Sacramento Kings Under Fire: Mounting Criticism Sparks Fierce Debate on Whether the NBA Should Finally Disband the Franchise

The NBA has endured its share of scandals in recent years. A massive trade controversy shook the league. Several players were banned for illegal gambling. Even accusations of favoritism toward superstars have left fans questioning the integrity of the game.

Yet for all of those headlines, nothing compares to the dysfunction of the Sacramento Kings. Over the past two decades, the Kings have managed to turn mismanagement into an art form. Their track record is so consistently poor that it overshadows every other controversy in the league.

This is not just about losing games. It is about a franchise that has failed at every level—ownership, front office, coaching, drafting, and player development. The Kings are not merely a struggling team. They are, by many measures, the worst franchise in North American sports.

From Rivalry to Ruin

Just a few years ago, the Kings looked like they were on the rise. In 2023, they ended a 16-year playoff drought, pushed the Golden State Warriors to seven games, and earned respect across the league. The following year, they knocked the Warriors out of the play-in tournament.

For a moment, Sacramento seemed poised to become a legitimate contender. Fans embraced the “Light the Beam” slogan, and the team’s chemistry under head coach Mike Brown suggested stability.

Then it all unraveled.

The Kings fired Brown, the coach they had poached from Golden State. They traded away their franchise centerpiece, the player who had dragged them out of obscurity. They acquired two veterans who had failed together in Chicago, then added Russell Westbrook to the mix.

Within months, the Kings slid back toward the bottom of the standings.

A History of Losing

Across nearly 80 years of NBA history, no franchise has lost more in a 20-year span than the Sacramento Kings. After missing the playoffs for 16 consecutive seasons—the longest drought in league history—they finally returned, only to be bounced in the first round. Since then, they have missed the postseason again and appear headed for another rebuild.

The numbers are staggering:

14 head coaches in 20 years. That’s nearly a new coach every season and a half.
Constant front office turnover. General managers, presidents, and advisers have come and gone, leaving no consistent vision.
Chaotic ownership. Vivek Ranadivé, who bought the team in 2013, famously suggested the Kings play four-on-five defense so one player could cherry-pick for layups.

Without stability, culture, or identity, the Kings have become a revolving door of failed experiments.

Fan Frustration

The dysfunction has taken a toll on fans. Just weeks ago, a Kings supporter stood up during a game and passionately urged the players to play harder. Instead of responding with effort, the players told him to go home. Arena staff ejected him.

It was a moment that captured the disconnect between the franchise and its supporters. Sacramento fans are loyal, but loyalty has its limits.

Draft Disasters

The NBA draft is supposed to be the lifeline for struggling franchises. For the Kings, it has been a graveyard of missed opportunities.

2012: Sacramento selected Thomas Robinson with the fifth pick. He lasted half a season. The next pick was Damian Lillard.
2013: The Kings chose Ben McLemore at No. 7. A few picks later, Milwaukee drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo, now a two-time MVP. McLemore is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence.
2018: With the No. 2 pick, the Kings passed on Luka Dončić, the most decorated European teenager ever, and selected Marvin Bagley. Dončić has since become one of the league’s brightest stars.

These are not just bad picks. They are franchise-altering mistakes.

Trade Blunders

The Kings’ incompetence extends beyond the draft. Their trades have been equally disastrous.

2015: Sacramento traded away assets to clear cap space, then failed to sign anyone. They literally paid the Philadelphia 76ers to take on contracts, only to watch Philly laugh in their face.
2017: The Kings traded DeMarcus Cousins, an All-NBA star, for Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, and a first-round pick they didn’t keep long term. Cousins was dealt for pennies on the dollar.

These moves reflect a franchise with no coherent plan.

The Culture Problem

The dysfunction is not just about players. It is systemic.

Inside the organization, executives have fought for control, undermined each other, leaked stories, and pushed conflicting agendas. Every 12 to 18 months, the franchise has changed direction—rebuild, win now, tank—without committing to any strategy.

Other teams have built identities:

The Warriors around shooting and spacing.
The Spurs around development and culture.
The Heat around toughness and conditioning.

The Kings have built around confusion.

The Cost of Chaos

The consequences are severe. Agents and player representatives openly warn clients to avoid Sacramento. One anonymous agent put it bluntly: “If you want your client to fail, send him to Sacramento.”

Isaiah Thomas blossomed into an MVP candidate the moment he left. Tyrese Haliburton became a star in Indiana. DeMarcus Cousins regretted staying as long as he did.

Sacramento has become a place where careers stall, where potential is wasted, and where hope dies.

Ownership at the Core

Ultimately, the blame lies at the top. Vivek Ranadivé’s tenure has been marked by meddling, inexperience, and poor decision-making. He empowered Vlade Divac, a franchise legend with little front office experience, who made emotional decisions and ignored analytics.

Reports suggest Divac passed on Luka Dončić because he disliked Luka’s father. Imagine passing on a generational superstar because of a personal grudge. That is the Kings in a nutshell.

A Drag on the League

The Kings’ dysfunction is not just a Sacramento problem. It affects the NBA as a whole.

Small-market teams like the Spurs, Thunder, Bucks, and Grizzlies have proven that success is possible without big-city advantages. Sacramento, by contrast, has turned its market into a basketball black hole.

At some point, the league must ask a difficult question: If a franchise cannot stay competitive, cannot develop stars, and cannot follow a coherent plan for two straight decades, what value are they bringing to the NBA?

Conclusion: The Worst Franchise in Sports?

The Sacramento Kings are not just bad. They are historically bad. Their failures span ownership, management, coaching, drafting, trading, and player development. They have squandered opportunities, alienated fans, and damaged careers.

For two decades, they have been the league’s most dysfunctional franchise. And unless something changes at the top, they will remain a drag on the NBA’s competitive ecosystem.

The Kings are not merely rebuilding. They are repeating the same mistakes, over and over. And until they break that cycle, Sacramento will remain the place where hope goes to die.