulled together.

During a two-and-a-half-hour presentation, ICON Venue Group President Tim Romani, Sacramento developer David Taylor and others on an arena development team provided the public with many details of the plan.

Afterward, team co-owners Gavin and Joe Maloof told reporters they have a "very positive reaction" to the current prospects for building a new home for the Sacramento Kings.

"We have a lot better feeling now than we have in the past," Joe Maloof said in a press conference in the lobby of City Hall.

Acknowledging the plan as "a great first step," Gavin Maloof said the family is "anxiously looking forward to the next steps." He called on the region to help see the project get financed and built, rather than leaving an arena-building campaign to the city and Sacramento County as in earlier efforts.

"Hopefully we can get it done," Maloof said. "We need everyone's help. We need every single county to come forward to help in this effort. We need every city in this region to help out and come forward for this effort. It can't be done by one city and one county alone.

A 675,000-square-foot arena with 18,594 seats, 74 luxury suites, 2,080 premium and club seats and other amenities could be constructed, Romani said when the arena team presented an arena feasibility report at a special council meeting Thursday afternoon.

"We designed a building that we believe is right-sized for the market," Taylor told the City Council.

Power Balance Pavilion in Natomas, the current home of the Sacramento Kings, can seat up to 17,317 and has 30 luxury suites and 712 club seats.

The team also recommends that the public own the facility, Taylor said.

“We've got to make sure we protect our interests as a community,” he said.

The arena's construction is estimated to cost $241 million. Total project costs are estimated at nearly $387 million to include start-up expenses, sales and marketing, land acquisition and site development, design and other professional services, project administration, and more than $16 million in fees and permits applied by the city and other entities, Romani said.

Most arena projects around the country see permit costs of 1 percent, said Romani, adding the team was surprised to discover that.

The cost per square foot in 2013 would be $358, compared to an average of $362 per square foot for 12 other NBA arenas built recently, said Dale Koger, vice president and general manager of Turner Construction Sports.

“This building is exciting, it's efficient and it's very cost-effective," he said.

The developers couldn't provide the council with a list of financing options developed specifically for the Sacramento region Thursday after the Maloofs didn't turn over financial information until recently.

A location on city land in the downtown railyards is preferred. But city land in Natomas could also hold a new entertainment and sports complex where the National Basketball Association team would be the anchor tenant. About $3.4 million in site work costs could be saved if the facility is built in Natomas, Romani said.

Only three out of 30 NBA teams play in arenas that aren't located in downtowns.

"Every other team in the NBA does, in fact, play in a downtown-located facility. Clearly, the trend is there," Romani said.

The NBA-compliant arena has been designed to be compact and intimate and to comply with National Hockey League guidelines. The facility would also be integrated with plans for a regional transit center the city plans to build on adjacent railyards land, according to the team.

The arena's size, amenities and on-site practice facilities could change following dialogue with the Kings' owners, the Maloof family, and other stakeholders.

The owner of the arena would be a public entity, most likely a joint powers authority. Officials, developers and the Maloofs still need to discuss whether the Maloofs, the city or someone else would be the arena developer and/or operator. By including a third-party developer or operator, the possible sources of private funding would be bigger, according to the report.

Developers proposed Power Balance Pavilion be turned into an office complex. An appraiser hired by the team determined the 185 acres of city land there is worth between $8.5 million to $11.6 million today, but may double in value within three years, Taylor said.

Council members also reacted positively to the plan. Councilman Rob Fong noted he and others on the council have worked "long and hard" to get a new facility built.

"This is a great day for the city of Sacramento," Fong said. "We have never been (nearly) this far down the road."

The developers have put together a list of possible financing sources. They used information from five similar NBA markets to create the arena's design and programming.

In order for the arena to be completed by early 2015, the environmental review of the project must begin this summer and be completed by the summer of 2012, design must begin in September and construction must begin by January 2013.

The focus will now shift to how the facility will be paid for, Mayor Kevin Johnson said.

Under a 100-day plan, developers and government officials must come up with the financing model and funding options by August. Funding must be secured by the March 2012 deadline set by the NBA and the Maloofs, who agreed to keep the Kings in Sacramento until then to give the city time to work on the arena effort.

Several people applauded Johnson, the city and developers for their work on the feasibility study during the public hearing portion of the meeting. Downtown Sacramento Partnership Executive Director Michael Ault, Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau President Steve Hammond and Sacramento Metro Chamber President Matt Mahood were among a handful of people who made comments.

The NBA also reacted positively to the feasibility report. League officials are "encouraged" by the process that's been undertaken and the support for a new arena that's come from Johnson, business leaders and fans, NBA Commissioner David Stern later said.

"The focus now is moving forward in developing a public-private partnership financing model that will bring a new arena to fruition," Stern said in a prepared statement. "That is priority No. 1 in Sacramento for all of us.”

The facility could be finished in time for the 2014 NBA season if enough funding becomes available to speed up the process, Romani said.

"I'm here to tell you that all the key ingredients are here in Sacramento," Romani said. "Power Balance Pavilion has served the city well for the last 26 years. But clearly, its best days have come and gone."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter at The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Developers present arena plan details

2011-05-26T20:34:24Z

Developers say Sacramento could build a $241 million arena, with a total project cost of $387 million, by early 2015 if a mix of public and private funding can be pulled together, according to a feasibility report presented to the city Thursday.

The ICON-Taylor team says a 675,000-square-foot arena with 18,594 seats, 74 luxury suites, 2,080 premium and club seats and other amenities could be constructed.

Power Balance Pavilion in Natomas, the current home of the Sacramento Kings, can seat up to 17,317 and has 30 luxury suites and 712 club seats.

A location on city land in the downtown railyards is preferred, but city land in Natomas could also hold a new entertainment and sports complex where the National Basketball Association team would be the anchor tenant.

About $3.4 million in sitework costs could be saved if the facility were built in Natomas, according to the report being presented at a special City Council meeting Thursday afternoon.

The railyards site would present the most potential to "create jobs, activate downtown and enhance transit connectivity," the developers wrote in an executive summary. The "Natomas site (is) also feasible, but would mean Sacramento remains one of only three NBA cities with arenas not based in downtown areas."

The development team, which began making a presentation to the council at 1 p.m. Thursday, includes ICON Venue Group President Tim Romani, Sacramento developer David Taylor and representatives from the design firm Populous and Turner Construction. The group arrived at City Hall Thursday morning to do a dry run of the presentation.

The arena's size, amenities and on-site practice facilities could change following dialogue with the Kings' owners, the Maloof family, and other stakeholders.

The developers have put together a list of possible financing sources. They used information from five similar NBA markets to create the arena's design and programming.

The facility could be finished in time for the 2014 NBA season if enough funding becomes available to speed up the process, according to the report.

Plan for $386m arena lacks financing details

2011-05-26T01:28:58Z

Arena developers are expected to unveil plans to build a new Sacramento arena, reportedly at a cost of $386 million, at a special City Council meeting Thursday – but they're not sure how to finance it just yet.

The ICON-Taylor team will discuss the possible design, amenities, location and cost to construct an arena in a 1 p.m. presentation at City Hall.

The team's feasibility analysis determined that both public and private financing will be required for the project. Without either, the project wouldn't be feasible, according to a staff report released Wednesday.

Sacramento County voters rejected a plan to build a $600 million, 1 million-square-foot arena in 2006. The city also chose not to work with developers who proposed $600 million projects at a February 8 City Council meeting. The Icon-Taylor team is expected to reveal plans for an arena that is less than 700,000 square feet in size.

Arena supporters, including the Sacramento Kings' owners, are likely to have an easier time getting support for public financing because the new plan will be scaled down in cost and size, Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong said Wednesday.

"If we're starting with a smaller number to begin with, the task is not as great," Fong said. "Anything we can do to make sure we're being efficient, I think, is a plus."

Despite repeated requests from the city, the Maloofs – who control a majority share of the team – didn't turn over revenue information until after announcing May 2 they would keep the team in Sacramento another year. The Maloofs reportedly turned over financial statements just last week.

The developers were given 90 days to study the viability of building a new arena in Sacramento. The deadline was later extended to May 26.

The team won't be able to provide the council with a list of financing options developed specifically for the Sacramento region as expected, according to the staff report.

"Given that the proprietary financial data of the Sacramento Kings was not made available to the ICON-Taylor team until 80 days into the analysis, coupled with the city's focus on addressing its fiscal year budget and the need to integrate regional components beyond the scope of the work plan, the feasibility study is confined to identifying an appropriate financing model and not providing a specific financing plan," staff wrote in the report.

The analysis is expected to include cost comparisons based on whether a new arena is built on city land at the downtown railyards or on land in Natomas adjacent to or on the site of the Kings' current home, Power Balance Pavilion.

City staff posted a graphic rendering of a swank new arena located in the railyards from global design firm Populous' graphic on the city website Wednesday afternoon. (Link to city website)

The council is being asked to give city staff 100 days to review the developers' study and then report back to the council.

The city manager will set up a technical review team of at least nine people, including the heads of several city departments, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, Sacramento Regional Transit, Sacramento County and sports facility consultants the city may hire to assist with the evaluation.

In February, at least two teams vying to develop a new arena estimated the cost to build an arena and surrounding infrastructure and supporting development such as hotels, restaurants and retail to be at least $600 million. The ICON-Taylor team was chosen to conduct a feasibility study after its leaders said they expected an arena wouldn't cost much more than $300 million.

Once the report has been presented to the city, staff will work with other government agencies in the area to develop financing options.

City Treasurer Russ Fehr said Wednesday he couldn't comment until the council directs staff to work on the project.

Former Kings star Chris Webber said early this month he's putting together a team of investors to fund a new arena. On Tuesday, a story surfaced saying Webber met recently in Sacramento with potential investors including Manny Pangilinan, chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and owner of two Philippine Basketball Association teams.

A tour of Power Balance Pavilion reportedly took place. Pangilinan was quoted by an English-language daily in the Phillipines, Cebu Daily News, saying he would want to own a majority stake in the Kings if he invests in the team.

The Maloofs could not be reached for comment. Representatives of Maloof Sports and Entertainment said they weren't aware of such a tour.

"I wouldn't comment on that," said Darrin May, executive director of media relations for the Kings.

Council members are eager to learn more about what an arena might cost and how it will be paid for, Councilman Kevin McCarty said.

"The overarching question ... is, what's the path to paying for that?" McCarty said. "I'm still waiting, and I think the rest of the city is waiting, too, to see what that looks like."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Arena report set for Thursday

2011-05-25T01:26:23Z

A new arena for Sacramento is likely to cost nearly $400 million and will likely have the Kings as tenants but not operators, the mayor said Tuesday.

The cost of the entire project, which would build a new arena from the ground up, is expected to be far lower than the $600 million proposed to build an arena in 2006 – partly because the recession has lowered construction costs and partly because the plans will call for a "smaller but yet world-class venue" of less than 700,000 square feet that fits the region's needs, according to Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Power Balance Pavilion, the Kings’ current home, is 442,000 square feet.

"The viability of this project happening in Sacramento is real," Johnson said in a press conference at City Hall. "We have the best in the business right now looking at it."

In a special City Council meeting set for Thursday afternoon, arena developers will present a report on a feasibility study that will outline the options that exist for building a new facility. The presentation will give council members and the public a first look at the study’s results.

The cost is still being finalized before the meeting, but the price will be under $400 million – somewhere between $350 million to $395 million, said Johnson, who dispelled recent reports the arena price tag will be $370 million.

"I don't think 370 is accurate. I actually haven't seen the final number. I've been told that's not an accurate number," he said. "I do think it will be under $400 million, which is important."

The ICON-Taylor development team will reveal the expected cost, possible revenue streams, financing options, location analysis, design, facility programming and timelines at 2 p.m. Thursday at City Hall. The developers have been working on the study since early February.

Johnson reiterated that a public-private partnership will be needed to pay for a new arena. Developers are putting together a variety of public financing options and types of partnerships to be considered.

After the feasibility study is presented to the council Thursday, developers and officials must start work to determine how much private money will be available to help pay for an arena and how much of a gap remains that may be filled by public financing.

Maloof Sports and Entertainment, which co-owns and controls the Kings, is likely to make a contribution to that partnership by being just the major tenant – and not the arena's year-round operator. If so, the city will need to find an arena operator, Johnson said.

Johnson said he's been talking with everyone who may be interested in playing a role in the arena effort, including Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, which owns and operates the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Sprint Center in Kansas City and many other sports facilities.

City officials will be asked to decide whether to contribute land the city owns – most likely a site at the downtown railyards.

Next week, the mayor will announce a regional commission being pulled together to spearhead a campaign to build the arena. Johnson said it is too early to talk about what kind of contribution might be made from cities and counties in outlying areas.

The Maloofs announced May 2 that the Kings will remain in Sacramento another year. At that time, the Maloofs and the National Basketball Association set a March 1 deadline for the region to make a substantial effort to provide the team with a new home.

City officials hope to have arena financing and other issues solved by November or December, Johnson said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Power Balance arena pros and cons

2011-05-20T23:50:37Z

Power Balance Pavilion isn't being passed by on concert tours or by the National Collegiate Athletic Association because of anything wrong with it physically.

The facility is good enough for Lady Gaga and Britney Spears to play there this spring and summer. The arena which has been the long-time home to the Sacramento Kings has many good points, according to people who've spent a lot of time there.

However, some big conventions and events, primarily religious conventions, have skipped Sacramento altogether because the arena isn't close to enough hotels.

Its money-making capacity is hindered by the smaller number of seats and luxury suites, compared to newer arenas.

Other problems exist because it is an aging arena that lacks opulence and more comfort, and it may not have been as well maintained as it could.

