By R.E. Graswich
Here’s one positive comment about the Kings’ basketball season, which ends this week: I’ve seen worse.
The Kings were my fulltime beat as a sportswriter during the mid-1980s and early 1990s.
It was the era of Bill Russell, Dick Motta and Garry St. Jean as coaches and Reggie Theus, Danny Ainge and Mitch Richmond as players.
Kings fans were happy to have a major-league team. They weren’t concerned about the final score. Good thing, because the final score rarely favored the team from Sacramento.
After I left the beat, the Kings got good. People asked whether I regretted not sticking around to cover a winner.
No way. It was fun covering losers – more intrigue, back-stabbing, jealousies, petty behavior, plenty of stories worth telling, red meat for sportswriters.
If the Kings had been happy and winning, I wouldn’t have known what to write.
This season, working in the office of Mayor Kevin Johnson, I had a different perspective. Gone was the cynicism.
It’s fun to work behind the scenes as Mayor Johnson participates in various events, treating the Kings as a community asset.
Sportswriters hate to think of themselves as promotional partners, even when the description defines their work. As a mayoral special assistant, I’m happy to see any local enterprise succeed, including the Kings.
Mayor Johnson’s interest in the Kings is unique. His background suggests he’d be all over the basketball stuff. And while he knows more about hoops that any mayor in America (though Dave Bing of Detroit might give him a run), his focus on the Kings is strictly business.
The Mayor sees the Kings as an economic engine, a provider of jobs, a component of a city that one day will be considered world-class.
As the Kings close out another year, I recall an earlier mayor, the late Joe Serna Jr. Mayor Serna was not a sports guy. He bragged about not being a fan.
But Mayor Serna knew there was something special about sports. He recalled attending Kings games and being impressed by how the crowds reflected our region's diversity. He believed sports played a major role in bringing a community together.
Joe knew. That’s exactly what the Kings do, win or lose.
On that final note, there’s always next season.
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