It is appearing more and more likely that the Lakers and Clippers will have a third team in Southern California very soon, perhaps as early as next year. The Sacramento Kings appear headed for the city of Anaheim and while the move isn't yet official, Sacramento mayor and former NBA point guard Kevin Johnson sure sounds like someone about to lose his team. In a blog post on Tuesday night, Johnson acknowledged the Kings' move is now out of his hands.
↵"Of course, none of this makes it any easier to watch the steady drip of what will likely be the Kings’ final weeks in Sacramento after 26 years," Johnson wrote. "Thanks to the fans and groups like Here We Stay, I want to keep fighting to keep the Kings. But another part of me wants this painful drama to end."
↵Last week it was reported that lawyers for the Maloofs, the Kings' owners, registered trademarks and web site domain names for "Anaheim Royals" and anaheimroyals.com, among other names. The franchise began as the Rochester Royals in the 1948-49 season, and continued with that name for nine seasons, plus 15 more years in Cincinnati. The team changed its name to the Kings in 1972 when it moved to Kansas City-Omaha, and moved to Sacramento in 1985.