NCAA has no problems with Sacramento’s arena

City officials and business leaders have pointed to the fact that the NCAA basketball tournament hasn't played here since 2007 as proof the arena must not be good enough for the Kings.

NCAA basketball tournament rounds staged here in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2007 sold out the arena. But the last time the Sacramento Sports Commission put in a bid to bring the tournament back – believed to be 2009 – Sacramento wasn't chosen.

City officials got no details about how that decision was made from the person who gave them the news, commission Executive Director John McCasey said.

"His comment was the city has to work on its arena issues," McCasey said. "They never ever had the courtesy to tell us why."

But the NCAA executive overseeing all championships said the basketball tournament has not returned simply because the honor of hosting the games must be rotated among cities. Sixty to 70 cities put in bids to host 12 basketball slots each year, said Greg Shaheen, the NCAA's interim executive vice president of championships and alliances.

Power Balance Pavilion has no physical or size limitations to the NCAA tournament playing there. In fact, the tournament doesn't even use NBA buildings for all the slots. Campus buildings and other sports facilities like the Honda Center in Anaheim have been used, said Shaheen, who visited what was then Arco Arena in 2002 and 2007.

When it comes to arenas, the needs of the tournament are not the same as the needs of the Kings, its permanent tenant, he added.

"It's not an apples to apples comparison," said Shaheen, adding the person who informed Sacramento about the lost NCAA bid was likely referring to the fact the NCAA was monitoring discussions about a new arena in Sacramento.

Seat capacity may be biggest challenge to concerts and shows

Concerts and other shows face challenges there because there's only one loading dock and extra riggers must be used to hang sound and lighting equipment from steel beams hanging from the ceiling at an angle to the stage.

Arenas are notoriously difficult places for sound reproduction. The sound at Power Balance is not as good as other facilities, but it's unclear whether that's because of the arena, the production company or people coming through on tour.

Bette Midler got fantastic sound there after sending an advanced sound specialist and Neil Diamond has played the arena many times, said Susie Owens, a stagehand who's helped set up and take down shows at the arena since it opened in November 1988.

Shows face bigger problems at other venues, primarily theaters. Many old vaudeville theaters are still being used for productions.

"I've worked in so many places that are so much worse than that and have so many ridiculous things that are still in operation," Owens said. "I just walk in and go, 'Oh mother of god – what are we doing here?' You literally have to put your show in with a shoehorn. At Arco, you just don't have to worry about that sort of stuff."

Dressing rooms are nothing special but that doesn’t stop people from touring there. The biggest obstacle to shows and possibly concerts is the arena only seats up to 17,317 people, said Owens, who helped load Cirque du Soleil in and out of the arena last weekend

Smaller shows usually go to bigger facilities to make enough money to cover tour costs, then extend tours and go to smaller venues only if they can.

Owens said she would like a new arena to be built out of self-interest – that's where she works – and so a wider variety of shows can be put on in a more comfortable environment with better sound. Power Balance has been a good investment that has served the region well, she said.

"I certainly understand why people don't want to spend the money that way – that people want to spend it on education, and when police and firefighters are showing up at the city council wanting to keep their jobs, you want to support them," she said.

Despite any problems, the arena is popular for concerts. Shows don't skip the arena because of any production issues, according to Live Nation Entertainment, whose subsidiaries include Ticket Master, Live Nation Concerts and an artist management company.

"The Power Balance arena is very widely used and continues to be a successful venue in the market," said Jodi Goodman, senior vice president of Northern California for Live Nation.

"Little stands in the way of shows playing Power Balance Pavilion if a tour has enough dates on their routing schedule for secondary markets. Sacramento is always at the top of the list."

More arena pros and cons

Representatives from Maloof Sports & Entertainment and the National Basketball Association were not available to comment on why they believe a new arena is needed in Sacramento or to provide a tour of Power Balance Pavilion.

Interviews with others touched on pros and cons of the existing facility.

The arena hasn't been well maintained over the years. Problems include smelly bathrooms; an outdated kitchen; uncomfortable, small plastic seats; and a small, broken-down visitor's locker room considered one of the worst in the league, said sports reporter Marty McNeal, who covered the Kings for The Sacramento Bee, where he worked from 1990-2009. He currently blogs on Marty Mac's World.

The Kings' locker room, however, was renovated six or seven years ago and is quite nice, he said.

Most modern arenas now have twice as many as luxury boxes as Power Balance Pavilion, which has 30.

Some people are fairly happy with the luxury suites, which come in two sizes. Some hold 26 people and some hold half that.

They have an intimate setting because they're small, close to other fans and each comes with a set of regular seats outside right in front of the box.

Suites have their own bathrooms, TVs and really good service – sometimes from just one person assigned to that box. They're not as isolated as luxury boxes at other arenas, said Doug Elmets, spokesman for Thunder Valley Casino Resort and its owner, the United Auburn Indian Community.

The tribe sponsors a luxury box at the arena and recently pledged $1 million toward the effort to stop the Kings from moving to Anaheim. Elmets previously worked for Arco and the oil company's arena suite was managed through his office.

"One of the real hidden benefits of the suites at Arco is it's much more intimate than I've experienced at other arenas," Elmets said. "It's rarified air but not too snobby."

He described the suites as beautiful but a little outdated. New arenas have more cushy and luxurious suites.

"They could certainly be more opulent," he said. "They're sufficient, but they are not opulent."

McNeal agreed, saying, "There's not a bit of opulence around that joint."

However, others said luxury boxes are "a bit tired" and small luxury boxes are cramped and awkward, making entertaining difficult. They're not laid out as well for viewing and acoustics could be better, said Tom Kandris, chief executive officer and managing director of American River Packaging, another of the 30 companies whose financial commitments to the Kings kept the team in town.

The first three rows of premium seats are right on the floor. That arrangement means other premium seats are close to the floor rather than set back like at other arenas, said Kandris, whose company has both premium seats and a luxury box.

Business executives like Kandris want to keep the Kings in Sacramento and see a new arena built because basketball games are good places to bring people together and build relationships with employees and customers. They also think having an NBA team and a new arena is a vital boost to the community's image, he said.

"A lot of business owners are not trying to save basketball per se. They're trying to create and enhance civic pride.... and show the community has spirit," Kandris said. "My love for the community is larger than my love of basketball."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Chamber leader's legacy may be collaborative region

2011-05-18T00:41:20Z

Sacramento Metro Chamber President and CEO Matt Mahood leaves behind a more unified business community as he moves on to take over the helm of the San Jose chamber this summer, colleagues and associates said Tuesday.

Mahood, 45, has a reputation for being upbeat and optimistic, even as he's guided the chamber through the recession. He served as a dynamic leader for the organization and a spokesman for the region on local, state and national level s.

At 6 feet 7 inches, he towers over many of those he works with in business and politics. He's known for being thoughtful and having an even-handed way for approaching issues in the job he's held for nine years.

His most lasting legacy in Sacramento may be his work as a collaboration builder garnering support for crucial policy decisions and economic development efforts.

Mahood became a prominent leader in the effort to stop the Sacramento Kings from leaving and to rally regional support for a new arena. He led a push that gathered more than $10 million in financial support for the Kings from regional businesses if the team stayed another year.

"Matt was a force of nature," said PRIDE Industries President Mike Ziegler, who chaired the chamber's board when they hired Mahood in 2002. "He became a driving force to make this region a better place to live, work and play."

The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce board voted Friday to hire Mahood as president and CEO of that organization. He will remain with the Sacramento Metro Chamber until at least the Fourth of July weekend.

An interim CEO will be chosen to guide the Sacramento Metro Chamber during the search for a new top executive.

As a 36-year-old hired by the chamber in 2002, Mahood didn't have any experience working at a chamber of commerce. But that was seen as an advantage by the chamber's search committee, Ziegler said.

Mahood had worked previously as vice president and general manager of grocery business Webvan.com and district manager at the shipping company BAX Global, as well as with UPS and FedEx.

He lived in Carmichael for four years as a child but mostly grew up in Pleasanton in the East Bay. Mahood is taking the job in San Jose partly so he can live closer to his mother, who just turned 80, and his three sisters. He said he'll miss taking his ski boat and wakeboard out on Folsom Lake with friends and family on hot summer days.

However, Mahood said he also wants to pursue fresh opportunities.

"Nine years is a long time to be in one place, especially at a chamber of commerce," he said. "I am ready for some new challenges in a new community."

Mahood was a champion for the region's economic development. He was instrumental in forging a good working relationship between the chamber, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership and the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau, as well as area businesses and other business organizations, and then collaborating on mutually identified priorities, DSP Executive Director Michael Ault said.

"Matt did a tremendous job of not only managing and growing the chamber, but really building a coalition amongst area business organizations," Ault said.

Mahood will help launch the search process for his replacement. He said he's proud of the Metro Chamber's hard-working staff and volunteer leaders and their ability to reach the chamber's goals each year.

Although he'll be leaving, he said he'd like to see the Metro Chamber and its partners build a stronger, more positive "sense of self" and brand for the region after its image has been pummeled by being included on Forbes' list of "most miserable cities" and from stories about high foreclosure rates, unemployment and other government problems.

Mahood said he thinks cities and counties and some nonprofit organizations should collaborate more and even consider consolidating functions to become more efficient and bring taxpayers and other funders more return on investments. He said he'd also like to see the Metro Chamber and partners finalize and put out a regional economic development strategy based on good data, followed by an action plan that will create jobs.

"Housing and construction are not coming back anytime soon, and the state budget mess will continue to hit this region hard," he said.

Many people expressed sadness at Mahood's departure. Mayor Kevin Johnson described Mahood as a "champion" for the business community during the worst economy since the Depression.

"It's worth noting that his final achievement was playing a lead role in organizing the corporate and business community in the successful drive to keep the Kings and NBA in Sacramento," Johnson said in an emailed statement Tuesday. "Our community would not have been able to over-deliver on support and sponsorships without Matt's work, and we will surely miss his leadership."

The San Jose chamber is eagerly awaiting the new opportunities and direction a new president will bring, said the chamber's current president, Pat Dando.

"We also think Matt will bring strong leadership to the chamber – just looking at what his time with the Sacramento chamber produced," she said. "He seems to have a real knack for achieving a collaborative effort in the business community toward the common good."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Local artist features Kings faithful in 'Be Heard' mural

2011-05-17T03:30:59Z

Hundreds of Sacramento locals gathered at the corner of J and 20th streets in Midtown Sacramento late Saturday afternoon as world-renowned performance painter David Garibaldi showed appreciation for Kings fans by featuring them in his “Be Heard” mural.

Garibaldi requested photos of fans via Facebook and Twitter last week, and he chose 10 of the photos to display on his massive mural.

“I’ve never done anything quite like this,” said the Sacramento artist. “I was honored to give something back to the Kings fans, who are the ones responsible for the team staying in Sacramento.”

DJ Joseph One’s music echoed off the buildings and through the streets as crowds of people watched in awe and gossiped amongst each other over Garibaldi’s newest piece.

“I’ve heard a lot of good things about him and have seen a couple videos, but this is the first time I have had a chance to see him in person,” said Kings fan Greg Maurantonio. “It was truly amazing to watch his idea unfold from start to finish.”

One of the lucky fans chosen to be displayed was Jarrad Hicks, who posted photos of himself, his mother and his uncle on Facebook on Friday.

“It really looks like me,” Hicks raved. “David called me a few hours ago and left a voicemail asking if it would be okay with me if he used my photo. By the time I called him back it was already 4:00, so I was happy he put me up there.”

Duane Hicks, Jarrad’s uncle, was also chosen and appears just below his nephew on the mural.

As Garibaldi finished his tenth and final portrait, he got on the microphone and asked fans to gather close as he put the finishing touches on the mural. “Be Heard,” the phrase that has gained praise through Twitter over the last few months, was spray-painted over the center of the group of portraits. Fans cheered as Garibaldi signed his finished piece and greeted a group of media to talk about his latest work.

Maloof Sports and Entertainment employees and Sacramento Kings ticket representatives were also onsite giving away “Be Heard” paraphernalia. Fans had the chance to ask questions first-hand and were encouraged to put down $100 deposit for 2011-2012 season tickets.

Garibaldi has performed at numerous venues and events over the last five years. He was invited to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in July, 2006 where he painted a portrait of Mick Jagger. In September of 2008, he opened for the Blue Man Group’s tour in Canada and the United States. He also opened for Snoop Dogg during halftime at a Golden State Warriors game in November of 2007.

The Sacramento native and life-long Kings fan was honored to give something back to the community.

“I was contacted by the Kings and was asked if I would want to paint something, and of course I said yes.” Garibaldi said. “I wanted to paint something to show the diversity of the city, and I wanted each portrait to be distinctive.”

The last couple of weeks have given Kings supporters hope after fearing the loss of their beloved team since the closing weeks of the season. Starting on May 3 with Mayor Kevin Johnson’s announcement that the Kings would be staying in Sacramento, followed by the “Here We Rally” gathering last Tuesday in Cesar Chavez Park, Garibaldi’s performance capped off one of the happiest stretches in recent memory for Kings fans. No doubt the fans have been heard and will be reminded each time they pass the corner of J and 20th.

Sacramento mayor stands in for Kings at NBA draft lottery

2011-05-17T00:58:35Z

The first time Kevin Johnson was involved in the National Basketball Association draft, he was passed over by the Sacramento Kings. Now mayor of Sacramento, Johnson will represent the Kings at the NBA draft lottery Tuesday.

The lottery will be televised on ESPN during a pregame show just before Tuesday night's playoff game in Dallas, when the Oklahoma City Thunder takes on the Dallas Mavericks in game one of the Western Conference finals. The draft lottery portion of the show, which determines the order for the NBA draft June 23, could begin as early as 5:10 p.m. Pacific time.

