SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ I like Kings GM Vlade Divac a lot and I've come to appreciate Kings owner Vivek Ranadive as someone who truly wants the team to be successful. But the Kings aren't successful in the most important way they need to be successful: On the court.
And if the team isn't successful on the court, and this lost season of dashed expectations continues on a downward trajectory, then Divac and Ranadive _ great guys that they are _ will and should be held responsible by a community that has supported a bad product for long enough.
Kings fans want accountability for the disaster this season has become, and they are not wrong for feeling this way.
After Wednesday's dismal 127-106 loss to a Detroit Pistons team missing key players _ a new low for a group constantly redefining a lack of commitment _ the Kings are 15-29 with 38 games left in the NBA season.
Do the math: To finish with 42 wins, a winning season, the Kings would have to go 27-11 down the stretch. That would be a .710 winning percentage for a team whose current winning percentage is .341.
So barring a miracle, the Kings are bound for their 14th consecutive losing season, the longest futility streak in the NBA. And do you know what else it means? This would be the seventh consecutive losing season under Ranadive. I hadn't thought about it in those terms until the Pistons debacle, where the Kings were manhandled by a Detroit team that really only had characteristic the Kings lacked: Guts.
The Pistons were more aggressive. They attacked the basket, got to the free-throw line. They wanted it more than the Kings. That has been happening repeatedly this season as the Kings have been out-hustled, out-worked, and out-thought by teams good and bad.
Last season the Kings won 39 games. At this juncture, they were .500, 24-24. They were projected to do better in 2019-20 so, in that context, the string of futility under Ranadive takes on a different meaning than it did a few years ago.
