Apparently determined to leave the small-market confines of Sacramento, the Maloof family is exploring moving the Kings to an even smaller destination: Virginia Beach, which ranks below the California state capital as part of the Hampton Roads designated market area on most lists.
So says the , which reports that the Maloofs and officials from Comcast, the Philadelphia-based media giant, are expected to be in town next week to propose moving the Kings cross country. The Maloofs would supply the team, Comcast would build help build and lease a new arena, and Sacramento would be unceremoniously dumped after a deal to keep the team died a this spring.
It would be a bizarre pairing to say the least, especially with so many larger cities either in the process of building arenas (Seattle) or with ones already in place (Kansas City, Anaheim). Indeed, are already putting the kibosh on it.
No matter where the Kings end up, or even if they stay put, it’s times like this that Spurs fans should give major thanks that their team, despite San Antonio’s lack of market clout, has developed into such a strong, successful franchise over the years. Indeed, the Spurs have been so ridiculously consistent — 13 straight 50-win seasons, playoff appearances in 35 of 39 seasons in San Antonio — it’s only natural that even die-hards would take it for granted.
For anyone who does, just keep a close eye on what’s going down in Sacramento, where the fans have largely done their part but could end up with nothing but ugly t-shirts and memories of more bad basketball (10 playoff appearances in 28 seasons) than anybody should be subjected to.