In 1987, Johnson was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who got the seventh pick in the draft. The Sacramento Kings had the sixth pick and could have chosen him. Instead, they drafted Kenny Smith, now a commentator on TNT’s “Inside the NBA.”

Last week, the Maloof family, co-owners of the Kings, asked Johnson to stand in for the team after the former NBA All-Star-turned-politician led a full-court press to stop the team from moving to Anaheim. Johnson was honored to be asked to stand in for Sacramento when the league announces the draft pick order at the NBA Entertainment studio in Secaucus, N.J.

"He feels it's an exciting opportunity to not just represent the Kings, but to represent the city of Sacramento and the entire region," mayoral spokesman Joaquin McPeek said.

Johnson left for the East Coast over the weekend and could not be reached for comment.

He was asked to take part out of respect for him and the office of mayor, Kings co-owner Joe Maloof said Monday via spokesman Alex Sigua.

“We hope that he can bring some luck to New Jersey and get us that first pick, so we’re depending on him to get it done,” Maloof said.

The 14 teams that didn't make it into this season's playoffs participate in the NBA draft lottery.

The Kings tied with the New Jersey Nets for the fifth-worst record in the 2010/2011 season. The Kings won a coin toss and now have the fifth-best standing for getting one of the top three picks, team spokesman Troy Hanson said shortly before flying to New Jersey for the event.

The actual lottery will be held in a back room, with one person from each team sitting in to watch the process. John Kehriotis, a limited partner in the Kings, will represent the team in those proceedings.

During the televised portion, NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver will then unveil the draft order in reverse from 14 to one. Johnson will take a ceremonial role and sit in the Kings' position during that part of the process.

Teams are usually represented by the team president or general manager. However, a player or former player, team owners, executives and coaches have also held the honor. But team owners can choose others to represent the teams as well.The Kings recently had a season ticket holder represent them at the draft lottery.

A draft lottery event for season ticket holders will be held at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K St., Tuesday. Joe Maloof, guard Marcus Thornton, Head Coach Paul Westphal and Player Personnel Director Jerry Reynolds are expected to take part. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

For luck in the draft lottery, the Catholic Maloof said he’s doing a nine-prayer Novena.

“A good friend of mine in Memphis, Tenn., calls me every day and we do a prayer each day for nine days,” Maloof said. “My mother taught me about the prayers many, many years ago. I’ve used them ever since and every once in a while, those Novena prayers come through.”

The team’s dismal standing this year will also help.

"All the teams have chances based on the win-loss record. The more losses you have, the better odds you will have a better pick," NBA spokesman Jon Hammond said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Here We Rally | Photos

2011-05-11T15:51:09Z

Here's some images from the big Kings rally in Cesar Chavez Park Tuesday night:

Read about the Here We Rally HERE

Mayor tapped for NBA draft lottery at Kings rally

2011-05-11T05:49:27Z

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson will represent the Kings at the National Basketball Association draft lottery next week, team owners and the mayor announced at a Tuesday rally.

Johnson and developers representing the ICON-Taylor arena team will meet in Las Vegas Wednesday with George Maloof, whose family controls a majority share of the team, to discuss the arena project. The Maloof family owns the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

On stage at a Kings rally in Cesar Chavez Plaza, Gavin and Joe Maloof asked the former NBA All-Star player to step up for them next Tuesday at the draft lottery at the NBA Entertainment studio in Secaucus, N.J.

"I accept! I accept! I accept!" Johnson yelled into a microphone, his shouts reverberating from speakers and echoing off the walls of the Citizen Hotel, California Environmental Public Agency headquarters, Park Tower and historic City Hall in downtown Sacramento.

Sacramento’s mayor led a regional effort to keep the Kings in Sacramento – making a case to keep the team to the NBA Board of Governors in New York and persuading the league to send a team to gather more information in April. The Maloofs announced May 2 the team would stay in Sacramento for at least another year.

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal and former star Kings players including Doug Christie, Bobby Jackson and Scot Pollard joined Johnson and the Maloofs on stage at the rally's climax.

As many as 6,500 fans turned out to support the Kings and catch glimpses of the players, according to figures provided by the NBA.

Fans like Laurie Fredricks of Midtown, Anna Ampania of Roseville and Edward Leon of Sacramento said they'd like to see a new arena replace Power Balance Pavilion and would even support a tax increase to see that happen.

"I'm a major Kings fan," said Fredricks, who had never been to an NBA game until moving to Sacramento in 2000. She fell in love with the Kings and pro basketball after seeing them play at Arco Arena.

"This town cannot lose the one major sports franchise we have," she said.

Fans who gathered in the park heard Christie, Jackson and Pollard tell stories about games and watched game clips on a 20-foot by 12-foot screen. Kings mascot Slamson, Kings PA announcer Scott Moak and many more also entertained the crowd.

Many on stage spoke about Sacramento Kings fan loyalty and the need to push ahead to get a new arena built. Kings legend Chris Webber, who has said publicly he's working on a plan to get private investors for the arena, riled up the crowd with a videotaped appearance shown just before the mayor and the Maloofs took the stage.

"The world heard you," Webber told fans. "Let them know we will not lose our team. Go Sacramento!"

The meeting in Las Vegas will be the first between the ICON-Taylor team, which is preparing an arena feasibility study for the city, and George Maloof, who is overseeing the arena effort for the family. NBA attorney Harvey Benjamin and Johnson will take part in the meeting.

The city needs hard data from the Maloofs for the arena feasibility study. The brothers said previously they would share revenue information if the team stayed in Sacramento for the 2011/12 season. However, Johnson's staff could not say whether Maloof will turn over financial statements at the meeting Wednesday.

The NBA and the Maloofs are planning special events to promote the team and ticket sales in May and June. An event may be held during the Second Saturday Art Walk and possibly the draft lottery.

Current season ticket holders have until June 3 to renew their season tickets. An open house to allow new season ticket buyers to choose their seats will be held June 8 and 9. New season ticket buyers must make $100 deposits per seat, said Chris Granger, executive vice president of the NBA's Team Marketing and Business Operations.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Kings rally planned during ticket drive

2011-05-10T01:06:19Z

The Sacramento Kings' owners hope to build team fever this week with a ticket sales drive and a rally Tuesday.

Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof is expected to join Head Coach Paul Westphal and stars such as Bobby Jackson, Doug Christie and Scot Pollard at a Kings rally at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Cesar Chavez Plaza, Ninth and I streets. Fireworks and a concert by Sacramento rock band Tesla are also planned for the rally, which is co-sponsored by local radio station Sports 1140 KHTK.

Maloof Sports and Entertainment also has hired 30 new sales employees to help with ticket sales after the Maloofs announced May 2 the team would stay in Sacramento for at least another year.

Most of the new employees started work Monday at Power Balance Pavilion. More people needed to be hired to handle a deluge of season ticket renewals and sales to the general public that began last week. Hundreds of season ticket holders have called to renew, Maloof Sports and Entertainment Public Relations Manager Alex Sigua said.

"It's been heartwarming and overwhelming and incredible," he said. "We've definitely eclipsed our pace at this time last year."

Season ticket buyers had until 8 p.m. Monday to purchase season tickets and choose their exact seats at the same time. To do so, fans must make deposits of 17 or 34 percent and agree to a six-month or three-month payment plan, respectively.

Two choice seats near the visiting team’s bench, in Section 112 Row J, would cost $8,624. Under the six-month plan, the fan must make a $1,466 deposit by Monday night. Those fans will be invited to an event in June where they’ll have a chance to check out their seats and switch if needed.

At the Tuesday rally, Maloof Sports and Entertainment officials are expected to announce a second season ticket program allowing fans to make $300 deposits per seat and get on a waiting list to choose their seats at an open house at a later date in mid-June. Fans will be able to choose their seats in an order based on when they made deposits.

Exact numbers of renewals and season ticket holders in the 2010/2011 season were not available.

The sales staff were hired part-time to work with ticket buyers online and by phone. About 300 people applied for the jobs. Interviews were held late last week.

The Maloofs are still taking applications for full-time ticket services positions, Sigua said.

The company did not provide information about pay levels and whether employees are being hired on a temporary or permanent basis.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson met Friday with Gavin Maloof at the arena. They primarily discussed the need to stabilize the team, whose owners had been considering moving the Kings to Anaheim until last week.

The team's revenue statements from the last four years apparently have not yet been turned over to the city of Sacramento and the ICON-Taylor team, which is conducting an arena feasibility study. The study is expected to be completed by May 26.

The study's financial analyses have so far been based on figures from comparable teams in the National Basketball Association.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Chris Webber, NBA amp up aid for Kings and arena

2011-05-04T00:58:03Z

Forces now allied behind the Sacramento Kings gathered steam Tuesday in their collective bid to build a more successful team and move the region closer to constructing a new arena.

That effort will be aided by retired Kings player Chris Webber, who said on television Monday night he's lined up private investors to fund a new arena in place of taxpayers.

"Within the year, we're going to make some special things happen," Webber said on TNT's "Inside the NBA." "The goal is to keep the team there."

Webber hinted about his involvement on Twitter Monday after the Kings' owners announced they'd leave the team here for at least one year to give Sacramento more time to pursue building a new sports and entertainment facility.

"SACRAMENTO! It's true! One more year!" Webber tweeted. "But trust me! We are working to make it a lifetime!"

Webber has told Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson in recent conversations he wants to be involved. But they're still figuring out what form that might take, Johnson said in a press conference at City Hall Tuesday.

"He's going to play some role," Johnson said.

Nine staffers from the National Basketball Association arrived in Sacramento Tuesday. They immediately began working at Power Balance Pavilion on the Maloofs' priorities: season ticket sales and corporate sponsorships, Kings spokesman Troy Hanson said.

"They hit the ground running in assisting with all avenues of business operations," he said.

Maloof Sports & Entertainment launched a hiring blitz of more than 20 people as sales kicked off for season tickets Monday night. Demand has been strong since then, said Hanson, who did not provide details.

Meetings are being set up with the NBA, the Maloofs, arena developers, regional elected officials and Kings’ corporate sponsors to continue building on the momentum and energy unleashed in Sacramento in the effort to keep the team from moving to Anaheim, Johnson said.

"Our attitude today is we can't let up," Johnson said.

He expects to meet with the NBA this week. The mayor also said he plans to meet this week or next with the Maloofs. His top priority: getting financial statements from the Kings' last four years. The city of Sacramento and the ICON-Taylor development team needs the information for an arena feasibility study due to be completed by May 26.

They've sought the information for months, but the Maloofs held off while making a decision about whether to move to Anaheim.

That meeting couldn't be confirmed by Hanson.

Support from NBA staff on the ground in Sacramento helps the Maloofs' organization fill holes left by staff who jumped ship over the last year, and especially in the last month or two, before the decision was made about Anaheim.

NBA personnel will give the Maloofs the capacity to be "aggressive" with ticket and suite sales and corporate sponsorships for the 2011/2012 season, which begins in October, Johnson said.

Some NBA staff may work here for just a week or two, while a few may stay far longer, he said.

The NBA has agreed to support a move by the team if sufficient progress isn't made on replacing Power Balance Pavilion by March 1, 2012.

The arena study should be able to propose contribution levels and pinpoint possible gaps in available funding as soon as May 26 but no later than July, Johnson said.

The NBA will be involved in establishing the level of contribution by the Maloofs. Many basketball teams contribute financially to new arenas by signing long-term leases, as NBA Commissioner David Stern said Monday.

Johnson said he will tell the Maloofs they'll need to participate in "a real way" in the public/private partnership that’s expected to be needed to finance a new arena.

"It's got to be real, where our community feels it," he said.

NBA officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Sacramento Kings to stay another year

2011-05-03T01:03:12Z

The owners of the Sacramento Kings announced Monday the team will stay put for at least one more season – giving the region and the National Basketball Association time for one final push to build a new arena.

NBA officials quickly announced a commitment to make one last effort over the next 10 months to pave the way to replace Power Balance Pavilion. The league is sending nine people to Sacramento Tuesday to provide expert support in the regional effort to construct a new arena and to help the Kings' owners, the Maloofs, lead the team to a successful next season, NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a teleconference Monday afternoon.

Kings fans, elected officials and business leaders reveled in the news after such an outcome seemed impossible roughly two weeks earlier, when Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson appeared before National Basketball Association team owners to argue the case for keeping the Kings here. At that time, the team's move to Anaheim seemed certain.

On Monday morning, more than 125 people turned out for a celebratory press conference outside City Hall.

"This is one of the proudest moments in my life because the community believed when no one else did," Johnson said. "This was our playoffs. And Anaheim: We won!"

Video by Brandon Darnell.

An outpouring of support for the team from Johnson, state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, regional elected officials, the business community and Kings fans convinced the NBA and the Maloofs to give the region until March 1, 2012, to make a substantial effort to provide a new home for the Kings, Stern said.

"We came away with a strong sense that this was worth the additional year because it seemed to us to be so important that the leaders of Sacramento ... would not allow the opportunity to pass without getting it done," said Stern, who had talked personally with Johnson and Steinberg about the current level of support for a new arena. "We are feeling pretty good about the prospects here."

Sacramento officials will need to present solid information about design, funding and timelines by then. However, if regional support for arena construction can't be galvanized and a plan isn't finalized by next spring, that will be the league's last effort to get an arena built here.

NBA officials, including members of the league's Relocation Committee, told the Maloofs the league would then support their decision to move "wherever they choose to go" in 2012/13, he said.

The Maloofs had a deadline to file a request to move the team by 5 p.m. Eastern time Monday.

