The Sacramento Kings might not have a household name, despite high hopes for De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic but that’s not stopping the franchise from making a push to host an NBA All-Star Weekend. An organization with a new state of the art arena is eyeing some positive vibes in the future.
Sacramento has not been to the playoffs since 2006, they had a messy breakup with All-Star big man DeMarcus Cousins and they’ve had six head coaches since 2010 but they have a brand new arena, the Golden 1 Center. It is without a doubt a top stadium in the NBA and could easily play host for a celebration of the NBA’s best.
The Kings are set to submit a bid for either the 2022 or 2023 NBA All-Star weekend. Majority owner Vivek Ranadive is set to present the bid after the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
Following comes from Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee.
The Sacramento Kings and the city of Sacramento are finalizing a bid to land the NBA All-Star Game in either 2022 or 2023, team and city officials said Thursday.
The City Council will vote Tuesday on providing “general support” for the All-Star bid, which will include an entertainment pavilion on Capitol Mall, cruise ships to host out-of-town guests and dedicated traffic lanes for visitors.
Kings owner and chairman Vivek Ranadive said in a written statement that more details on the bid will be announced next week and that the team will present its bid to the NBA on Feb. 23.
“Golden 1 Center has been a great spark for the city and building on that momentum, we have assembled an unprecedented plan to host a global celebration of basketball at the All-Star Game in Sacramento,” Ranadive said in a written statement.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg said in an interview that the city is “ready to play a very significant role to partner with the Kings in all the right ways.”
“We’re an all-star city and we’ve earned this,” the mayor said. “It would be great for the NBA and for the city.”
