A little over a decade ago Vivek Ranadive was part of a group that purchased the Sacramento Kings. He is also the owner of the Sacramento River Cats the Triple-A team of the San Francisco Giants.
Ranadive guaranteed a new arena for the Kings or the NBA could take control of the franchise. Prior to his purchase there was a belief that the team may end up in another city, with Seattle being the obvious choice. Of course that did not happen and Golden 1 Center got built in Sacramento replacing the antiquated Arco Arena.
Interestingly enough though the Kings are an organization that have changed cities a number of times since their inaugural season. Their first season was in 1948-1949 as the Rochester Royals of the BAA, year two the team became part of the NBA. After the 1956-1957 moved to Cincinnati until leaving after the 1971-1972 season. From 1972-1973 to 1974-1975 time home games were split between Kansas City and Omaha. Thankfully after that season, it was Kansas City only from the 1975-1976 till after 1984-1985.
The franchise then arrived for the 1985-1986 season in Sacramento and thanks to Ranadive and his promise the team now plays in one of the best new arenas in the NBA.
Yet for Ranadive and all the positive things he has done for the Kings franchise, got erased thanks to a press conference on April 1, 2024, which had nothing to do with basketball. Instead, it had to do with Major League Baseball and the Oakland Athletics.
In hopes of making an impression with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, Ranadive is now helping John Fisher to help relocate the A’s after the 2024 season to play in Sacramento for at least three seasons and an opportunity to stay for longer if the supposed ballpark in Las Vegas, Nevada is not ready.
Even more laughable though is that Ranadive was not give any assurances that MLB would even consider Sacramento as a viable city for an expansion team. He also is allowing the A’s to use Sutter Health Park the home of the River Cats, rent free.
The caveat is that Fisher will have to spend money to update the facilities to make it MLB ready. What is interesting even though there was a press conference announcing the A’s playing in Sacramento, the Major League Players Association has not approved it and their approval is required.
Many A’s fans are aware of what is going on with Las Vegas. For the Kings fans, River Cats, or anyone else who is not aware of the situation. There is a lawsuit from a group of educators attempting to put the public funding of $380 million that was approved by Nevada’s governor Joe Lombardo on the ballot.
What is even worse though is that the A’s donated to the causes of a number of representatives in Nevada. One recently tweeted about it and got called out for her lack of awareness on what they even voted for.
Also, we have seen what happens when voters voices are heard. The Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals found out that the public does not want to fund to renovate stadiums and build new ballparks.
So what does this mean for Ranadive? In my opinion it shows that he is a hypocrite and even worse lacks integrity. How so? This is the same man who promised the NBA that he was going to get a new arena done, so the Kings did not leave Sacramento.
Now he is helping another owner with moving a team which has been in Oakland since 1968. Beyond that Ranadive is now associating with Fisher who is suing educators in Nevada.
Fisher also during the pandemic publicly indicated that minor league players of the Athletics were not going to get paid. Of course, he did pay them. More importantly, he is also the reason why games at the Oakland Coliseum are barely attended especially now.
For those who are NBA fans/Kings fans, imagine Ranadive admitting that the 2023-2024 season was a failure since the Kings only made the play-in game. He then decides to have De’Aaron Fox traded along with Damontas Sabonis. In return a number of draft picks and expiring contracts. That’s what Fisher has done with the A’s routinely.
Is Ranadive not aware that Fisher needs revenue sharing? What about those who had been with the team for decades, who did not find out that they were getting laid off from the A’s themselves?
One also has to wonder about the integrity of Ranadive after associating with Fisher, the worst owner of the four major sports in the United States. He also has not helped his case by recent social media posts. He used this quote “I don’t have one role model, but I am alway trying to learn from other people.”
Maybe if he had a role model he would not have associated himself with Fisher.
A post prior to the role model was “never give up, never give up, never ever give up, persevere no matter what the pain.” Here is a thought for Ranadive, check out what A’s fans have done with the reverse boycott, Oaklandish with its simple slogan aimed at Fisher which says “sell,” and more importantly how A’s fans created their own fan fest since Fisher would not put one on.
In case Ranadive does not know, A’s fans will persevere through this. Since he has no role models, perhaps he should take his own advice and listen to those around him or check out those who have responded him on social media regarding the situation.
All he needs to do is listen, take accountability for making a major mistake, and since there has been no approval from the Major League Baseball Players Association, tell Fisher, the A’s are not welcome in Sacramento.
Now that would show that Ranadive does in fact have integrity.