In an announcement emailed shortly after 9 a.m. Monday, the Maloofs said fan support and Johnson's push to get a new arena built were instrumental in their decision not to ask the league for permission to move.

"The fans’ spirit and energy, specifically our season ticket holders, has been remarkable and we are truly thankful for their loyalty," they said in the prepared statement. "We also are greatly appreciative of the support from our corporate sponsors as well as other local businesses that have come forward in recent weeks."

The Maloofs weren't available to respond to questions following the announcement, a Kings spokesman said.

Local business leaders committed more than $10.2 million in financial support for the Kings if the team stayed another year.

The NBA didn't have to do any "arm-twisting" to get the Maloofs to stay one more year. Relocation Committee members suggested to the Maloofs that they'd support a move in a year if they agreed to stay but the effort proved unsuccessful, Stern said.

The decision to keep the team in the state capital came after an NBA fact-finding visit here in the last two weeks. Billionaire Henry Samueli, whose company Anaheim Arena Management manages Anaheim's Honda Center, upped the ante in his bid to lure the team to Anaheim.

He offered to provide a personal loan of at least $75 million to the Maloofs and personally invest more than $70 million for improvements at the Honda Center.

Officials with the city of Anaheim and Anaheim Arena Management, owned by Samueli, are disappointed by the decision. But they will continue their effort to bring the NBA there soon, they said in emailed statements.

“The bottom line is this: The final chapter has not been written," Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait said. "Anaheim will continue to move forward and we remain optimistic to one day welcoming professional basketball to Anaheim.”

Anaheim Arena Management Chairman Michael Schulman added, "We are continuing our pursuit of an NBA team for our venue.... We look forward to securing a franchise for area fans in the very near future.”

Billionaire Ron Burkle's interest in buying the Kings to keep the team in Sacramento – or buying another team if they left – helped keep the region in the game in the eyes of the NBA, Johnson said.

Burkle and the Burkle Group are still interested in being part owners of the Kings. No discussion has been set up with the Maloofs since the decision to remain in Sacramento was announced, but the family knows how to get in touch with the group, San Francisco investor Darius Anderson said following the press conference.

"We would love to be here as part of the ownership group," said Anderson, who took part in the press conference.

In one year, the Maloofs will want to see a "critical path" laid to build a new arena. But ground doesn't need to be broken by then, Johnson said.

Building a new arena for Kings games, big concerts and other events would be catalytic for development downtown, especially in the railyards, Westfield Downtown Plaza and K Street Mall, said Johnson, describing the issue as “bigger than basketball."

"If we go forward and build a sports and entertainment complex, it's going to prove to all of us that we can find a way to make big things happen," he said. "We always felt like this could be a turning point for our community and our region working together.”

Johnson wasn’t the only person who appeared to be all smiles at the press conference. Developer David Taylor, who is working on an arena feasibility study for the city, Assistant City Manager John Dangberg and Sacramento Metro Chamber President Matt Mahood also beamed.

Johnson described Steinberg, also at the press conference, as a “scrappy fighter” who worked “in the trenches with us all along the way.” The two leaders communicated constantly throughout the weekend.

Sacramento City Council members are ready to start meeting to determine how to build an arena, Councilman Rob Fong said at the press conference.

The Maloofs called Johnson early Monday morning to tell him about their decision and say they’re committed to working with the city for the next year. The mayor will meet with the Maloofs this week to talk about how to move forward.

The arena feasibility study is expected to be completed by the end of May. Officials will then present options for public/private financing of the arena to the community so an arena can be built and the Kings never leave, Johnson said.

Chris Granger, executive vice president of the NBA's Team Marketing and Business Operations, senior NBA communications advisor Brian McIntyre and seven others from the NBA will arrive in Sacramento by Tuesday. No meetings have been finalized with the mayor’s office, Johnson’s staff said.

They will provide all the support they can to the Maloofs. They will work in “all aspects” of team operations, including marketing, finance, ticket sales and corporate sponsorship. They’ll also work with politicians, planners and others during a campaign to build a new arena, Stern said.

Stern said he considers it a failure for the NBA to lose any market, especially one as supportive as Sacramento.

It would be fair if the Maloofs and anyone else who’s watched the team’s efforts to build a new arena over the last 10 years are skeptical that it can get done this time. Still, NBA officials and staff will provide all the support they can to see if this “shared vision” can become reality, he said.

"If not, then it will be our shared failure,” Stern said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

United We Stay? 12 hours of Osama bin Laden and the Sacramento Kings

2011-05-02T20:46:57Z

8 p.m. Sunday evening: News begins to break that infamous terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden had been killed and that President Obama was set to address the nation in the late evening hours, to inform America that the man behind the 9/11 attacks of 10 years ago was finally dead.

"United We Stand."

8 a.m. Monday morning: Confirming what the rumor mill had been alluding to for days, official announcements begin to brew that the Sacramento Kings have, for now, pulled back from their plans to move to Anaheim and will remain in Sacramento for at least one more year.

"Here We Stay."

What is the connection between these two events? It is merely in the curiosity of what happens now...?

In life, there are precious few happenings that can unite an entire town, and even drastically fewer that can unite an entire country. Since Team USA probably won't be winning any World Cups in the near future, the 300 million-plus citizens of the good old U.S. of A are generally only unified by moments that are, unfortunately, spawned by tragedy.

Oklahoma City. Columbine. 9/11.

The news of Osama bin Laden's death was one of the few that seemed to make everyone feel good about something, albeit coming from the death of another "human being." It was justice (either real or perceived, depending on your personal thoughts on the matter) for ten years of suffering, political turmoil and foul memories brought on by one of the most horrific tragedies in our history.

The announcement of bin Laden's death is as much a unifying moment as we'll ever see, as were those numbing and surreal days after September 11, 2001.

The pluck and undying dedicated shown by Mayor Kevin Johnson, as well as the expressive support of the fans to keep the Kings in Sacramento, has been in itself a similarly unifying moment - although not even remotely the same in the grand scheme of things, on the scale of true emotional impact. I do not for a second advocate that these two happenings are even in the same ballpark in terms of overall importance.

For the Kings, this may merely be a stay of execution, as this additional season in Sacramento will be wrought with additional efforts to get a new arena built - no small task in uncertain economic times, and in the same market where the team has tried and failed repeatedly to get such a deal done in recent years. Today's announcement was only one part of the battle to keep the team here.

Likewise, the news of bin Laden's death will soon become an afterthought to a pressing political and military agenda that still has the gamut of global terrorism to attend to. The reality will soon set back in that we are just as safe now as we were yesterday, before he died, and we are just as safe now as we were on September 10, 2001.

Most of us have, at one point or another since "that day," taken the time to wonder why the commonality and sense of brotherhood, support and unity that consumed this country in the days following 9/11 did not last longer than it did. How quickly did we forget about hugging strangers and putting ourselves out there for each other more than we ever had, and just go back to business as usual?

The same could well happen in 2011-12 at Power Balance Pavilion, where the house was packed in the final stretch of this past season, under the threat that the one thing we took for granted in Sacramento (that is, having a pro hoop team) could all of a sudden be gone, after the attendance in the early goings of the season and in recent years was sparse, at best.

Sure, it's hard to knock the Kings’ fan base for not wanting to shell out stadium prices for a somewhat ramshackle roster and a reigning Rookie of the Year in a noticeable sophomore slump. But Sacramento showed it can passionately support its team, up to an including the glory years in the early '00s - and it showed at the end of this season that it can still do it when the chips are down.

Will we go back to "business as usual" a quarter of the way into this newly gifted season, when the Kings could potentially have a 4-17 record and we forget about the strong, unified front we put forth to keep them here, again leaving PB Pavilion with more empty seats than a test market screening for "Waterworld 2?"

Or, will we keep rocking the purple in support of keeping the team in town? The reality is, we're not keeping them here unless we prove we can support them on a continual basis.

"United We Stand." "Here We Stay." In their own ways, these are both cut from the same cloth.

Here's hoping these are some threads that we decide to keep around for awhile.

Kings to stay in Sacramento – for now

2011-05-02T16:32:28Z

The owners of the Sacramento Kings have decided to keep the team here for at least the next season, they announced Monday morning.

The team's owners, led by the Maloof family had a deadline of 2 p.m. Monday to file a request to move the team.

In an announcement emailed shortly after 9 a.m. Monday, the Maloofs said fan support and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's push to get a new arena built were instrumental in the decision.

National Basketball Association officials have indicated they will support the team moving next year if a new arena cannot be built to replace Power Balance Pavilion.

"However, if an arena plan cannot be finalized in a timely fashion, the NBA’s relocation committee has assured Maloof Sports and Entertainment that it will support an application to move the franchise to another market starting in 2012-13,” the statement said.

The team's owners have no plans to hold a press conference, said a Kings spokesman.

Johnson said Friday local officials hoped a regionally coordinated effort to build a new arena would make enough of a difference that the National Basketball Association and the Maloofs would not move the team to Anaheim for at least a year, giving the region a chance to move forward with the city's arena effort.

Johnson has scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. at City Hall, 915 I St.

The decision to keep the team in the state capital came after an NBA fact-finding visit here in the last two weeks.

Last week, billionaire Henry Samueli, whose company manages Anaheim's Honda Center, upped the ante when he offered to personally invest more than $70 million for improvements at Anaheim's Honda Center and provide a personal loan of at least $75 million to the Maloofs.

The Sacramento Press will report on the mayor’s press conference later today.

Kings decision coming down to wire

2011-04-30T00:52:29Z

With just three days to go before the Kings' deadline to file for relocation, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Friday he's not sure who has the ball – but Sacramento officials hope a regionally coordinated effort to build an arena will make enough of a difference that the National Basketball Association and the Kings' owners keep the team here another year.

Billionaire Henry Samueli, whose company manages Anaheim's Honda Center, upped the ante Wednesday when he offered to personally invest more than $70 million for improvements at the Honda Center and provide a personal loan of at least $75 million to the Maloofs.

Samueli, who owns the Anaheim Ducks hockey team, also revealed $30 million - $40 million in corporate commitments for the Kings and a six-year TV contract worth $144 million from several networks, an Anaheim Arena Management spokesman confirmed.

Since then, billionaire Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle hasn't come forward with any additional financial incentives to keep the team in Sacramento. Johnson said he thinks the Maloofs haven't "engaged" with Burkle to discuss his desire to buy the Kings, but he doesn't know if the Kings' majority owners might be interested in talking with Burkle if the team stays in Sacramento.

Friday afternoon, Johnson described himself and other officials as "hopeful" and "cautiously optimistic" the team will remain here. The Kings' owners, the Maloofs, are facing more of a fight in their effort to relocate the team than expected, he added in a press conference after a meeting with regional elected officials.

"I think it's pretty clear that they're in a situation where it's not as easy to go to Anaheim as maybe they thought it would be before, and that Sacramento has put forth an attractive alternative or counter-proposal," Johnson said after the meeting at Sacramento Area Council of Governments headquarters. "Money can't buy you the love that I think our community has shown this franchise over the last 26 years."

The Maloofs have a deadline of 2 p.m. Monday to file a request to move the team, Kings spokesman Troy Hanson said.

Samueli and other Anaheim Arena Management officials haven't talked with the NBA since Wednesday, when a conference call was held with the Maloofs.

The NBA's Relocation Committee, chaired by Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett, has gathered information about both Sacramento and Anaheim as markets for the Kings. Some of that information was collected by Bennett and others on a fact-finding mission that began here last week.

The committee will report its finding to the NBA Board of Governors only if the Maloofs file a relocation request. The board then has 120 days to vote on relocation, sources said.

NBA officials would not discuss the relocation request process.

About 30 people – the majority of them elected officials – gathered at SACOG Friday morning to get an update from Sacramento's mayor on Kings developments. Attendees included Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna; mayors from Folsom, Elk Grove and Yuba City; Sacramento City Councilmen Steve Cohn, Rob Fong and Jay Schenirer; Downtown Sacramento Partnership Executive Director Michael Ault; and representatives from state and U.S. elected officials.

Sacramento Developer David Taylor also attended the meeting. He told the elected officials Friday that his company and ICON Venue Group have "all the pieces in place" to finish an analysis of how to build and finance a new arena, but they need another month to complete it.

If the Kings stay, regular regional meetings will be held to focus on replacing Power Balance Pavilion with a bigger arena.

Taylor discussed the need to build an arena that fits the Sacramento region’s market. That may mean a 650,000-square-foot arena. That would replace Power Balance Pavilion, which seats up to 17,317 people in 442,000 square feet. Originally called Arco Arena, the facility opened in 1988 at a cost of $40 million.

Johnson said he believes a collaboration by the region's six counties and 22 cities give Sacramento an advantage in a new effort to build an arena.

"It's the regional leadership and coordination of us working together (that) will be one of the things that is going to help us get the ball across the finish line as it comes to a new sports and entertainment complex," he said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Folllow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

NBA considers Kings' fate

2011-04-29T00:42:23Z

The National Basketball Association apparently continued weighing Sacramento and Anaheim as markets for the Kings Thursday.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson jumped off a stage to take a phone call at a groundbreaking ceremony for railyards railroad track relocation Thursday morning. He later said he wouldn't comment on whether the call came from NBA Commissioner David Stern.

Shortly after finishing the call, Johnson told reporters he didn't have any word on a Kings decision, from either Stern or Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett, who chairs the league's Relocation Committee.

"I have not gotten an update," said Johnson, who described the call as "private." "I haven't heard from Clay Bennett."

Johnson said he believes the Relocation Committee met Wednesday. NBA representatives also reportedly had a conference call with the Maloofs and Anaheim Arena Management officials Wednesday. NBA officials would not confirm either the meeting or the call. Anaheim city officials weren't involved in the phone call. Kings representatives and Anaheim Arena Management could not be reached for comment.

