Kings Owner Vivek Ranadive Blamed For Creating Environment of 'Basketball Hell' In Sacramento

Another NBA season is nearly in the books, and the Sacramento Kings continue to be a royal flop.

For the past 16 seasons, the Sacramento Kings have been a team out of the playoff picture and an opponent that opposing organizations circle on their calendars in the regular season.

With a 38.3 percent regular-season winning percentage across the last 10 years, the Kings have been an image of dysfunctionality within the Association, with personnel around the team generally pointing to one man, owner Vivek Ranadive, as the cause.

As relayed by OutKick / HoopsWire's Sam Amico, a recent interview with the Kings' operations staff unearthed some direct complaints from within the franchise, pointing to Ranadive's mishandling of the team and culture as the root of their lackluster play.

"I've been on conference calls with him around the trade deadline. I think, like any successful business or organization, a lot of this stuff starts at the top," commented a former member of the staff, reported by The Sacrament Bee's Jason Anderson. 

The anonymous member noted that Ranadive's influence in the draft rooms curtailed that of coaches, GMs and all other members looking to make informed decisions to better the team.

On Monday, the Kings announced that they cut ties with interim head coach Alvin Gentry (who took over for fired coach Luke Walton) and bring in some new blood keen on reviving a long gone franchise.

"In an ideal situation, you hire someone you feel is qualified," the individual noted, "you do your homework on them, and then you trust that person is capable of doing the job. It's one thing to be a fan and want to be involved from afar, but I think when you are meddling in decisions, I think the problem is you have an owner who's too involved."

Anderson also cited former Kings forward Rudy Gay, who was critical of his tenure in Sacramento over the unhealthy culture.

"People are not treated well," he said. "They're not valued. It's a toxic workplace where there are some super-talented people who either move on or get let go for different reasons. It's unfortunate because I think people come with really pure intentions and want to turn it around."

Sacramento finished the 2021-22 season with a 30-52 record, good (or bad) enough to land 12th in the Western Conference.

The last time the Kings made the playoffs was back in 2006, before key inventions were introduced to the world, like the original iPhone or Slap Chop.

Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela

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Alejandro Avila lives in Southern California and previously covered news for the LA Football Network. Jeopardy expert and grumpy sports fan. Known for having watched every movie and constant craving for dessert. @alejandroaveela (on X)