The Kings have the best fans around! Sure, attendance has dropped in recent years...but it's in part because of what I like to refer to as the ignorant band wagoners. By this I mean that people who are band wagoners are fans because it's convenient..someone they know is a fan and they are exposed as a byproduct, the ride the high that the city or region they live in feels with that championship caliber team. This is why I feel that the Lakers have so many "fans". If you polled 100 people who admittedly weren't true NBA fans, I am willing to bet that at least 75% would say choose the Lakers if made to pick a team. The others are likely to pick Cleveland or a regional team. But of those 75% I am willing to be outside of Kobe Bryant, they probably couldn't name 3 other players, and would probably still say that Shaq plays for them! It's a matter of knowledge. Kings fans are still there in the thousands and have been even through the disastrous season that we had last year. With the excitement that comes with having the newly crowned Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans, more of those band wagoners are starting to fill in the seats at ARCO once again. Unlike the masses that follow the Lakers across the county, the so called "band wagoners" at ARCO aren't really so...I think they are more like thrill seekers! In a bad economy, do you really want to spend the money to drive to the arena, park, get the tickets, pay for food and drinks just to watch your team lose just about every game they play? No, I didn't think so! It doesn't mean that the fans we lost at ARCO left the Kings completely. With the new deal that the Kings and Comcast have inked they now bring every Kings game to those who have the right channel package on multiple cable providers. So perhaps those no longer in attendance at ARCO are still watching from home. But ask any true Kings fan they bleed purple. We love our team...I realize that every NBA team claims they have the best fans in the world, but who holds the record for loudest Arena??? Kings fans! Who up until a few years ago held on to the reputation of worst Arena to play in as a road team because of ARCO THUNDER....Kings fans! We are slowly regaining that noise that is ARCO Thunder...we are as excited as ever and most didn't jump ship when the seas got a little rocky!
Basically, Kings fans are tried and true fans...we've been through the worst and have yet to experience the true best, but we have hope. We understand we are still stuck in that rebuilding process. Things are looking bright with our young stars. So I put it to anyone reading this to think about things this way...Eventually the Lakers and the Cavs and Celtics and all other top teams will fall...and the youngins will rise! It's like a very slow rotating wheel...those veteran teams are on the top right now, but it is slowly rotating. Soon they will start to lose their vets and find themselves in their very own "rebuilding" process and the Kings and other young teams will find themselves at the top of the wheel again. It's a never ending process as no team will ever stay on top for good. Look at the Bulls...The years of Jordan are gone and they have struggled to rebuild to the glory that once was, but they are getting there. We will get there too!
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