However, the mayor said he was aware NBA representatives are "still talking to both sides" before making a decision that's expected to be announced by Monday. That's also the deadline for the Kings' owners, the Maloofs, to file a relocation request with the NBA.

The mayor has invited regional elected officials back for an update on the Kings at 11 a.m. Friday at the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, 1415 L St.

NBA officials won't comment on whether the Maloofs still have a choice about staying in Sacramento for at least a year following a successful signature collection drive by politically connected Sacramentans.

A firm hired by Sacramento political consultant Rob Stutzman and former City Councilman Robbie Waters on behalf of the Committee to Save the Kings said this week enough signatures have been gathered to stop Anaheim from issuing $75 million in bonds to help the Kings move for at least a year. The bonds can't be issued until approved by voters in a special election or the next scheduled election in June 2012.

On Thursday, the sentiment and uncertainty in Anaheim echoed that of Sacramento. Officials in both cities used nearly the same words to say they’ve done everything they can and now are just waiting for a decision.

"You can't do any more than we've done," Johnson said, standing in the railyards near what could be the future site of a new arena. "It's in the league's hands at this point."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Regional meeting on Kings expected Friday

2011-04-28T03:29:37Z

Regional leaders are expected to meet Friday for an update on efforts to keep the Sacramento Kings here, but talk about financing a new arena will be postponed until the National Basketball Association announces whether the team will stay, it was reported Wednesday.

An invitation to a status update meeting was sent to elected officials late Wednesday afternoon. The meeting is tentatively set for 10 a.m. Friday across from the Capitol, at the headquarters for the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, 1415 L St., sources said.

The meeting is being held to inform leaders from the six-county region, city of Sacramento and state on progress made with the NBA this week.

The meeting will include an update about the discussion Tuesday between NBA staff and 30 businesses that agreed to make deposits on more than $10.2 million in financial support. The meeting will also include anything else that develops with the NBA Thursday or Friday.

The league is expected to make a decision by Monday about where the team will be based for the next year. That's also the deadline for the Kings' owners, the Maloofs, to file a relocation request with the NBA. No reports of an early decision have surfaced yet.

Officials won't discuss how to finance a new sports and entertainment center in downtown Sacramento and the possible creation of a joint powers authority unless the NBA makes a decision by then.

"We put (talk about financing an arena) on hold right now because we're trying to give the NBA time to make their decision on whether the Kings will be staying here," said Yuba City Mayor John Dukes, one of the effort’s organizers. "Nothing is being done right now until we hear from the NBA."

The NBA's Relocation Committee, chaired by Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett, will meet by Monday to make a decision following an NBA fact-finding mission that began here last week.

Mayor Kevin Johnson's office hadn’t gotten any word on a decision by late Wednesday afternoon. NBA officials would not comment on when a decision is expected or when the committee meeting had been scheduled.

In recent weeks, Kings fans, elected officials and business leaders from throughout the area rallied support to keep the team rather than lose the Kings to Anaheim.

The effort to build a new arena may expand to seven counties after Nevada County officials expressed interest in joining an effort that includes representatives from Sacramento, the six-county region, the state and federal government. The six counties in the region are Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Yuba and Sutter.

"It's good that (more) people are wanting in," Dukes said.

Also this week, a political consultant group hired by politically connected Sacramentans said enough signatures have been gathered to stop Anaheim from issuing $75 million in bonds to help the Kings move for at least a year. However, billionaire Henry Samueli, who manages Anaheim's Honda Center, could possibly replace the bond issue with a personal investment.

The bonds can't be issued by Anaheim until approved by voters in June 2012 or in an expensive special election. The firm, Arno Political Consultants, was hired by Rob Stutzman, a Sacramento political consultant, and Robbie Waters, a former city councilman, on behalf of the Committee to Save the Kings.

NBA officials would not comment on the impact of the signature drive Wednesday.

Representatives from throughout the region were brought together last week by Johnson to show public support for keeping the Kings and building a new arena to replace Power Balance Pavilion. The mayor's office and those regional leaders will be involved in the effort to finance a new arena.

The effort will gather information from an arena feasibility study being done by Colorado arena builder ICON Venue Group and local developer David Taylor.

If the Kings remain in Sacramento, the group will initially focus on setting up a joint powers authority that will likely need to be approved by each of the counties, Dukes said.

"If we can get everyone in the region to agree on it, I think we'll move forward with it," he said.

Editorial Note: This is an updated version of an earlier story.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Sacramento awaits word on Kings

2011-04-27T01:23:12Z

Sacramento Kings fans, officials and business leaders are waiting to hear in the next few days whether the team will stay here for at least a year after businesses ponied up deposits on more than $10.2 million in financial support Tuesday.

The National Basketball Association's Relocation Committee, chaired by Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett, will meet between now and Monday to make a decision. Sacramento officials have asked to learn sooner than May 2, if possible, whether the Kings will remain in Sacramento rather than move to Anaheim.

May 2 is the deadline for the Kings' owners, the Maloofs, to file a relocation request.

There has been little public discussion of the impact an Anaheim signature collection drive has had in blocking a Kings move for at least a year – forcing the NBA and the Maloofs to keep the team here.

Arno Political Consultants, working on behalf of the Committee to Save the Kings and organizers Rob Stutzman, a Sacramento political consultant, and Robbie Waters, a former city councilman, said Monday they've gathered 11,000 - 12,000 signatures.

While the signatures must still be certified, there are more than enough to block Anaheim from issuing $75 million in bonds to help the Kings move unless that's approved by voters in June 2012 or in a special election.

Tuesday morning, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson distanced himself from the signature drive. In the bid to keep the Kings, Johnson promised NBA officials Sacramento leaders would concentrate on doing what they could to prove the region is a viable NBA market.

"We have focused on what we can control here in Sacramento. That has been our commitment from day one. We knew if we stepped up from the corporate community, we'd be in the ball game. That was our offensive play," he said in a press conference outside Golden One Credit Union, 845 Cal Center Drive. "What's happening in Anaheim – that's somebody else's fight.... We weren't involved in that."

Representatives from 30 businesses made deposits on more than $10.2 million in pledges in a meeting with seven staff members from the NBA's Team Marketing and Business Operations department at Golden One, said Johnson, who named businesses and later released a list of those who have pledged financial support.

Johnson had asked Sacramento Metro Chamber President Matt Mahood; political strategist Darius Anderson; special events planner Sharon Gerber, who owns Six Degreez; and Warren Smith, who helped bring the River Cats to West Sacramento; to gather support from the business community to pledge money to buy corporate sponsorships, Kings tickets and luxury suites.

Anderson, a San Francisco investor, and billionaire Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle emerged two weeks ago as possible investors willing to buy the Kings or bring another team here if the Kings left.

Bennett and an NBA attorney were in town last week for the first set of NBA meetings with local elected officials and business leaders. Their visit was set up following Johnson’s appearance before Bennett’s NBA committee and the NBA’s finance committee April 14.

On Friday, an NBA official confirmed the league had no plans to send anyone to Anaheim for a similar fact-finding mission.

NBA staff members met with the mayor at the end of the day Monday and told him they'd need deposits on those pledges, Johnson said.

"Today, they have put their money where their mouth is – demonstrated to the NBA that we are for real and we're here to support the NBA, support the Kings – not just this year, but for many years go come," Mahood said during the press conference.

Six people from the Sacramento groups Blackramento Cali Africans (BCA) and All Things Are Possible (ATAP) stood on Golden One's palm tree-filled plaza to protest during the NBA meeting and press conference. The group held signs reading, "We need education, not recreation" and "Invest your money in the youth of tomorrow."

They questioned why the public wasn't informed in advance of Tuesday's NBA meeting and others the NBA and mayor's office have set up in Sacramento in the last week.

"There shouldn't be secret meetings," ATAP Chief Executive Officer Olatunji Richards said. "It seems to be going through the back door."

They said they would like to see more money spent on school programs, job training and job creation rather than keeping the Kings.

"They're finding millions of dollars out there to save the Kings," BCA President Keon Johnson said. "The conditions in my community don't reflect the millions that (should) trickle down from the Kings."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Anaheim bonds to need voter approval

2011-04-26T00:48:42Z

The Committee to Save the Kings has gathered enough signatures in Anaheim to halt the issuance of $75 million in bonds that was approved by the Anaheim City Council to fund a Sacramento Kings move to Anaheim, pending voter approval.

That’s according to Kellen Arno of Arno Political Consultants, which collected 11,000 - 12,000 signatures.

The next scheduled election is not until June of 2012.

The bonds will “absolutely have to” go before voters, he said.

According to Arno, his firm is finalizing the signatures – making sure the ones sent are all legible names and real addresses – and will send them to government officials in the next few days.

“We’re done,” he said, saying he is confident that all signatures have, in fact, been collected. “We’ve done this many, many times.”

The move essentially blocks the Kings from moving to Anaheim until voters approve the bonds or another source of funding is made available, attorney Jeffrey Dorso told The Sacramento Press April 8. A special election could be called before 2012, but it would be costly, he added.

The Committee to Save the Kings is made up of a number of Sacramento-area business leaders and involves former City Councilman Robbie Waters.

Representatives from the group did not return calls late Monday afternoon.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @brandon_darnell.

*****

Also Monday, several sources confirmed that a meeting was expected to take place Tuesday between National Basketball Association representatives and business owners who had pledged more than $10.2 million in financial support for the Kings if they stay in Sacramento next year.

Company representatives, who attended a meeting with the NBA Thursday, had been asked Friday or over the weekend to tentatively reserve time at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The time and place of the meeting weren't confirmed by mid-Monday afternoon.

Those companies include Thunder Valley Casino Resort, Envision Pharmaceutical Holdings, Synergex, Western Health Advantage and Markstein Beverage Company.

NBA officials have said they want pledges to be formalized in some way. Company representatives weren't sure if they would be asked to write checks and make deposits on their pledges or just sign pledge agreements because that hadn't been clarified between the NBA and the city.

At least some of the companies can't commit hard financial numbers or determine the total they’d be willing to spend, because the Kings' owners haven’t talked with anyone to let them know what kind of sponsorship or marketing packages they could get in return, sources said.

Staff from the NBA's Team Marketing and Business Operations department will be here this week to meet with Kings supporters and gather more information.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @suzannehurt.

NBA may not visit Anaheim

2011-04-23T01:41:25Z

Sacramento has gotten no word from the National Basketball Association that the Kings are staying in town – but the league doesn't have plans yet to visit Anaheim, an NBA official said Friday.

League staff members will be in Sacramento Monday to collect more detailed information about financial support for the Kings and a new arena following a two-day visit Thursday and Friday by an NBA attorney and NBA Relocation Committee Chair Clay Bennett, who owns the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Bennett will report back to his committee next week, said Tim Frank, the NBA's senior vice president of Basketball Communications.

However, NBA officials have not scheduled a similar fact-finding mission to Southern California, Frank said.

"No trip planned at the moment for Anaheim," he wrote in an email.

The Kings' owners, the Maloofs, said Friday they have not yet made a decision about whether to file a relocation request to move the team. The deadline is May 2.

On Thursday, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and other elected official asked the NBA to give the region a year to show they will be able to replace Power Balance Pavilion with a new home for the Kings.

The Los Angeles Times reported Friday afternoon NBA officials said they expect the Kings to stay in the state capital for the next year. However, the NBA has not told this to the city of Sacramento, Mayor Kevin Johnson said in a late-afternoon press conference.

"I have not heard that from David Stern's mouth. I have not heard that from Clay Bennett," said Johnson, who called the claim "too premature."

"I haven't heard anything close to that, by any means."

Still, Anaheim didn't sound like the happiest place on earth Friday. Mayor Tom Tait issued a brief statement saying he didn't want to respond to "unconfirmed reports."

“As we have said all along, Anaheim is an NBA-ready city,” he said in a prepared statement. “We put forth a great presentation at the NBA Board of Governors meetings in New York. And we are confident that we have established this region as a stand-alone market and that the NBA looks favorably on our city, our arena and our fans."

Anaheim city officials didn't wish to comment on the NBA having no visits scheduled for Anaheim, said Ruth Ruiz, spokeswoman for the city manager's office.

"That would be a decision for someone in the NBA to make," Ruiz said late Friday afternoon.

George Maloof told Johnson early this week they want to let Bennett and the NBA gather information before further discussing a possible move with the NBA or the city of Sacramento. The Maloofs repeated that in a prepared statement sent out Friday in response to reports the NBA has decided keep the Kings in Sacramento.

"We await the results of the fact-finding visit that the NBA made to Sacramento the past two days," according to the statement. "We have not made a decision with regards to relocation filing, and will not make that decision until we have more information from the NBA."

Johnson thanked Kings fans, the business community and other elected officials for their help in fighting "tooth and nail" to help keep the Kings in Sacramento.

By Friday, the Sacramento Metro Chamber, city and others had raised more than $10.2 million in pledges of financial support for the Kings if they stay.

"Clay Bennett got a chance to sit down and look face to face with the people who made these pledges, and they didn't flinch," Johnson said at City Hall.

NBA officials dined at Ella Thursday night and met from 9 a.m.- noon Friday with the Maloofs. Johnson said he rode to the airport with Bennett.

"They felt that our community had stepped up," Johnson said.

The mayor said NBA officials indicated they will say next week when they expect to make a decision, after meeting with the Kings and the Sacramento region's corporate community to discuss those pledges.

City officials and business leaders will have to wait until late May when an arena feasibility study is complete to start determining how new arena construction might be financed, he said.

