Blind Ambitions
Kings owner needs to leave the game to experts
By R.E. Graswich
Photography By Linda Smolek
April 2025
Every few years, the Kings produce a season that explains why they will never be much good for any length of time. This season is a perfect example.
Building a great NBA franchise is tough. But like many hard tasks, the formula for NBA success is well defined.
Start with two current All-Star players (three is better but two can work). Add maturity and leadership on the floor and in the locker room. Mix in an experienced coaching staff and supportive front office.
Top it off with an ownership that flatters platinum-level sponsors, treats fans and media like valued customers, and absolutely never interferes with basketball.
The Kings fail that last rule. They ignore best practices set by winning teams. They reject lessons that brought success to the Lakers and Celtics, Bulls and Warriors, Spurs and Heat.
The Kings think they know better.
Start with All-Star players. The Kings rarely field All-Stars because few—let’s be honest, none—want to play in Sacramento. The town isn’t the problem. It’s the team.
If you were an All-Star, how thrilled would you be to sign with a loser that hasn’t won a championship since 1951?
When the Kings manage to land an All-Star, they overcompensate. They see a promising talent and imagine he’s the next Steph Curry.
That’s what they did with De’Aaron Fox, a good player whose speed catapulted him into All-Star range. But Fox lacks leadership qualities and defensive skills to carry a team deep into the playoffs. Much less the championships.
Early this season, the Kings hoped to sign Fox to a lifetime contract. They pegged him as the foundation. They were so desperate to hold onto him they fired coach Mike Brown after Brown publicly criticized Fox for a defensive blunder.
The Kings didn’t just fire Brown. They humiliated him. They phoned him when he was headed to the airport for a road game. They told him to stay home.
That’s how you fire someone who cooked the books or threw a punch at the CFO. Not a 27-year veteran who was the NBA’s unanimous Coach of the Year in 2023.
Then a funny thing happened. Fox realized he was getting blamed for Brown’s dismissal.
The timing of Fox’s defensive meltdown and Brown’s negative remarks added up to a thin-skinned player ordering management to fire his coach or else.
Fox wasn’t sorry to lose Brown. But he didn’t fire the coach.
If anything, the clumsy, cruel dismissal of Brown convinced Fox that the Kings were too insane for any hope of success.
Fox forced the Kings to trade him. He moved to San Antonio for a barrel of draft picks, plus Zach Levine, a 30-year-old guard the Kings tried to sign in 2018.
The Kings recovered and won some games after interim coach Doug Christie replaced Brown. But a few sweet wins at midseason won’t matter when the Kings get bounced from the playoffs.
Then it’s rebuilding time.
Which brings me to Vivek Ranadive, managing owner. Ranadive isn’t the first Kings boss to think he knows more about basketball than anyone on his payroll.
He’s no neophyte. He coached his daughter’s rec league team. He suggested the Kings keep one player on offense throughout the game, never playing defense.
Ranadive is a dilettante. Leading the Kings’ ownership for 12 years, he’s proven himself unstable, even reckless. He fired seven coaches, Christie not included. Yet.
What I can’t figure out is why Ranadive acts this way. Anyone can see he’s hopeless when it comes to basketball.
For some reason, Ranadive can’t enjoy himself at courtside and leave the details to the pros.
Despite his interference, the Kings have succeeded from a business perspective. Ownership equities in the team and Golden 1 Center grew from about $750 million to an estimated $3.7 billion since 2013.
Imagine what those numbers will look like if Ranadive stops messing around in the kitchen.
R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
