Most in the city of Sacramento had figured their Kings were set to stay for the long haul following a tentative plan for a new arena that was passed a few weeks ago, but those plans are now in serious jeopardy following a rough Friday of press conferences. So what happened with Mayor Kevin Johnson, NBA commissioner David Stern and the Maloof family?
As for the Maloofs, they continued to hold onto their notion that a final financial plan was agreed upon while meeting in Orlando a few months ago, and they are refusing to ante up more money to pay for the new arena. While the NBA league offices and commissioner Stern have typically backed the Kings in their negotiations, Stern said nothing else could be done in their favor during the negotiations. He said he hoped the city council and the Maloof family would continue to work out their differences, but he was "not optimistic" about it.
Mayor Kevin Johnson took the podium later on Friday afternoon and reiterated multiple times that, "Sacramento deserves better." He was clearly upset with the way everything had turned out and said that while he understood the agreements in Orlando were not set in stone, all parties involved had still verbally agreed to them.
In a bit of encouraging news, it does seem like the Kings will be staying in Sacramento through the end of next season. There is still a chance the team stays in Sacramento, but it will take a ton of work from all parties involved. Expect to hear the cities of Anaheim and Seattle ramp up their talks for bringing the Kings to town in the coming months.