Kings/NBA

For the better part of three years, they had one of the most thankless jobs in the industry, trying to sell season tickets when their franchise was forever on the move?

If Keith Smart looks a bit uncomfortable representing the Kings at today's NBA draft lottery in New York, it's understandable.

Fan interest in the Sacramento Kings has been "frenzied" since a local group reached an agreement Friday to buy the team from the Maloof family and keep it here.

One of the many questions about the Kings this offseason will be answered today.

One of the many questions about the Kings this offseason will be answered Tuesday.

If you believe Oswald was the only triggerman in Dallas in 1963, or you think it's only a myth that UFOs and aliens are being studied somewhere near Roswell, N.M., you also probably believe the NBA lottery has never been rigged.

Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie is interviewing prospects for next month's NBA draft while questions about how decisions will be made going forward remain unanswered.

A lesson in humility for his younger workers underscores Vivek Ranadive's competitive drive – a characteristic on display in his bid to buy the Sacramento Kings and partner with the city to build a $448 million downtown sports arena.

The Kings don't define Sacramento's image, but the effort to keep the team spoke volumes about the community.

We could nominate him for sainthood. We could erect a statue in front of the downtown arena. We could name a street after him. But at the very least, we should schedule a David Stern Day before the NBA commissioner retires Feb. 1, 2014, because this is the man who saved the Kings.

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Golden State Warriors have earned their optimism fair and fervently this time.

The Sacramento Kings, adrift for years and nearly lured away from the city, effectively reopened for business Friday.

Once his purchase of the Kings is finalized, Vivek Ranadive should take a pick and a shovel, perhaps borrow a battering ram and a bulldozer, and obliterate the section of Sleep Train Arena that houses the team's basketball operations.

Mike Krzyzewski is no longer ruling out a return as coach of the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team.

They were globally insignificant and, on the whole, an object of civic ridicule. There had been so much failure and futility, so much shameful history, so many years of shoddy product peddled by an infernally inept ownership.

The Maloof era in Sacramento, at times spirited and uplifting, at times dismal, appears to have come to an end.

OAKLAND, Calif. - There was no need for metaphors on this night, no greater meaning gained from hyperbole.

Gold T-shirts were all over the building, worn over tank tops and underneath the uniforms of police officers. The noisy support was there during the best of times. The crowd at Oracle Arena tried just about everything.

Ousted NBA players' association executive director Billy Hunter alleges in a lawsuit that president Derek Fisher had a secret deal with owners during the 2011 lockout that benefited himself, his publicist and certain players.

Sacramento, nearly beaten five months ago, is keeping its Kings after all.

Amid news of the NBA rejecting a move to Seattle, four members of the Kings' front office and head coach Keith Smart were in Chicago for the league's draft scouting combine, continuing to prepare for next season.

The Kings are staying in Sacramento. Can we say that again? The Kings are staying in Sacramento.

In the beginning, it was hard to tell which of the lovebirds was more passionate.

At the end of the fight, the old, vindictive NBA commissioner couldn't announce the winner without first needling the city he was about to make a loser again.

Seattle might have had the money.

SEATTLE - While the NBA's decision Wednesday to keep the Kings in Sacramento was a blow to many of Seattle's political leaders, they vowed to continue the environmental and economic reviews already under way for a new sports arena in Sodo.

LOS ANGELES - Phil Jackson never liked to compare Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan. Believe me, I tried everything.

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Golden State Warriors approach the possibility of postseason elimination amid heated dialogue about their offense. What's wrong with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson? Where is the torrid shooting that made them a popular storyline throughout the playoffs?

Moments before boarding a plane for today's NBA meeting in Dallas that could decide the fate of the Sacramento Kings, Mayor Kevin Johnson said "we're holding our breath as a city." Sacramento has done all it can, he said, to keep the city's major league sports franchise.

Todd Dingley, 63, attended the first Kings game in Sacramento on Oct. 25, 1985, at the tilt-up of an arena on North Market Street with 10,332 other fans.

Sacramento Bee columnist Marcos Breton hosted a live chat about David Stern's announcement that the Kings will stay in Sacramento. Replay it here.

The Golden State Warriors cannot, will not win when Stephen Curry plays as he did in Game 5, and nobody knows that better than Curry.

There was a point in the third quarter of the Warriors-Spurs game Tuesday night when TV cameras caught Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut on the bench. Steph was chewing his nails, Bogut appeared to be in discomfort, and the Dubs were trailing by 11.

The most powerful team owners in the NBA met again Monday to discuss the fate of the Kings, and apparently left unchanged their earlier recommendation to keep the team in Sacramento.

The Warriors spent decades looking for a formidable starting center.

Kobe Bryant and an auction house that wants to sell memorabilia from his high school days and early pro career are heading for a trial next month, unless they can work out a deal before then.

Several of the key figures in this Kings ordeal have been characterized as cartoon characters, extortionists, bullies (by me), greedheads and, occasionally, just typical, astute businessmen in pursuit of the American dream.

Any correspondence about possible Los Angeles Clippers' off-season moves needs to go straight to the top.

As fascinating and flummoxing and filthy as the Seattle/Sacramento saga has been, the conflict at the core of this debacle remains relevant despite the theatrics on both sides.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Rarely at a loss for words, Mark Jackson paused for a bit Monday because the thoughts in his head and the feelings in his heart had rendered silent his silver tongue. The coach needed a moment.

Despite repeatedly dismissing overtures from a Sacramento group eager to buy the Kings, the team's owners have not closed the door on that possibility and were receiving updates from the NBA on the Sacramento group's efforts as recently as this weekend, a source said Sunday.

All-Star forward David Lee is still bothered by a torn right hip flexor. Stephen Curry is slowed by a sprained left ankle.

The 131-character dispatch arrived mournfully within two hours of sunrise May 4, at 7:58 a.m. to be exact.

Now we know why Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson didn't want us spiking the ball in the end zone last month.

All the fancy stuff was gone Sunday, and the Warriors were down to just guts and stubborn adrenaline.

There he was at the sweet conclusion, facing the exhilarated Oracle Arena crowd, hands aloft and clapping amid confetti, soaking it in. And, finally, before exiting the court, Jarrett Jack paused to make one final move.

The fight for the Kings took another wild turn Saturday, with the Maloofs threatening not to sell the team to Sacramento's investor group if the NBA blocks the family's deal with bidders from Seattle.

When hedge fund billionaire Chris Hansen on Friday raised his group's now-obscene offer to buy the Kings, lifting the franchise's value to $625 million, two thoughts came to mind:

Don't you just hate bullies? People who hide behind their portfolios and their publicists? Billionaires who sneak around corners and sucker-punch with their financial data? Wannabe NBA owners who throw temper tantrums – in this case by tossing more cash into the coffer – days after the league's relocation committee recommends keeping the Kings in Sacramento by a unanimous vote?

As the NBA playoffs have progressed, the Warriors' home-court advantage at Oracle Arena has gained more recognition nationally.