Using a basketball analogy, Johnson said he no longer feels like Sacramento is behind in the game by 20 points. But he also doesn't yet feel like Sacramento has won the fight to keep the Kings.

"We've shrunk that lead to something manageable," he said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Region asks NBA for another year with Kings

2011-04-22T01:35:14Z

Sacramento leaders asked National Basketball Association officials visiting Thursday to keep the Kings in Sacramento for at least another year while the region proves a new arena can be built – and an answer is expected May 2.

In a closed-door meeting at the state Capitol Thursday morning, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and other elected officials from the city and state asked the NBA to give the region a year to show they will be able to replace Power Balance Pavilion with a new home for the Kings.

Kings supporters also did their best to paint the town purple – waving purple-lettered signs outside City Hall, hanging Kings banners on buildings and dressing in the team's color. Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett, who chairs the NBA Board of Governor's Relocation Committee, even wore a purple tie to the NBA meetings in Sacramento.

An NBA delegation led by Bennett and Harvey Benjamin, an attorney, met with about 20 people, including Sacramento City Council members and state officials, in Steinberg's office. NBA officials, who will also be here Friday, didn't indicate which way they're leaning.

"We haven't got a commitment yet," Mayor Kevin Johnson said in a press conference outside the U.S. Bank Building Thursday. "The quicker we get word that (the) team is here for another year – that is a big statement. I think that will happen no later than May 2, as I understand it today."

In a second NBA meeting Thursday – this time with business leaders at the U.S. Bank Building – Bennett and Benjamin asked if the region's corporate community is ready to "sign on the dotted line" to provide $9.2 million in financial support if the Kings remain in Sacramento another year, Johnson said.

"Clay Bennett wanted to make sure these were hard commitments," he said, adding that corporate leaders responded, "Yes."

Pledges were raised in the last two weeks during an effort spearheaded by Sacramento Metro Chamber President Matt Mahood and the mayor. Businesses and corporate leaders came "out of the woodwork" to pledge money – including owners of small and medium-size businesses whose smaller pledges haven't been tapped into yet, Mahood said during the press conference right after the meeting.

ICON Venue Group President Tim Romani and others from the ICON-Taylor development team later gave NBA officials an update on the financial feasibility study they're doing for a new arena.

No Kings rallies were held Thursday, said Kings blogger Blake Ellington, who founded the Here We Stay movement to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

But he and other supporters of the effort to keep the team wore plenty of purple. Members of the SEIU labor union waved signs saying workers support the Kings being here at the corner of 10th and I streets, outside City Hall.

Artist Anthony Padilla spray painted a large statue of a book in Natomas with the words "Here We Build" in purple.

Tim Ahmadzai, owner of the Hometown Favorites sports store at Sacramento International Airport's terminal A, decked out the front of his store with purple balloons and Kings paraphernalia to welcome the NBA to town.

Renee Viehmann of Rancho Cordova and her weimaraner, Roxie, both dressed in purple and stood outside the U.S. Bank Building where they hoped to catch a glimpse of NBA officials.

"I just wanted to come down and show the purple and hopefully show the NBA we don't want them to go," she said.

About 20 people who were out and about on J, K and L streets in downtown and Midtown late Thursday afternoon were spotted wearing purple. There weren't many people walking around the grid at that time, but some Kings fans expressed their loyalty through purple shirts, ties and Kings jerseys.

On Friday, 28-year-old Alex Kramers, a financial analyst in New York, said he will lead 10 to 20 Kings fans to NBA headquarters at 645 Fifth Ave. at 1 p.m. EDT. Dressed in purple, they will rally outside and drop off letters asking NBA Commissioner David Stern to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

Kramers has never lived in Sacramento. He became a Kings fan in the early 1990s watching Mitch Richmond play. He's been a "fan correspondent" writing on the Kings website this year.

He discovered other Kings fans also live in New York when he showed up outside last week's NBA meeting at the St. Regis Hotel. They decided to rally together this week, he said.

"We've got some passionate fans," Kramers said.

West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon also said the meeting with the NBA went well.

"They were asking the right questions, and anytime they tuned in to the radio or turned on the TV or even went outside, they can't help but see the support for the team," he said as he stood inside Capitol Bowl in West Sacramento.

"They're here getting our business strategy.... We may not have our I's dotted and our T's crossed, but we know how to make this work, and they see that the whole region is coming together."

Bowling alley Manager Chris White said the Kings have always been part of this region and she will be sad if they go. Kings players have been loyal customers, she said.

"I bought size 16 and 17 (bowling) shoes because the Kings would come here and bowl," she said Thursday afternoon. "Mike Bibby and Bobby Jackson used to come here all the time and bring their friends and families."

But not everyone wore purple Thursday. Sacramento State student Jon Haas decided not to when he went into his internship at the Board of Equalization in the U.S. Bank Building Thursday.

"To be totally honest, I'd like the Kings to stay. But I'd like the Maloofs to go," he said, noting the Kings owners still owe the city millions of dollars. "It just seems like more trouble than it's worth."

After his morning meeting, Steinberg said NBA officials were "keeping their cards close to their chest" but he and others thought the meeting was very positive, said Steinberg spokeswoman Alicia Trost.

NBA officials are scheduled to do more fact-finding in town Friday, but no details were available.

Johnson and others appeared hopeful Thursday that the NBA wouldn't approve the Kings moving to Anaheim in early May.

"If we win today and if we get one more year, it's going to really boil down to our ability to build a new entertainment-sports complex," Johnson said. "People are going to want to know what's different. I think this is the beginning of hopefully something very positive going forward."

Staff reporters Brandon Darnell and Kathleen Haley contributed to this report. Suzanne Hurt is a staff writer for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Downtown businesses paint the town purple to support the Kings

2011-04-22T01:12:06Z

Downtown businesses are getting in on the underground social media campaign #HereWePurple. They’re supporting the Sacramento Kings while the NBA is in town through displays, specials, deals, freebies and more.

The social media campaign #HereWePurple has encouraged Sacramento to show support for the Kings by “painting the town purple” today while the NBA is in town meeting with local business leaders. The facebook event encourages residents to wear purple, sport a Kings jersey, put sign in your windows and cars, put up flags, wear your purple jewelry or whatever you've got all day long.

“We've been watching the campaign on Twitter and wanted to get our downtown businesses to encourage Sacramentans to get involved” said Lisa Martinez, DSP Director of Marketing and Outreach. "We've been overwhelmed by how many downtown businesses were willing to support the team and offer specials to residents to do the same.”

A number of downtown businesses have answered the call, most offering specials, deals or freebies. Additionally, many of businesses have created outward displays of support as well through lighting, uniforms, napkins, balloons; even logos and websites are turning purple.

Offers from downtown businesses include:

Mayahuel / Special: Purple Margaritas / Display: Purple balloons outside for support
Esquire Imax / Special: Free Popcorn to patrons in purple
Grange & The Citizen Hotel / Special: Kings Preservation Cocktail featuring local 209 gin, preserved grape jam, Dolin Blanc, and lemon / Display: Purple lighting in the windows
Ten22 / Special: Purple Reign Cocktail: Gin, cranberry juice, blue curacao, sweet & sour and lemon-lime soda / Display: logo with a purple border, and Ten22 Power Point presentation
3 Fires Lounge & The Residence Inn / Free scoop of purple ice cream for patrons in purple / Display: Employees dressed in Purple
Ella Dining Room & Bar / Happy Hour all day for patrons in purple – ½ price cocktails, $5 wines
Sheraton Grand Hotel/ Special: $1 Purple Sangria with Purchase of an Entrée / Display: Windows lit with purple lights, Purple napkins in Morgans Restaurant.
de Vere’s Irish Pub / Special: $4 “Kings Hooters” (purple hooter shooters) til close
The Melting Pot / Special: $5 “Kingsberry” Margaritas (Blackberry Margaritas)
Strings Express / Special: Free Cheesy Garlic Bread for patrons in purple
Chocolate Fish Coffee / Special: Free Slam Dunk Freespro (double shot of Espresso) to patrons in purple

In addition, the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Downtown Sacramento Partnership have created window displays to support Sacramento’s team. The US Bank Building, Memorial Auditorium, Ziggurat Building will join the Sheraton and Citizen Hotel in displaying purple lighting on their buildings. To stay abreast of new downtown deals and updates for the "Here We Purple" campaign, follow Downtown Sacramento Partnership on Twitter: @DowntownSac.

Disclosure: Megan Emmerling is Marketing Manager for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership.

Seeing purple in Sacramento Thursday: Photo essay

2011-04-22T00:38:03Z

Sacramentans have heart and they aren't afraid to show it. Thanks to all of the people who sent us their Here We Purple photos today. Below you'll find photos of purple shoes, dogs wearing purple, coworkers wearing purple and even a purple zebra. If you have more photos to share, send them to journalism@sacramentopress.com and we'll add them in here.

To read more about the current efforts by city leaders and businesses to keep the Kings in Sacramento, click here.

The Sacramento Press turns purple for #HereWePurple

2011-04-21T05:57:52Z

Thursday, April 21, The Sacramento Press site will be Sacramento Kings purple instead of its normal green color.

We are changing our site's colors to support the #HereWePurple effort. For more information on the NBA visit to Sacramento and the pledges to keep the Kings in Sacramento, read Sacramento Press staff reporter Suzanne Hurt's article here.

We encourage you to take photos of the purple you see Thursday or share photos from Kings games or events you've been to in the past. We will put together a splash page for Friday with some of the submissions.

If you have any questions about how to post, email support@sacramentopress.com.

Dust off your purple clothes, and be on the lookout for businesses supporting Here We Purple by offering specials to purple patrons and being creative with the color purple.

Tell us about what you see in Sacramento Thursday in the comment section below.

Here We Purple!

Fans, leaders roll out purple carpet for NBA

2011-04-21T01:20:32Z

A day before National Basketball Association representatives arrive in Sacramento, regional leaders gathered in the state capital Wednesday to show their support for what has until now been the city's effort to keep the Kings and build a new arena.

Kings fans and business leaders have launched a campaign called "Here We Purple" in anticipation of the NBA's arrival. The movement grew on Facebook and Twitter, where organizers are encouraging everyone in the city to paint the town purple and wear purple clothes Thursday and/or Friday.

Elected officials from as far away as Loomis, Yuba City and Yolo County joined Mayor Kevin Johnson for an hour-long meeting and press conference he held to drum up support for the team.

Johnson will meet with Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett, who chairs the NBA Board of Governor's Relocation Committee, and NBA Executive Counsel Harvey Benjamin on their two-day fact-finding mission here Thursday and Friday.

The Kings and the arena where they play have been regional assets that have brought jobs, business, marketing opportunities and a national identity to the six-county region – which includes Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Yuba and Sutter counties, several leaders said.

"The NBA and the Kings span the entire region. They are not simply part of the city of Sacramento. They are one of the region's most important assets," West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon said during the press conference.

"We want to make it clear to the NBA that the entire region is standing behind Mayor Johnson, the city of Sacramento and the Kings to assure that the NBA remains a critical part of this community and this region," he said.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Kings fans and businesses used social media to get the word out on efforts to swathe Sacramento and its residents in purple.

Grange Restaurant and Bar will put the "Kings Preservation" cocktail on the menu Thursday. The Midtown bar Alley Katz is offering $1 purple beers Thursday. Restaurants, bars and a movie theater are offering freebies and special deals for customers dressed in purple. The Esquire IMAX Theatre will give away free popcorn to anyone wearing that color.

On Wednesday morning, about 36 people representing all six counties, six to eight cities and four chambers of commerce met with Johnson at the headquarters for the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, across from the Capitol. City Councilmen Steve Cohn and Jay Schenirer took part. Representatives were also sent by state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, state Sen. Ted Gaines and U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui.

Yolo County Supervisor Jimmie Yee said he wants to work with leaders from throughout the region to figure out how to build a new arena to replace Power Balance Pavilion and keep the Kings in Sacramento.

"An entertainment center, not just for NBA basketball, but for all entertainment, is a regional asset," Yee said.

On Wednesday, Johnson did not mention another option he raised before the NBA team owners last week: that a group led by billionaire Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle buy the Kings to keep them here or bring in another team.

Neither Burkle nor his investment partner, San Francisco political strategist Darius Anderson, have been available for more comment on their plan since the NBA meeting.

On Friday, NBA Commissioner David Stern indicated Johnson's "businesslike" approach and presentation to team owners were critical in getting the league to postpone the team's relocation request deadline to May 2.

No details were available on the NBA's visit or meeting with the mayor.

Several at the press conference outside Meridian Plaza, 1415 L St., credited Johnson with turning the conversation around in the last two weeks to refocus on a desire to keep the Kings and continuing the efforts to stop the team from moving to Anaheim.

In that time, Johnson has led a drive that's raised at least $8 million in pledges of financial support for the team in the form of corporate sponsorships, luxury suite sales or next season tickets. He made a pitch to stop the Kings from leaving the city or at least protect Sacramento's reputation as a viable NBA market when he appeared before NBA Board of Governors committees last week.

"It's really critical and I think it's phenomenal that we have been able to turn around that sentiment that, two weeks ago, felt like it was a done deal," Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Steve Gándola said. "Today, I really feel we have a strong shot at keeping them here."

The Sacramento Press will turn its website purple Thursday. Kings supporters can post photos of people dressed in purple and other creative ways people show support for this effort at www.sacramentopress.com.

Thunder Valley Casino tribe pledges $1m for Kings

2011-04-20T00:03:56Z

The tribal council of the United Auburn Indian Community, which owns Thunder Valley Casino Resort, pledged $1 million toward the effort to stop the Kings from moving to Anaheim – raising the total to at least $8 million Tuesday afternoon.

