Kings of Our Town

Why Sacramento Fights to Stay Major League

It was a spring night in 1986 and I was a high school senior driving home from my job in the lazy Sierra Foothill town of Auburn, just 35 miles from Sacramento. Across the Ford Pinto’s AM radio was the excited voice of Sacramento Kings announcer Gerry Gerould. He was shouting, because about 10,500 fans were going nuts in a temporary NBA arena. Sacramento was about to have a Big League moment. Its first ever.

The Kings of the National Basketball Association were in their inaugural season in Sacramento, and that …