The Sacramento Monarchs may no longer be around as a WNBA franchise today, but one writer for Sacramento’s primary newspaper is reminding the owners of the Kings that a WNBA franchise was part of their bid in keeping the Kings in Sacramento.
The Monarchs were one of the original WNBA franchises before dissolving in 2009. They also won a championship in 2005 and some of most notable players in the W’s history wore the Monarchs uniform. These included Ticha Penechiero, Yolanda Griffith, and Kara Lawson.
The writer, Ailene Voisin, mentioned a quote from Kings owner Vivek Ranadive that was delivered on Thursday regarding the matter. It basically said that Ranadive was more interested in completing his current downtown investments than a women’s basketball team.
The recently completed Women’s Final Four in Dallas—as well as Mississippi State breaking through and ending UConn’s 111-game undefeated streak, has appeared to put women’s basketball in the conversation. Voisin mentioned the ratings that game received and even cited WNBA statistics to further make her case.
The column also comes a few days after Lawson, in comments made to Howard Megdal, mentioned that she tried to make her case to be part of the Kings coaching staff. She said the Kings said she would have been a distraction if she indeed became part of the staff.
Voisin also reminded readers (as well as Ranadive) of a key fact—that Joe Lacob may want to pursue a WNBA team when the Warriors new arena in San Francisco is complete. Meaning that the time to tap into the pulse of the women’s basketball fan in Northern California (which already has Stanford basketball) is now before Lacob beats Ranadive to the punch.
(Original column: Sacramento Bee)
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