The tribe's five-member elected council decided to commit the money after meeting with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson Tuesday afternoon. Council members are now challenging businesses and business leaders to make hefty pledges of their own, said Doug Elmets, spokesman for the tribe and casino.

"He (Johnson) made a very compelling case as to why it's important for the business community to rally together to keep the Kings in Sacramento," Elmets said.

Johnson and leaders in the region's business community are engaged in a drive to raise pledges to help keep the National Basketball Association team in Sacramento. The money could be used to buy corporate sponsorships, suites or next season ticket sales.

Johnson told the NBA Board of Governors Thursday that $7 million had been committed so far. He could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

NBA's Sac meetings will be closed

2011-04-19T21:00:14Z

The public will have to wait for information on this week’s meetings in Sacramento involving two NBA officials as the meetings will be closed to media, Mayor Kevin Johnson said at a Tuesday morning press conference.

The two NBA executives who will visit Sacramento on Thursday and Friday are Clay Bennett, relocation committee chair for the NBA Board of Governors, and NBA Executive Counsel Harvey Benjamin, said Tim Frank, an NBA spokesman.

The closed meetings relating to the Kings’ future were requested by the NBA, Johnson said.

“They felt that they didn’t want a lot of fanfare,” Johnson said.

However, Johnson said he would meet with the local media to communicate information about the meetings after the NBA executives leave town.

“As soon as they leave, we’ll get right back in the room and tell (the media) all that (the NBA) is comfortable sharing,” Johnson said. “Certainly, I want our community, first and foremost, to know exactly where we stand.”

Johnson said that he wants to show the visiting NBA officials three things – that the team has corporate support, the Sacramento market is viable, and the city has a “clear path” for a new sports complex.

“They’re going to look at Sacramento and we get a chance to put our best foot forward,” Johnson said.

The NBA officials will also be introduced to regional Sacramento leaders, he said.

Johnson declined to name the businesspeople who pledged $7 million to the Kings in corporate sponsorships and suite revenues last week. He said he would identify them “at the appropriate time,” and that they will meet with the NBA executives before making any public announcements.

“I think we have an obligation to introduce the corporate sponsors to the NBA delegation that’s out here first,” Johnson said.

Staff reporter Suzanne Hurt contributed to this report. Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

NBA group rolls into Sacramento this week

2011-04-18T23:00:45Z

A National Basketball Association committee will arrive in Sacramento this week to study the possibility of keeping the Kings here.

Reports surfaced Monday that a group of six would be coming here Tuesday to get more information about new financial support for the Kings. On Friday at the NBA Board of Governors meeting in New York, NBA Commissioner David Stern said team owners agreed to learn more about corporate sponsorships and other money that may be available to help the Kings make more money in Sacramento.

The only information that could be confirmed was that Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett, who chairs the board's Relocation Committee, and NBA Executive Counsel Harvey Benjamin will be here Thursday and Friday, according to Tim Frank, the NBA's senior vice president of basketball communications.

An agenda has not been set yet, he said.

The Maloof family, which owns or controls a majority share of the Sacramento Kings, has been exploring a possible move to Anaheim. Last week, the NBA Board of Governors agreed to a second deadline extension for the Maloofs to seek permission to move – from April 18 to May 2.

Mayor Kevin Johnson's office is still working out meeting logistics with the NBA.

"We're putting together the details for the upcoming meetings," mayoral spokesman Joaquin McPeek said.

At least $7 million in commitments for corporate sponsorships and suite revenues were made to Johnson and business leaders including Sacramento Metro Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Mahood shortly before the NBA Board of Governors meeting, which was held last Thursday and Friday.

The money was raised as Kings fans, Sacramento business leaders and Johnson and other city officials rally around various efforts to stop the Kings from going to Anaheim. A drive to collect about 10,000 Anaheim resident signatures and possibly block more than $75 million in bonds to help the Kings to move is going "very well" and is more than half way to its goal, said Kellen Arno of Arno Political Consultants in Carlsbad.

On Thursday, Johnson also told the NBA billionaire Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle and San Francisco investor Darius Anderson would like to buy the Kings or help the city draw another pro basketball team if the Kings move.

Mahood and others with the Metro Chamber continue to search for new corporate sponsors and suite holders to bring the Kings new revenue.

“The Sacramento Metro Chamber is currently working with the mayor’s office in the ongoing effort to demonstrate that Sacramento has been and will continue to be a viable NBA market for the Sacramento Kings," Mahood said in a prepared statement Monday.

Staff reporter Brandon Darnell contributed to this report. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for the Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

NBA takes more time to study Kings move

2011-04-15T23:53:49Z

Sacramento Kings fans will have to keep holding their breath over a possible team move after a National Basketball Association official on Friday said the league needs time to learn more about the unfolding deal in Anaheim and the viability of keeping the team in the capital.

The NBA Board of Governors agreed to extend the deadline for the Maloofs’ request to move until May 2.

On Thursday, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and San Francisco investor Darius Anderson told NBA team owners that billionaire Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle is leading a plan to buy the Kings or help bring another pro basketball team here if the Kings leave.

Johnson also said he and business leaders have raised commitments for at least $7 million in corporate sponsorships and suite revenues in the last week to create "significant immediate additional revenues" for the Kings, according to the mayor's office.

NBA team owners want to know more about the money available to help the Kings "better compete" and improve economic performance next year in Sacramento if the team stays, NBA Commissioner David Stern said at a press conference in New York Friday.

"Mayor Johnson came in and said ... there will be lots of additional dollars available that would improve the Kings’ performance, the Kings’ economic performance, in Sacramento, if they stay, and that the community had recently been mobilized, and was in a position to (help keep) them there for the coming season," Stern said. "The other things were to find out what the mayor was referring to with respect to additional revenue opportunities that would allow the team to better compete next year and be economically feasible."

While Burkle has a "good reputation," Stern said the sale of the Kings or drawing another team to Sacramento wasn't high on the league's list of priorities.

The key to keeping the NBA in Sacramento is a new arena. Power Balance Pavilion is so inadequate the National Collegiate Athletic Association won't bring its basketball tournament back there, he said.

"The issue first and foremost in Sacramento is whether there's the will and the ability to build a new arena for an NBA team and the other events...." Stern said. "The mayor's vision is for a downtown arena as part of a major redevelopment of 230 acres. You know, we don't know if that's real or a pie in the sky. We don't know whether we can find that out in a couple of weeks, but we are going to knock ourselves out to do it."

A team led by Colorado arena builder ICON Venue Group President Tim Romani and Sacramento developer David Taylor are expected to complete an arena feasibility study in early May.

Stern indicated Johnson's "business-like approach" and thorough presentation about Sacramento's strengths as an NBA market and the current effort to build a new arena were instrumental in getting the league to ask for more time to study the two locations.

Members of the NBA Board of Governors Relocation and Finance Advisory committees are expected to meet with Johnson and Sacramento business leaders to get more concrete information.

Several efforts to keep the Kings or the NBA in Sacramento and to fund a new arena are under way, with new developments still taking place, Sacramento Metro Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Mahood said Friday.

“The Sacramento region’s business community has demonstrated substantial interest in stepping up to ensure we remain viable as an NBA market, with or without the Sacramento Kings," Mahood said in a prepared statement. "Over the course of the next few weeks, we look forward to further defining the business community’s support and commitments."

The idea to extend the relocation request deadline a second time came from NBA Board of Governors Chairman Glen Taylor, who owns the Minnesota Timberwolves; Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett, who chairs the board's Relocation Committee; and the Maloofs.

In a teleconference late Friday afternoon, Johnson said the extension signals the game isn't over in Sacramento yet.

"I'm encouraged by the delay. I'm also encouraged by the fact that the NBA is going to send a team out to investigate the potential of Sacramento," he said. "I'm not declaring victory by any means."

Members of the two committees also want more time to look into the proposed deal between the Kings and Anaheim, especially after the terms of the deal were revised over the last few days. They need more information about loans and investments, television revenue and construction plans that could help increase expected revenue at Anaheim's Honda Center. They also would need to determine the Kings' relocation fee, Stern said.

Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait issued a statement Friday afternoon saying his community is "primed and ready" to welcome a basketball team.

“We understand that the relocation committee is balancing a variety of issues as they make this decision and have decided to take a little more time," he said. "We remain hopeful and optimistic that the NBA will have a franchise playing at Anaheim’s Honda Center in the near future."

The Kings have enough time to move even after the relocation request deadline was extended. The committees’ members are likely to believe Southern California can support three NBA teams, Stern said during the press conference.

"The committee thought that it would be a good idea to do a little bit more fact-finding and determine how this will ultimately play out," Stern said. "There's no agenda here – just to make sure that something as important to all parties as the transfer of a team to another city and the attempts of that city to keep that team was fully understood, fully briefed."

The NBA has declined requests for more information about the relocation vote process.

Neither Anderson nor Burkle could be reached Friday to comment further on plans to buy the Kings or another basketball team. The Maloofs and billionaire Henry Samueli, who owns Anaheim Arena Management, which operates Anaheim's Honda Center, would not comment Friday.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Penguins owner Ron Burkle heads effort to keep NBA in Sacramento

2011-04-15T01:56:10Z

Billionaire Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle and San Francisco investor Darius Anderson emerged Thursday as part of a new plan to keep the Kings in Sacramento or help the city draw another professional basketball team if the Kings move to Anaheim.

Burkle, a California native, is one of two owners of the Penguins National Hockey League team. He has been chairman of the board and the controlling shareholder for companies including Dominicks, Fred Meyer and Ralphs grocery stores. The 58-year-old was listed as having a net worth of $3.2 billion by Forbes in March.

Anderson, who is in his mid-40s, is a political strategist and fundraiser, as well as founder and chief executive officer of San Francisco-based Kenwood Investments and the lobbying firm Platinum Advisors, among other companies. He led the $2 billion Treasure Island redevelopment project and also bought and renovated the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco. He lives in Sacramento part of the time and also has homes in Sonoma and Southern California.

"News today is that billionaire Ron Burkle is very interested in buying the Kings and keeping them in Sac," Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson tweeted Thursday afternoon from the St. Regis Hotel in New York.

Johnson announced the development shortly after making a pitch to National Basketball Association team owners Thursday at a Board of Governors committee meeting in New York in an effort to stop the Kings from leaving the city or at least make the case that Sacramento is a good candidate for another team.

Anderson was vice president of external affairs for Ralphs grocery stores when Burkle owned the company. The two are now friends and partners in the Burkle Group.

Anderson masterminded the deal several months ago, but it was kept under wraps until a meeting before the NBA Board of Governors finance committee Thursday afternoon, according to one source.

The pair later issued a statement confirming they made a commitment to “significant” investment to “keep the NBA in Sacramento” to NBA team owners during Johnson’s presentation to a meeting of the relocation committee and at least one other committee. The statement didn’t mention a desire to buy the Kings.

“This group, led by Pittsburgh Penguins owner Ron Burkle, is prepared to assist the mayor by bringing significant resources and the best possible expertise in professional sports, facilities development and financing to bear in the effort to keep Sacramento as an NBA city,” Anderson said in a prepared statement issued Thursday afternoon.

“The Burkle Group, our local partners and other investors are looking forward to working together with the mayor and other regional leaders to keep the NBA in Sacramento, deliver on a new facility and provide Kings fans in the region with decades more of great memories,” he said.

No further information on a plan to buy the Kings was available Thursday. Additional developments may take place over the next few days, a source said.

Maloof family members, who reportedly own or control a majority share of the Kings, have repeatedly said they plan to hold onto their interests in the team.

"The Maloofs will not sell the Kings," said Troy Hanson, vice president of media relations for the Kings, after the Maloofs made a presentation to other team owners Thursday.

Hanson wouldn't discuss what the Maloofs said during their presentation. Gavin Maloof represented the family during the full Board of Governor's meeting. Hanson couldn't confirm reports that the family will file a relocation request on Monday – the filing deadline.

The percentage of shares in the Kings owned or controlled by the Kings couldn't be verified Thursday. All Kings owners reportedly have first right of refusal to buy shares if any of the other owners want to sell.

During his presentation, Johnson spoke not only as Sacramento's mayor but as a product of the league's success, said mayoral Special Assistant Bob Graswich.

"The league is one of those organizations that takes great pride in the success of its people after they leave," Graswich said Thursday morning. "He represents exactly what the league strives for in its players. He wouldn't be here (as mayor) without them."

Just a night before, a crowd packed nearly all the seats at Power Balance Pavilion for the Kings' last home game of the season. Fans waved homemade signs showing love for the team and opposing a move to Anaheim throughout the game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

After the Lakers won 116-108 in overtime, fans didn't bolt for the doors. They stayed to applaud the team and Head Coach Paul Westphal then applauded the fans in return.

Johnson, who attended part of the game, told reporters Thursday morning he was moved by the dedication the fans showed at the end of the game, Graswich said.

"They didn't want to leave," he said. "They didn't want to leave the building. They didn't want the Kings to leave. It really resonated with him."

Representatives of the Pittsburgh Penguins could not be reached for comment.

Editorial Note: This is an updated version of an earlier story.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

This Could be the Last Kings Huddle

2011-04-14T18:42:17Z

The Kings huddled with excitement before game 41. Check out my raw footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgir1JNcFDw

Final Kings game of the season full of emotions

2011-04-14T18:09:19Z

It was a night to remember, that’s for sure.

If not for the final score – which was 116-108 in overtime – then for the potentially last moments the fans shared with their beloved Kings at Power Balance Pavilion Wednesday night after a spirited game against the L.A. Lakers.

It was Fan Appreciation Night at the Pavilion but, as fans arrived, there was an undercurrent of sadness mixed into the excitement for what was expected to be an action-packed game between two longtime rival teams.

Not only was this the last game of the regular season, but with the threat of a team move to Anaheim, it was quite possibly going to be the last game the Kings ever play in Sacramento..

“I’m a season ticket holder,” said Alvin McGowan, 52, a security guard for the arena on duty for the game night. “Usually (the corporate office) opens up sales for next season’s tickets by now, but they haven’t done that. That scares me.”

McGowan wasn’t alone in his concerns for the future of the team. Many fans expressed their opposition to the possible team move with the waving of homemade signs and their chants of “Here we stay! Not L.A.!” throughout the game Wednesday night.

The arena was completely packed for the sold-out game. With more than 17,600 people in attendance, you could count the number of empty seats in the arena and still not come up with enough to fill your average-size school bus.

Despite the behind-the-scenes drama about leaving Sacramento, the Kings weren’t going to let the season end quietly. From the first tip-off, it was clear both teams came to put on a show.

Lakers forward Lamar Odom put up the first score of the night, followed almost immediately by a game-tying fadeaway jump shot by Kings center Samuel Dalembert.

The teams continued from there, scoring off each other and moving the numbers on the scoreboard slowly upward, alternately tying it up then taking the lead, then tying it up again.

Guard Marcus Thornton led the scoring for the Kings in the first period with 15 points after making 6 of 10 field goal attempts. Dalembert and DeMarcus Cousins each put up four points, and by the end of the first period, the Lakers had established only a five-point lead.

In the second period, the Kings put up 22 more points, led by a a 25-foot jump shot for three points by Tyreke Evans. One more from Evans went unanswered at the end of the period, leaving the Lakers with an eight-point lead as the game moved to halftime.

The third period started off with the Lakers holding their lead, and putting up four more unanswered points before Kings forward Jason Thompson hit his mark with a smooth layup assisted by Thornton.

A foul on the Kings’ Francisco Garcia with three minutes left in the third period brought deafening boos from the intense and excited crowd.

With another two jump shots late in the period, Kobe Bryant put up a total of 10 points in the third quarter, and the Lakers ended the period with an 18-point lead.

The fourth quarter was where the teams seemed to really come alive.

Early in the game, the crowds started out on a high, but by the start of the fourth quarter, they seemed fairly low-key. That is, until Cousins got hit with his second technical foul and was ejected from the game just two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter.

The crowd went absolutely nuts when Artest threw a bad pass and Thornton stole the ball, driving all the way to the hole for a slam dunk, and taking the Lakers’ lead down to two with just three minutes left in the final game of the season.

Or so we thought.

Bryant attempted an 11-foot jump shot and missed, Thompson rebounded, passed to Thornton who took advantage of the moment with a quick layup, tying up the game 95-95.

Two minutes later, Udrih is was sent to the freethrow line on a personal foul by Pau Gasol. Udrih makes made both shots, tying the game at 99-99 with less than 10 seconds left in regulation play.

Nine seconds later, Thornton missed a jump shot at the buzzer, and the clock was set to continue with five minutes of more game time in overtime.

The mass of Lakers and Kings fans in the arena lit the place up with wall-rumbling cheers and deafening roars. And yet, to some, this was fairly subdued for a Kings game.

“This was nothing like it was in the heyday,” said Kings fan Mike Galli, 36. “Back then, when (the crowds) got going, your head would just buzz.”

Even with the crowd lighting up the arena with positive energy, the Kings couldn’t hold off their rivals.

With barely 13 seconds left in overtime, the Kings were staring down nine points needed to make this game theirs. When Thompson missed a big three-point jump shot, the crowd realized it was over.

Final score, 116-108, Lakers.

The Kings’ big point-scorer of the night was Thornton with 33 points. Thornton made 14 field goals on 26 attempts, and three of those were three-pointers.

Kobe Bryant put up big numbers in the game for the Lakers, scoring 18 points in the second half and a total of 36 points for the night.

Although Cousins didn’t come anywhere near his season game-high for points Wednesday night, he did set a new Sacramento-era rookie single-season record for total rebounds with 6.

The Kings were without playoff hopes coming into the game, but the Lakers needed this last win to clinch a spot in the Pacific Division playoffs.

Despite the healthy final score, the loss was a disappointment to the Kings players and their fans alike.

“It was a tough way to end the season,” said Kings forward Omri Casspi in the locker room after the game. “We wanted to win, but ... it is what it is.”

“We know (Kings) fans are upset,” said Lamar Odom after his team’s win. “It’s got to be tough for them. Home is home.”

This was Paul Harrison’s first Kings game, and the 22-year-old came from Modesto to be in the stands for this final showdown of the season.

“It’s not the end of the world if they go,” Harrison said, “but it’s not what anyone wants.

“Home is where the heart is,” Harrison added, “And the fans are the heart of this team.”

Mayor Kevin Johnson said he agreed “100 percent.”

“I want the fans to know that they are the best fans in the NBA,” Johnson said. “I want (the fans) to know that it’s not their fault. They should not be heartbroken. They should not give up on the game.”

George Miller, 46, said he’s been a season ticket holder for 10 years, and his son, George Henry, 10, was one of the ball boys at Wednesday’s game.

If the Kings do end up heading to Anaheim, Miller said he’ll be disappointed to see them go.

“We have a good nucleus to the team now, just as they’re about to leave,” Miller said.

Despite an overall sense of resignation among the fans about the team’s potential move to Anaheim, some in the stands were more pragmatic about it.

“You can’t blame the Maloofs for wanting to make things better for themselves,” said Al Armstrong, a 75-year-old fan (and season-ticket holder since 1989) from Sacramento. “That’s just business.”

After the final buzzer, most game-goers started heading out to their cars, and the arena began to empty. But many folks weren’t ready to walk out so fast.

Close to 1,000 die-hard Sacramento Kings fans who couldn’t bear to have a quick good-bye lingered for nearly an hour, waving signs and chanting, “Here we stay! Here we stay!” as arena personnel looked on.

Kings players returned to the court one last time to thank their fans and remind them that, even though this may be the end of the road, it’s been a great ride, and they have appreciated all that Sacramento has given the team.

“We have the best fans in the NBA,” Evans said as the night finally came to a close. “Remember that.”

Best of the West

2011-04-14T18:05:23Z

The Sacramento Kings Dance Team won NBA Best of the West due to social media. Check out my interview with Jennifer & Katie!

Check out my video -

Kobe Gay Slur Fallout

2011-04-14T17:42:54Z

NBA Commissioner David Stern issued the following statement, "Kobe Bryant's comment during the Spurs game was offensive and inexcusable. While I'm fully aware that basketball is an emotional game, such a distasteful term should never be tolerated. Accordingly, I have fined Kobe $100,000. Kobe and everyone associated with the NBA know that insensitive or derogatory comments are not acceptable and have no place in our game or society."

I attended the Lakers / Kings game and asked fans if they thought $100,00 fine is enough.

Check out my video -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNsUPnU3kjU

Order of appearance:
Phil Jackson - Lakers Coach
Carmichael Dave - Radio Sports Personality
Desire Engle
Christian Barry, Adam McIntyre, Derrick Matheson
Tyrel English
Stacey Petit, Kenneth Williams
George Styles
Doug Johnston
Jason Comstock
Michael Streeval
Mike Provost
Armondo Vialobos

Do you think $100,000 fine is enough?

Will the Sacramento Kings move to Anaheim?

2011-04-14T17:31:34Z

I attended the last game 41 Lakers/Kings and asked fans - Do you think the Kings are moving to Anaheim?

Check out my video -

http://youtu.be/wWJWqiO3Kgs

Order of appearance:
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson
Phil Jackson - Lakers Coach
Carmichael Dave - Radio Sports Personality
Julie Neamann
Mike Provost
Christian Barry, Adam McIntyre, Derrick Matheson
Tyrel English
Stacey Petit, Kenneth Williams
George Styles
Doug Johnston
Michael Streeval
Armondo Vialobos

The National Basketball Association (NBA) Board of Governors is the management body that oversees the operations of the National Basketball Association. They meet today in NYC and the Sacramento Mayor, Kevin Johnson is there pleading his case to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

Opinion: How I felt watching the Kings for the last time

2011-04-14T16:12:22Z

I couldn't make it to the game last night. I am almost glad, because crying at a basketball game sucks. I didn't cry when the Kings were behind, I didn’t cry when the Kings made a 20 point come back in the 4th quarter and then took the lead. I didn't even cry when Kobe made a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left (as I knew he would) and the game went into OT.
I didn't even cry when the Kings lost.

I think I started to tear up right about the time that the final buzzer sounded and not a single person moved. When, despite the loss the crowd stood and started applauding, loud thunderous applause like in the days of the great Sacramento Kings teams. I am pretty sure I actually had tears rolling down my face when head coach Paul Westphal walked out onto the court and started applauding the fans.

It is just a basketball team right?

Maybe...maybe

Watch this Youtube video of Kings TV annoucers Grant Naper and Jerry Reynolds signing off last night and tell me if this franchise is just a basketball team here in Sacramento. These guys aren't losing their jobs. What they are losing is 26 years of commitment, family and history in a city that has beloved this franchise through thick and thin. What they are going to is a sport saturated market full of front-running fair weather fans who will only go to the game if they can catch a celeb sighting.

What do the Kings mean to you? To me they mean memories. Memories of countless hours spent with my dad and my husband screaming at the TV or going to the games. Get-togethers with friends to watch play-off games. Group outings to the games because that was fun. So much fun.

Hell, I was at a Sacramento Kings game when I watched (from the upstairs Cantina Bar) my beloved San Francisco Giants win the World Series last November. I will never, ever forget that.

So how did I feel last night? I felt like someone died. I will never, ever forget that.

Go Time: Sacramento vs. Anaheim at NBA meeting

2011-04-14T00:37:34Z

In the world of professional basketball, Northern California is set to take on Southern California in two heated matchups over the next 24 hours. Only one of the competitions will take place on a basketball court.

Representatives from Sacramento and Anaheim are expected to appear before the National Basketball Association Board of Governors Thursday to discuss a Kings move to Anaheim and the future of basketball in Sacramento – just hours after the Sacramento Kings are set to go up against the Los Angeles Lakers at Power Balance Pavilion Wednesday night.

At the same time, different groups are working on efforts to keep the Kings in Sacramento or form an ownership group for a new team if the Kings leave. The Kings must file a request to move by April 18.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson planned to attend the Kings' last game of the regular 2010/2011 season, mayoral spokesman Joaquin McPeek said.

That could also be their last home game in Sacramento if the team moves to Anaheim before next season.

After the game, Johnson will fly to New York for a pivotal meeting involving the fate of the Kings. Johnson and Tim Romani, president of Colorado arena builder ICON Venue Group, are scheduled to address the board Thursday, McPeek said.

The mayor will stress the city's commitment to the Kings and construction of a new arena, as well as a move to find financial backers to bring a new team here if needed. Romani will update other NBA team owners on the effort to build a new arena, according to McPeek and the mayor's blog.

"The message will be brief, simple and honest: Sacramento has been a terrific NBA city," Johnson wrote in his blog Tuesday night. "We deserve a chance to maintain our place among other elite cities, if not with the Kings, then with another franchise."

The Maloofs, who own a majority share of the Kings, will also address the board. But whether they will formally request to move the team remained unclear Wednesday. The Maloofs won't comment on their plans, said Troy Hanson, vice president of media relations for the Kings.

"They're making a presentation to the board of governors tomorrow," Hanson said. "That doesn't (necessarily) mean that they file for relocation."

Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait and City Manager Tom Wood will focus on Anaheim in their comments to the board. They will likely tell the NBA the city is ready for a pro basketball team, and its Honda Center was built for two professional teams, said Ruth Ruiz, spokeswoman for the Anaheim city manager's office.

Billionaire Henry Samueli, president of Anaheim Arena Management, and other company representatives are also expected to attend.

A group called the Committee to Save the Kings has collected more than half of the roughly 10,000 signatures needed from Anaheim residents to possibly block $75 million in bonds to help the Kings move to Anaheim.

The Anaheim City Council agreed to issue the bonds on March 29. But a successful signature collection drive could force the issue to be decided by voters in June 2012 – which might block the Kings' relocation.

Tuesday night, former Kings player Chris Webber announced on TNT's postgame show he's involved in a separate effort to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

Others involved in that effort include Greg Van Dusen, who helped bring the Kings to Sacramento and later served as the team's executive vice president; Arco Arena architect Rann Haight; Tom Peterson, the Kings' former food and beverage vice president later put in charge of strategy and quality control for Maloof Sports and Entertainment; banker John Cassidy of Yuba City; and investment specialist Roger Stewart of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.

Stewart represents an investment group that's attempting to acquire the $77 million bond debt the Maloofs owe the city, in exchange for control or ownership of Power Balance Pavilion and surrounding land. However, the details of such an acquisition would still need to be worked out with the city, the county and the Maloofs, Van Dusen said Wednesday.

The arena and land is currently owned by Sacramento taxpayers.

Webber surprised the group Tuesday night after he discussed the ongoing effort on national TV. Webber has told them he's willing to help lead a move to keep the Kings, Van Dusen said.

"He has the kind of charisma" needed to garner support, Van Dusen said. "The most spectacular years of his tremendous career were here in Sacramento. He has great passion for our community. He's willing to put his money where his heart is – which is a blessing for us."

Stewart is still reaching out to more potential investors. The Kings have indicated they're not interested in playing in a renovated arena. But the group believes one option could be to renovate the old Arco Arena, at least until a new arena can be built, Van Dusen said.

"If they have the chance to pull this off, it has the opportunity to buy us some time and be a real game-changer," he said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.